American Affair

Wednesday, York, post time: 15:30, THE GO LOCAL STORES MINSTER STAKES-G2, £165,000, 3yo/up, 6fT Field: Big Mojo (Ire) (Mohaather {GB}), Ain't Nobody (Ire) (Sands Of Mali {Fr}), American Affair (GB) (Washington DC {Ire}), Aramram (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}), Cool Hoof Luke (GB) (Advertise {GB}), Crestofdistinction (GB) (Kodiac {GB}), Diligent Harry (GB) (Due Diligence), Elmonjed (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}), Jasour (GB) (Havana Grey {GB}), Kind Of Blue (GB) (Blue Point {Ire}), Quinault (Ger) (Oasis Dream {GB}), Regional (GB) (Territories {Ire}), Time For Sandals (Ire) (Sands Of Mali {Fr}). TDN Analysis: With...

Group 1-winning sprinter American Affair is on course to return at the Dante Festival at York, according to trainer Jim Goldie, who is eyeing a repeat win in the King Charles III Stakes at Royal Ascot with his stable star. The six-year-old provided the Scottish trainer with a breakthrough Group 1 victory in that race last June before suffering a leg issue. It was hoped he would return for the Breeders' Cup or Champions Day, but Goldie confirmed the son of Washington DC is on schedule with his recovery and...

Trainer Jim Goldie was awarded the Timeform Special Recognition Award at the Timeform Flat Awards. He won his first Group 1 with American Affair (Washington DC) in the King Charles III Stakes at Royal Ascot last June. Goldie also became the first Scottish-based trainer to break 100 winners in the calendar year. "I think we got lucky with American Affair, because the Sunday Series [in 2024] was the making of him," Goldie told Timeform's Dan Barger. "Although we didn't do it [win the bonus] we came close and it gave...

The early part of last week was spent covering the JRHA Select Sale in Japan, a trip that is always illuminating, to an auction that remains extraordinary. Number one of the list of most surprising things from the five days spent in Hokkaido was Teruya Yoshida picking up his guitar to serenade guests with a rendition of John Denver's Take Me Home, Country Roads. An excellent choice of song, well performed. The Shadai Farm principal should be encouraged to form a Travelling Wilburys-style bloodstock supergroup. Bluegrass enthusiast and songwriter Arthur...

American Affair (Washington DC) has been ruled out of next month's G1 Nunthorpe Stakes at York, after a bone scan "highlighted some issues", according to trainer Jim Goldie. An eight-time winner for the Goldie stable, American Affair continued his remarkable rise through the ranks with a popular win in the King Charles III Stakes at Royal Ascot last time, providing his trainer with the first Group 1 victory of a career spanning over three decades. Goldie remains hopeful that American Affair will have further opportunities to add to his top-level...

It has been a strangely discombobulating week in some respects. It started in Westminster last Monday with the All-Party Parliamentary Group issuing its stark warning of the triple threat to the industry posed by potential betting duty harmonisation, affordability checks and an overdue Levy reform. This came on the back of an industry update in Newmarket the previous week at which the TBA chairman Philip Newton warned of a potential catastrophic collapse in the supply chain of young Thoroughbreds in Britain. Then, stepping through the golden gates of Royal Ascot,...

ASCOT, UK -- There may be cause for concern when it comes to the tumbling number of foals bred in Britain but, with Ascot festooned with the Union Jack, the first three races represented a terrific result for the United Kingdom, falling to horses bred in England, Wales and Scotland.  In front of the King and Queen, first Docklands then Gstaad and American Affair testified to the strength of Thoroughbreds produced in the country, with British-based Irishmen Richard Kent and John McGrandles being the breeders behind the first two Group...

The story of Saturday's Temple Stakes contender American Affair is very much a family affair for Lanarkshire trainer Jim Goldie, with his deep knowledge of the pedigree and the devotion of his granddaughter, Alex, both playing their part in the spectacular rise of a five-year-old who started last season with a BHA mark of just 70. Five wins later, American Affair is now up to a rating of 105 after he coasted to victory in another big-field handicap at York last week, producing the sort of performance which suggests the...

'If Carslberg did weekends' was the caption on Tom Marquand's social media post beneath a photograph of the jockey with his wife, Hollie Doyle, after she had won her second Group 1 of the year aboard Bradsell (GB) (Tasleet {GB}). Marquand had himself lifted both of Leopardstown's Group 1 races the previous day with two of the best three-year-olds currently in training, Economics (GB) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) and Porta Fortuna (Ire) (Caravaggio). Their mantelpiece may soon need reinforcement.  There are few sports in which men and women take each...