Elite Status

Elite Status has his first mares scanned in foal. The son of Havana Grey, who won the G3 Prix de Cabourg and G3 Hackwood Stakes, stands for £8,000 at Whitsbury Manor Stud this year. Some of the mares in foal to the G2 Norfolk Stakes runner-up include Harry Sounds (Due Diligence), a sister to multiple stakes winner and Group 1-placed Diligent Harry; Queens Prestige (Expert Eye), a sister to multiple stakes winner Mubtasimah (Dark Angel); and I Promised Myself (Dabirsim), a half-sister to the group winner and Group 1-placed Isfahani...

There are many ways to celebrate breeding a Classic winner, but Ed Harper must be in the minority in having selected a betting shop on Newmarket High Street as his first destination after departing the town's Rowley Mile, the landmark achievement of his family's Whitsbury Manor Stud still barely having sunk in. As it was, little more than an hour after the homebred Chaldean had skipped to glory in the 2023 edition of the 2,000 Guineas, Harper found himself in front of a wall of screens, ready to watch the...

Taller ladies need not apply for a date with Havana Grey in 2026 as Whitsbury Manor Stud has confirmed that the star stallion will continue to cover mares with a height restriction in place for next year. His fee remains private while Showcasing has been dropped by £5,000 to £30,000 and newbie Elite Status introduced at £8,000. Dragon Symbol and Sergei Prokofiev will operate at that same fee. Joe Callan, Head of Bloodstock and Sales at Whitsbury, commented, "Havana Grey will once again have his fee listed as private. This...

Elite Status, a Group-winning sprinter at two and three, has been retired from racing and will stand alongside his sire, Havana Grey, at Whitsbury Manor Stud next year. A stud fee will be announced at a later date. Trained by Karl Burke for Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum, Elite Status arrived at Royal Ascot unbeaten as a two-year-old following impressive victories in a maiden at Doncaster and the Listed National Stakes at Sandown. Though meeting with defeat when attempting to extend his winning sequence in the G2 Norfolk Stakes, ultimately...

It never ceases to amaze how much debate the two-year-old races at Royal Ascot generate each year. A quick scan on racing Twitter over the past few days confirmed as much.  For all the fascinating puzzles that the royal meeting will serve up this week, including whether Paddington (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}) can cope with Chaldean (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in the St James's Palace, what will reign supreme in the Prince Of Wales's or if any of the Australian sprinters can land a blow in the King's Stand S., it's the...