Charles Darwin

G1 Prix Morny heroine Venetian Sun (Starman) is one of 25 horses remaining in the G1 Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot on Friday, June 19. She was a G3 Albany Stakes winner at two at Ascot. The Karl Burke trainee failed to stay in the G1 1000 Guineas, but made up for that effort with an impressive win in the G2 Sandy Lane Stakes over Division (Kingman) later in May. Sean Graham, racing manager to part-owner Tony Bloom, said of the filly, "Venetian Sun is in great form and came...

With Ballydoyle's press day having produced a rush of excitement for Flat enthusiasts, there is no better time to revisit some key members of the current Classic crop. With Cheltenham barely in the rearview mirror, the Guineas are already on the horizon with the key trials only just around the corner. Things are going to move very quickly between now and the first weekend in May and it is worth recalling some of the best of the 2025 TDN Rising Stars, Presented by Hagyard. As always, Aidan O'Brien is responsible...

There was a sense of deja vu at Kildare Paddocks on Tuesday as Glenvale Stud's No Nay Never filly out of Muirin (Born To Sea) stole the show at the Goffs Orby Yearling Sale, with MV Magnier having to stretch to €1.9 million - the highest price of the sale so far - to outpoint Jacob West. Whilst perhaps best known for producing the dual Group 1-winning juvenile Blackbeard and this year's G2 Norfolk Stakes winner Charles Darwin from her previous trysts with No Nay Never, Muirin also made headlines...

Saturday's G2 Railway Stakes winner True Love has shot to the top of Timeform's two-year-old fillies' rankings following her five-length success, in which she beat three rival colts. The daughter of No Nay Never, who broke her maiden when winning the G2 Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot, has been awarded a mark of 110p, which puts her just 1lb behind her stable-mate, G2 Coventry Stakes winner Gstaad (Starspangledbanner). Another Ballydoyle runner, G2 Norfolk Stakes winner Charles Darwin (No Nay Never), also has a rating of 110p. "True Love was...

Most trainers don't get one Gold Cup legend in their training career, but Aidan O'Brien is already on two and on the look-out for a third as Illinois flies the flag in Thursday's Royal Ascot feature. Tasked with bringing home a 10th renewal, one of last high-class sons of Galileo has an ideal profile having contested the St Leger and won this meeting's G2 Queen's Vase at three. While his predecessor Kyprios took time to show his true class, this colt was among the best of the Classic generation and...

The furore surrounding the changes to the Listed Windsor Castle Stakes shows no signs of abating, but for this year at least the six two-year-old races at Royal Ascot remain much as they've always been, which is beneficial for trends followers studying the data in an attempt to find winners next week. We lost one of the so-called bankers when Albert Einstein, last seen winning the G3 Marble Hill Stakes at the Curragh, was ruled out of the meeting due to a sprained joint, but his absence shouldn't detract too...

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. Sunday's Observations features the return of a 'TDN Rising Star'. 1.30 Naas, Cond, €40,000, 2yo, 5fT CHARLES DARWIN (IRE) (No Nay Never) drops back in trip having put in a TDN Rising Star performance when scoring by 5 1/2 lengths over nearly six at Navan last month. The full-brother...

Any week which included the return of Kyprios (Ire) should be considered a good week indeed. Yes, this time of the year is really all about exciting maiden winners and Classic trials, but any horse who can stick around in the Flat pack for as long as Kyprios has done must be cherished.  Four members of the final crop of his sire Galileo (Ire) have entries in the Derby and/or Irish Derby, but otherwise we will be relying on his older runners, including last year's St Leger one-two Illinois (Ire)...