In an exhibition of pure sprinting prowess, Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid al Maktoum's Battaash (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) brought all his power to bear on his rivals on Friday to register back-to-back successes in Goodwood's G2 King George Qatar S. Despite the contrasting ground conditions to the easy turf he encountered 12 months ago and the obvious questions posed by defeat in the June 19 G1 King's Stand S. at Royal Ascot, the bay attracted heavy support as the 8-11 favourite and was in front before he had raced two...
The 17th edition of the Claiming Crown, held Saturday at Gulfstream Park, generated total handle of $10,118,000--up 0.57% from 2014 despite rainy conditions which caused four races to be taken off the turf. Gulfstream was hosting the event for the fourth year. "We're extremely pleased with the success of Saturday's Claiming Crown," said P.J. Campo, General Manager of Gulfstream Park and Vice President of Racing for The Stronach Group. "We had big fields and tremendous participation from horsemen throughout North America. We're confident the numbers would have been even more...
Trainer Bjorn Baker has announced the retirement of stable star Arapaho (Lope De Vega), a stalwart of the Australian racing scene whose top-level victories included the 2023 Tancred Stakes and 2025 Sydney Cup. Bred by the Fabre family's Ecurie Peregrine out of the Dansili mare Alzubra, Arapaho retires having won 10 races and over $2.8 million in prize-money from a career spanning 50 starts. Three of those victories came when trained in France by Andre Fabre, notably winning the Listed Prix du Pont Neuf, before a sixth-place finish in the...