Dermot Farrington

Well into Wednesday's second session of the OBS Spring Sale, a juvenile filly by Freshman sire Jackie's Warrior realized a $2.3 million final bid from Dermot Farrington, who was bidding on behalf of Mrs. Fitriani Hay. Offered as Hip 570, the filly, who breezed in :9 3/5 last week, is out of Grade III winner Brazen Persuasion (Indian Charlie). Consigned by Harley / DeRenzo Thoroughbreds, the $140,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase was bred by Fred Hertrich III and John Fielding.

Fresh from sending out four winners at Cheltenham's November Meeting, Dan Skelton issued another statement of intent in his quest for a first British trainers' championship when revealed as the new trainer of the two most expensive lots sold during Monday's opening session of the Arqana Autumn Sale. In the space of three lots, the three-year-olds Mets Ta Ceinture (Hunter's Light) (lot 380) and Merci Mam (Karaktar) (lot 378) sold for an aggregate sum of €1,230,000. Both horses went through the ring following the decision to dissolve the partnership between...

Alex Cole, racing manager for owners Jim and Fitri Hay, has paid tribute to their "superstar" Starlust (GB), who has reportedly attracted plenty of interest from Australia with a view to a stallion career following his victory in Saturday's GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Del Mar. Trained by Ralph Beckett, Starlust is now the winner of six of his 18 career starts, having thrived on his racing in 2024, notably winning at the Breeders' Cup on his tenth run of a three-year-old campaign which began at Meydan back in...

One horse overshadowed all other news items of the past week as the bloodstock world came to terms with the death of Galileo (Ire) at the age of 23.  Fulsome tributes have been paid to him from across the globe with the overwhelming feeling being that we will never see his like again. It is worth bearing in mind, however, that many of us felt the same when his own extraordinary sire Sadler's Wells died 10 years ago. That colossus of the breeding world appeared in the third or fourth...