Andrew Balding

Juddmonte's star distaffer Kalpana (Study Of Man), trapped wide and never really a factor in this month's G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, bounced back to her best in imperious fashion and outsmarted her rivals for back-to-back renewals of Saturday's G1 Qipco British Champions Fillies & Mares at Ascot. "It was a great performance and she's been very consistent all year," said winning rider Colin Keane. "Things didn't go to plan in France and fair play to Andrew [Balding] and the team for making the call to bring her back...

Night Of Thunder colt Gewan ignited another Classic dream for his owner Yuesheng Zhang, who has already won the Irish Oaks with Magical Lagoon (Galileo) and came close to 2,000 Guineas glory with Lucky Vega (Lope De Vega), who is now a stallion under his dual-hemisphere Yulong operation. Zhang already has a significant racing and breeding operation in Australia, where his runners include the multiple Group 1 winner Via Sistina (Fastnet Rock) - bought from Tattersalls for 2.7 million gns two years ago - and where he has an 11-strong...

Left out of most equations following his fourth in the Champagne, Yuesheng Zhang's Gewan (Night Of Thunder) bounced back in style on unseasonably quick ground to cause a 25-1 upset in Saturday's G1 Darley Dewhurst Stakes. Always in the front line under James Doyle, the Andrew Balding-trained grey who had earlier won the Acomb at York drifted over to the stand's rail but maintained his momentum to deny Ballydoyle's well-backed 7-4 favourite Gstaad (Starspangledbanner) by 3/4 of a length. Godolphin's Distant Storm (Night Of Thunder) was 1 1/2 lengths away in...

Justifying his G1 Futurity Trophy entry at Bath on Tuesday, Juddmonte's Item (Frankel) went through the gears to go two-for-two for the Andrew Balding stable ahead of next month's feature. Sent off the 4-6 favourite for the mile novice, the homebred who had scored at Kempton on debut earlier this month made all to readily record a 3 1/2-length success from the other previous winner Blue Courvoisier (Sea The Stars). "This isn't an easy course for a big horse like that, but the key was to educate him today and he felt...

Coming off a third in the Hungerford, Marvelman (Invincible Spirit) turned Saturday's G2 Park Stakes at Doncaster into a procession to provide more big-race success for the Andrew Balding stable in 2025. Always travelling easily on the rain-deadened ground under Oisin Murphy, the 13-2 shot took command two out en route to a 3 3/4-length success from King's Gamble (Kingman). "He's really found his spark of late and was impressive today," Balding said of the three-year-old, whose latest effort behind More Thunder at Newbury was already a marked step up...

Next April will bring with it the 30-year anniversary of a notable birth at Iverk House Stud, that of the bay colt by Fairy King who would later deliver the holy grail for a breeder by winning the Derby at Epsom under the name of Oath. To pull it off from a small farm in Piltown, County Kilkenny, which has rarely been home to more than eight active mares at any one time, was quite the feat by Max Morris and his late wife Isabel. Certainly, Max has never been...

Andrew Balding's Marchogion is set to headline the Tattersalls Online September Sale following his easy victory in a Chester handicap at the end of last month. A three-time winner over six furlongs for Balding and owners Opulence Thoroughbreds, the son of Mehmas defied a BHA rating of 90 when gaining his latest success on the Roodee, powering clear in the final furlong to land the spoils by over three lengths. Following that win he is now up to a career-high mark of 97. Bred by Rockcliffe Stud, the three-year-old Marchogion...

3rd-Kempton, £11,000, Mdn, 9-3, 2yo, 7f (AWT), 1:29.78, st/sl. ITEM (GB) (c, 2, Frankel {GB}--Capla Temptress {Ire} {GISW-Can, GSW-US, GSP-Eng, $455,876}, by Lope de Vega {Ire}), a son of the Natalma Stakes winner, started as the 5-2 second favourite and travelled smoothly behind the early leaders. Taking control approaching the furlong pole, the homebred drew away in style to score by 3 1/2 lengths from Devon Island (Practical Joke), Godolphin's €650,000 Arqana May Breeze-Up purchase. The dam hails from the family of the multiple Group 3 winner and Arlington Million-placed...

4th-Newbury, £12,000, Mdn, 8-28, 2yo, f, 6fT, 1:13.80, gd. IMPERIAL BALLET (GB) (f, 2, Blue Point {Ire}--Osipova {GB}, by Makfi {GB}), sent off at 5-1, travelled strongly towards the fore from the outset. Taking control passing two out, the homebred powered to the line for an impressive 3 1/2-length success from Khafar (Dubawi). The dam, whose first foal was the G3 Solario Stakes winner Positive (Dutch Art), is a half to that sire's G3 Sovereign Stakes scorer Zonderland who was placed three times at Group 2 level. A granddaughter of...

So impressive in the Greenham this spring, Juddmonte's Jonquil (Lope De Vega) has had to wait to add to his tally but proved as game as he is talented on Sunday to land Goodwood's G2 Celebration Mile. Sent off the 3-1 second favourite, the Andrew Balding-trained homebred relative of Frankel who had been runner-up in the Poule d'Essai des Poulains before two unplaced efforts over shorter stayed on under Colin Keane to reel in the Group 3-winning three-year-old filly Saqqara Sands (Oasis Dream) late on and record a neck success....

Juddmonte homebred Kalpana (Study Of Man) will follow the path of dual G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe heroine Enable (Nathaniel) when she lines up in the G3 September Stakes at Kempton next month before a start at ParisLongchamp. Already a winner of the 2024 edition, the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes second was also under consideration for the G1 Prix Vermeille. Trained by Andrew Balding, the 2024 G1 British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes heroine has placed in all three 2025 starts, with a third in...

Britain's first seven-furlong Group 1 proved a humdinger on Saturday as Never So Brave (No Nay Never) found the line first in a thrilling four-way go for the Sky Bet City Of York Stakes. Like Saturday's Hungerford winner More Thunder a former member of the Sir Michael Stoute equine academy, Saeed Suhail's Summer Mile winner relished the furious pace to ultimately outstay specialists at this trip under Oisin Murphy. At the line, the Andrew Balding-trained 7-2 second favourite had half a length to spare over Lake Forest for a one-two...