Expanded

A high-class edition of the Boyle Sports Lockinge Stakes is in prospect at Newbury on Saturday, with Damysus (Frankel), Opera Ballo (Ghaiyyath) and Zeus Olympios (Night Of Thunder) headlining a 13-strong list of contenders for the Group 1 showpiece. Damysus kicked off his four-year-old campaign with an impressive victory in last month's G3 Earl Of Sefton Stakes at Newmarket, while Opera Ballo had Zeus Olympios back in third when winning the G2 bet365 Mile at Sandown. Trainer Karl Burke expects Zeus Olympios to strip fitter with that outing under his...

Thursday, Leopardstown, post time: 18:52, BOYLESPORTS MELD STAKES-G3, €36,000, 3yo/up, 9fT Field: Galen (GB) (Gleneagles {Ire}), Lord Massusus (Ire) (Markaz {Ire}), Snellen (Ire) (Expert Eye {GB}), Sparks Fly (GB) (Muhaarar {GB}), Expanded (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), Purview (GB) (Kingman {GB}), Shiota (Ire) (Tamayuz {GB}). TDN Verdict: Ballydoyle's sole 2,000 Guineas runner Expanded is threatening to enter oblivion if he can't turn his form around, but we know from his Dewhurst second he is capable of that. Juddmonte's Purview split Delacroix and Tennessee Stud in this track's 10-furlong Derby Trial when...

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...

It was the perceived wisdom of 2024 that the 2-year-old fillies were a level above the colts and as Newmarket's two mile Classics loom this weekend, we get a first measurement of whether that has carried over. On the face of it, the line-ups for the Betfred-sponsored 2,000 and 1,000 Guineas suggest that the fillies' monument is the one most anticipated among Suffolk's hardcore. There's a good old Godolphin-Ballydoyle stand-off between two unbeaten peer leaders and TDN Rising Stars in Desert Flower and Lake Victoria to come on Sunday and while it...

Classic trials may be about as fashionable as corduroy these days but I still love both, so it has been a riveting few weeks considering which of the three-year-olds may be about to take a big step forwards or may already have shown their best. People love racing for different reasons but attempting to know the unknowable is a major draw, and those puzzles are there for all involved in different facets of the game, from breeders to owners, trainers or punters. Whether through formal trials, racecourse gallops, or stable...

ROSEGREEN, Ireland -- It's that time of year again. The countdown to the Classics. Better than Christmas. And there are few better ways to indulge dreams of what may be about to unfold in the coming weeks than by annoying Aidan O'Brien for a morning at Ballydoyle. He must find it irksome, all these pesky journalists turning up, as surely as the first swallow of spring. But if he does, he hides it well, and almost seems to revel in sharing what he clearly finds the most rewarding part of...

Aidan O'Brien has revealed that long-time 2,000 Guineas favourite The Lion In Winter (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) is unlikely to make the Newmarket Classic on May 3 and nominated Expanded (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) and Twain (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) as being the most likely Ballydoyle-trained representatives for the race instead. The news, which was delivered at the annual Ballydoyle press morning, saw Expanded usurp The Lion In Winter as the new 2,000 Guineas favourite at odds of 6-1 while Twain has also shortened into 9-1. "The Lion In...