Andrew Balding

Emulating Andrew Balding's former star Chaldean on Wednesday, Al Rabban Racing's Gewan (Night Of Thunder) came from the same Newbury novice to capture York's G3 Tattersalls Acomb Stakes, an automatic qualifier for the $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf. Always prominent under P J McDonald throughout the seven-furlong contest, the 11-2 shot saw off Ballydoyle's Italy (Wootton Bassett) to score by 1 1/2 lengths, with 3 1/4 lengths back to the disappointing 11-20 favourite Distant Storm (Night Of Thunder) in third. "He was very well bought by Billy Jackson-Stops, as...

Coolmore's G1 Eclipse hero Delacroix (Dubawi) will renew rivalry with Godolphin's Sandown runner-up Ombudsman (Night Of Thunder) and is one of six runners booked for Wednesday's G1 Juddmonte International Stakes at York after three of nine overnight contenders were scratched from the extended 10-furlong contest at Monday morning's declaration stage. The former will attempt to provide Aidan O'Brien with a record-extending eighth renewal from stall three, while Ombudsman bids to regain the winning thread from stall five. Godolphin is also represented by the Andre Fabre-trained £85,000 supplementary entry Birr Castle...

DEAUVILLE, FRANCE -- One of the happiest men at Arqana on Saturday was a Tatts man. Yep, you read that right.  Tattersalls' marketing director Jason Singh contemplated leaving Deauville early in order to watch his syndicate horse Furthur in action but, having stayed put, he yelled the horse home from the Arqana sales complex instead. The son of Waldgeist, trained by Andrew Balding, claimed Newbury's G3 Geoffrey Freer Stakes by three lengths to ignite a Classic dream for Singh and his band of Merry Pranksters who own the horse. Furthur...

"We're enjoying it enormously." Those are words racing needs to hear from every owner.  In the case of Mick and Janice Mariscotti, who have been in the game long enough to have experienced both good days and bad, they know to appreciate a decent one when he comes along, and in Zavateri they look to have just that. "He's by far and away the best two-year-old we've ever had," says Mick of the unbeaten young son of Without Parole, who now has the G2 July Stakes and G2 Vintage Stakes...

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-bred horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Wednesday's Observations features an expensive Juddmonte newcomer. 2.50 Salisbury, Novice, £10,000, 2yo, 6fT ASSIRI HEIGHTS (IRE) (Frankel {GB}) debuts for Juddmonte and Andrew Balding. The second foal out of the Listed-winning sprinter Archer's Dream (Dream Ahead), he was a 700,000gns Tattersalls October Book 1 purchase. From the family of...

Trainers Andrew Balding, Eve Johnson Houghton and Warren Greatrex were among those to take part in Racing Welfare's Castle to Abbey Challenge on Sunday, raising over £100,000 in the process. A total of 80 participants from across the racing industry completed the North Yorkshire coastline walk, from the historic Scarborough Castle to the iconic Whitby Abbey. Together, the grand total raised so far is £100,507, with donations remaining open via this link. Dawn Goodfellow, chief executive of Racing Welfare, said, "I wanted to say such a heartfelt thank you from...

If you're looking for a single word to sum up the catalogue for the Tattersalls July Sale, chances are that 'mammoth' will do the trick.  In what other week would you find a recent Royal Ascot winner among the 17 horses who boast Timeform ratings in excess of 100, along with a list of mares as long as your arm that hail from deep Godolphin, Juddmonte and Shadwell families.  Don't forget Baroda Stud offering the first mare in foal to champion racehorse City Of Troy. Put simply, there is something...

Kalpana might have been missing from Andrew Balding's Royal Ascot squad, but the trainer now heads to the Curragh with his stable star in tow and a spring in his step, buoyed by what was a "fantastic" week in Berkshire which yielded four winners from Park House Stables. Top billing went to the two-year-old Humidity who, having been considered Balding's best chance of a winner at the start of the week, duly delivered with a gutsy performance to land the Listed Chesham Stakes on the final day of the meeting....

Emulating his full-brother Holloway Boy, Wathnan's Humidity (Ulysses) was in command in Saturday's Listed Chesham Stakes at Royal Ascot. Unlike his sibling who took this on debut in 2022, the Andrew Balding-trained chestnut had the benefit of a previous outing having won over six furlongs at Newbury last month and was professional in front from the outset under James Doyle. Tackled by Ballydoyle's Moments Of Joy (Justify) and then Thesecretadversary (St Mark's Basilica) at the business end, the 4-1 shot beat the latter by a length, with Moments Of Joy...

5th-Newbury, £40,000, Novice, 6-12, 3yo, f, 8fT, 1:36.62, gd. BLUE BOLT (IRE) (f, 3, Blue Point {Ire}--Mayhem {Ire} {GSW-Fr, $232,796}, by Whipper), penalised for his four-length debut win at Windsor last month, shadowed the early leader under Colin Keane, who was having his first ride for Juddmonte since gaining the retainer on Monday. Sent to the front approaching two out, the 6-4 second favourite was soon beyond recall and only needed to be pushed out to record a 1 1/4-length success from Shadwell's Majaz (Dubawi). "It's the perfect start -...

The latest addition to a burgeoning Royal Ascot team for Wathnan Racing is the Andrew Balding-trained Flora Of Bermuda. The four-year-old daughter of Dark Angel, winner of last season's G3 Summer Stakes, has been purchased privately from Bermuda Racing Limited and holds entries for both Group 1 sprints at the royal meeting as well as the July Cup. "We were impressed with her comeback run in the Duke Of York, and it looks as if she can hold her own against the very best," said Richard Brown, advisor to Wathnan...

Andrew and Anna Lisa Balding are among more than 70 people to have signed up for Racing Welfare's Castle to Abbey Challenge in Yorkshire. The 22-mile guided trek along the picturesque coastline from Scarborough Castle to Whitby Abbey takes place on July 6 and is the charity's major fundraising event for the year. "We are thrilled to support this event. Racing Welfare does such a great job helping us support our staff and we are delighted that this day falls on a Sunday which means we can dig out our...