Christmas Day

If you've had reason to chat to Stephen Hillen at the sales you will know that he's an agent who is measured to the point of coming across as though he has ice running through his veins. Had he and his wife Becky been at Epsom on Saturday to watch the horse they bred win the Derby they may have felt pretty icy, too, but sensibly they were watching from afar in the warmer climes of Mallorca.  To the suggestion that he doesn't let himself get carried away by too...

Try as they might - and by golly the good folk at Epsom tried - you can't hold back the rain. A day which should have dawned full of hope and expectation after so much attention to detail in improving the Derby Day experience instead brought black clouds and bluster across the Epsom Downs. Good for the farmers, not so for the frolickers. But no amount of rain could dampen the spirits of Tom and Kathleen Whelan, decked out in pink to support their son Ronan riding in the second...

And so it comes down to this: 14 runners are set to go to post for the Betfred Derby, which, with a newly elevated prize fund of £2 million, is the co-richest race in Britain in 2026. Five British-breds will take on six horses born in Ireland, two in Germany and one in France, with their origins representing the broad spectrum, from a homebred for one-mare owner Jennifer Dorey to four colts representing the most powerful bloodstock operation in the world, Coolmore. Ten of them were sold either as a...

If horse racing is your thing and you value the Derby above all other races, then there can be no finer way to spend a Monday morning in May than at the place which has had more influence on the great race than any other. Ballydoyle can be held up alongside any of the great sporting arenas such as Lord's, Murrayfield, Old Trafford, Fenway Park, the MCG. True, it's not where the competition actually takes place, but what happens on its fabled acres has long been of worldwide significance to...

Sunday, Kyoto, Japan, post time: 15:40, KIKUKA SHO (JAPANESE ST. LEGER)-G1, ¥419,370,000, 3yo, 3000mT Field: Coachella Valley (Jpn) (Kizuna {Jpn}), Amakihi (Jpn) (Black Tide {Jpn}), Right Track (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}), Yamanin Bouclier (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}), Giovanni (Jpn) (Epiphaneia {Jpn}), Mirage Knight (Jpn) (Bago {Fr}), Shohei (Jpn) (Saturnalia {Jpn}), Rex Novus (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}), Energico (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}), G T Adamant (Jpn) (Rulership {Jpn}), My Universe (Jpn) (Rey de Oro {Jpn}), Goltzschtal (Jpn) (Bricks and Mortar), Arrondi (Jpn) (Harbinger {GB}), Excite Bio (Jpn) (Rey de Oro {Jpn}), Eri...