Cityscape

'The Home of the Original' is the Jockey Club's tagline for Epsom, and that original is of course the Derby, which for almost 250 years has inspired the hopes and dreams of owners and breeders across England and beyond.  To a degree, the race has become the preserve of the major owner-breeder operations: nine of the last ten runnings of the Derby have gone to horses owned by Coolmore, Godolphin or the Aga Khan Studs. Gary Robinson of Strawberry Fields Stud struck a blow for smaller breeders when producing the...

Overbury Stud has announced reduced stud fees for three of its five stallions for 2021. Ardad (Ire), who will have his first runners next season, will stand at £4,000 having stood his first three seasons at £6,500. Cityscape (GB) will also stand at £4,000, while Irish Derby winner Jack Hobbs, another with first 2-year-olds in 2021, has also had his fee reduced by £1,000 and will stand at £3,000. The fee for Schiaparelli (Ger) will return to £2,000 after he stood last year at £1,500, while Frontiersman (GB), whose first...

It was 11 years ago that Xtension (Ire) (Xaar {GB}) became only the second group winner for his trainer Clive Cox when landing the G2 Veuve Clicquot Vintage S. under Adam Kirby. In the intervening years, Cox and Kirby have become a force to be reckoned with, particularly in the major sprint contests and often with horses bought relatively inexpensively by the trainer. Xtension was himself a €15,000 yearling purchase from his breeder Paul McCartan of Ballyphilip Stud, and he was later sold on as a 3-year-old to race in...