Delacroix

Calandagan (Gleneagles), Delacroix (Dubawi), Field Of Gold (Kingman) and Ombudsman (Night Of Thunder) headline the entries for QIPCO British Champions Day at Ascot, which takes place this year on Saturday, October 18. The seven-race card boasts record prize-money of £4.35 million in 2025, with the £1.3-million G1 QIPCO Champion Stakes taking top billing as the most valuable contest staged on the afternoon. Last year's renewal was won by Anmaat (Awtaad), who could face a rematch with the runner-up, Calandagan, after that rival returned to Ascot recently to win the G1 King...

G1 Coronation Cup winner Jan Brueghel (Galileo) is more likely for the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes than dual Derby hero Lambourn (Australia), trainer Aidan O'Brien revealed on Saturday. The Coolmore partners-owned 2024 G1 St Leger hero defeated the Aga Khan Studs' Calandagan (Gleneagles) at Epsom in June and will likely face that rival again. Continuous (Heart's Cry), who won the St Leger in 2023, is also set to participate in the Ascot showpiece. The G1 St Leger route is now under consideration for Lambourn. O'Brien said,...

Field Of Gold (Kingman) and Ombudsman (Night Of Thunder) have joined Forever Young (Real Steel) at the top of the LONGINES World's Best Racehorse Rankings for 2025, after producing blockbuster performances to win at Royal Ascot. Juddmonte's Field Of Gold won the G1 St James's Palace Stakes by three and a half lengths, while stablemate Ombudsman ran out a decisive winner of the G1 Prince Of Wales's Stakes, by two lengths from last year's G1 Champion Stakes winner Anmaat (Awtaad) [123]. Both horses are now rated 127, matching the figure...

Unbridled joy was present in bundles at Hamburg on Sunday as recent amateur-turned-apprentice Nina Baltromei urged Hochkoenig to victory on the line in the 156th Deutsches Derby, denying the Karl Burke-trained Convergent (Fascinating Rock) by the merest of margins. Hochkoenig is by the Lomitas stallion Polish Vulcano, who stands at the Darboven family's Gestuet Idee, which sponsors the Derby and is where the 17-year-old was bred. We'll be hearing from the stallion's breeder Albert Darboven in tomorrow's TDN, but for the breeders of Hochkoenig, racing photographers Marc and Gabi Ruehl,...

Friday, Sandown, post time: 15:00, THE DRAGON STAKES-Listed, £30,000, 2yo, 5f 10yT Field: Blue Orbit (Ire) (Starman {GB}), Military Code (GB) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), Rogue Supremacy (GB) (St Mark's Basilica {Fr}), Killavia (GB) (Havana Grey {GB}), Lebron Power (GB) (Starman {GB}), Love Olivia (GB) (Havana Grey {GB}), Solana Rose (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}), Staya (GB) (Havana Grey {GB}). TDN Verdict: Some Royal Ascot runners here, with Godolphin's Military Code looking to bounce back from an unplaced effort in the Coventry, KHK Racing's Staya having shown up prominently when fifth in the...

Saturday's G1 Coral-Eclipse at Sandown is shaping up to be the race of the season so far after a plethora of Group 1 winners were confirmed on Monday, headed by the John and Thady Gosden-trained Ombudsman. The son of Night Of Thunder came of age at Royal Ascot when winning the G1 Prince Of Wales's Stakes and only has one defeat on his record from six career starts. That came over this course and distance in May when Almaqam (Lope De Vega) produced a dominant performance from the front to...

Connections of Derby runner-up Lazy Griff will make a late decision regarding his participation in Sunday's Irish equivalent, with his attempt to go one place better hinging on how much rain falls at the Curragh in the coming days. Trained by Charlie Johnston, 50/1 shot Lazy Griff provided his Middleham Park Racing owners with a huge thrill when finishing second at Epsom, faring best of the rest behind Lambourn (Australia) for the second consecutive start after they also filled the first two places in the previous month's G3 Chester Vase....

Saturday, Epsom Downs, post time: 15:30, BETFRED DERBY-G1, £1,604,000, 3yo, c/f, 12f 6yT Field: Al Wasl Storm (Ire) (Affinisea {Ire}), Damysus (GB) (Frankel {GB}), Delacroix (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), Green Storm (Ire) (Circus Maximus {Ire}), Lambourn (Ire) (Australia {GB}), Lazy Griff (Ger) (Protectionist {Ger}), Midak (Fr) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}), New Ground (GB) (New Bay {GB}), Nightime Dancer (Ire) (Ghaiyyath {Ire}), Nightwalker (GB) (Frankel {GB}), Pride Of Arras (Ire) (New Bay {GB}), Rogue Impact (GB) (Study Of Man {Ire}), Ruling Court (Justify), Sea Scout (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), Stanhope Gardens (Ire) (Ghaiyyath...

For so long now we have been used to the Galileo factor at Epsom, and while none of his final small crop of 13 has made the line-up for the Derby or the Oaks, we still find his name all over the place on the pages of this year's runners, merely starting to shuffle back a bit in the generation game.  Galileo's sons Frankel, Australia and Circus Maximus each have at least one runner in the Derby, and Frankel and Australia also have Oaks runners. Eight of the 19 Derby...

Friday, Epsom Downs, post time: 16:00, BETFRED OAKS-G1, £573,150, 3yo, f, 12f 6yT Field: Desert Flower (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), Elwateen (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), Giselle (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), Go Go Boots (GB) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), Minnie Hauk (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), Qilin Queen (Ire) (Pinatubo {Ire}), Revoir (GB) (Study Of Man {Ire}), Wemightakedlongway (Ire) (Australia {GB}), Whirl (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}). TDN Verdict: Desert Flower has possibly stronger credentials than stablemate Ruling Court for getting the Newmarket-Epsom Classic double done and she has proven time and again that she...

Now that the line-ups have been confirmed for the Derby and Oaks, the wait has become one of merely hours for connections and fans of the protagonists alike. An intense period of final planning and preparation, of intermittent reverie. With the current century a quarter of the way though its course, there is little sign that the Epsom Classics have lost any of their draw for the big operations and the lists assembled for Friday and Saturday's Betfred-sponsored tests are testament to that. Since 2000, overseas interests--mainly Irish--have held sway...

Saturday, Epsom Downs, post time: 15:30, BETFRED DERBY-G1, £1,604,000, 3yo, c/f, 12f 6yT Field: Al Wasl Storm (Ire) (Affinisea {Ire}), Damysus (GB) (Frankel {GB}), Delacroix (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), Green Storm (Ire) (Circus Maximus {Ire}), Lambourn (Ire) (Australia {GB}), Lazy Griff (Ger) (Protectionist {Ger}), Midak (Fr) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}), New Ground (GB) (New Bay {GB}), Nightime Dancer (Ire) (Ghaiyyath {Ire}), Nightwalker (GB) (Frankel {GB}), Pride Of Arras (Ire) (New Bay {GB}), Rogue Impact (GB) (Study Of Man {Ire}), Ruling Court (Justify), Sea Scout (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), Stanhope Gardens (Ire) (Ghaiyyath...