Galileo (Ire)

   In this continuing series, TDN's Senior Racing Editor Steve Sherack catches up with the connections of promising maidens to keep on your radar. The gone-too-soon, two-time GI Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic heroine and three-time champion Royal Delta (Empire Maker) left behind only one foal, the winning filly Delta's Royalty (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). The future looks bright for the 8-year-old mare's second produce Noble Dynasty (c, 2, Kingman {GB}), who recorded a fantastic runner-up finish for Besilu Stables and Hall of Famer Bill Mott on debut going a mile over...

A week on from the blockbuster Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale, more records fell at the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion Monday when the Fasig-Tipton New York-Bred Yearling Sale concluded with highwater marks for gross, average and a record-tying median. During two sessions, 199 New York-bred yearlings sold for a $23,870,000. The average was $119,950--up 15.1% from a year ago, while the median remained constant at $85,000. With 55 horses reported not sold, the buy-back rate was 21.7%. It was 26.3% a year ago. "This sale hit the quinella," Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning...

ASCOT, UK -- Two years, two geldings, two King Georges. Francis Graffard has carried all before him in his native France this season and he returned triumphant to Ascot on Saturday with Calandagan his willing accomplice to repeat the success last year of stable-mate Goliath. "I'd prefer to have a very good gelding than a bad colt," the trainer quipped in response to a query as to the missing anatomy of the son of Gleneagles. It is hard to argue with that assertion when scrutinising Calandagan's increasingly impressive race record,...

Godolphin's seven-year-old gelding Trawlerman (Golden Horn) encountered a giant when runner-up in Royal Ascot's G1 Gold Cup last year and, with old foe Kyprios having departed stage left, kept matters simple and made all for an emphatic seven-length defeat of Coolmore's Illinois (Galileo) in the meeting's 2 1/2-mile feature. His winning time of 4:15.02 was a new track record and eclipsed the benchmark, set by Rite Of Passage 15 years ago, by nearly two seconds. The 85-40 favourite was in front from flagfall and set a modest tempo on the...

EPSOM DOWNS, UK -- It is impossible to think of the Coolmore operation without the name Sangster coming to mind and, not for the first time, a member of the clan has been instrumental in aiding Coolmore to Classic glory. The imperious Minnie Hauk reeled in and eventually - but only just - overhauled her front-running stable-mate Whirl to give Ben Sangster his second winner of the Oaks as breeder after Dancing Rain struck at Epsom back in 2011. For good measure, he also bred last year's Coronation Cup winner...

Friday's G1 Betfred Coronation Cup turned out to be as pure a mile-and-a-half test as it gets and in the moment of truth it was Jan Brueghel who shed his playboy image to tough it out in an Epsom battle royal with Calandagan. Raw and green despite winning a St Leger during his unbeaten 3-year-old campaign, what could be Galileo's final Classic winner had to show his true mettle here with stablemate and fellow Doncaster Classic winner Continuous and Wayne Lordan putting everything into the red. Getting first run on...

Any week which included the return of Kyprios (Ire) should be considered a good week indeed. Yes, this time of the year is really all about exciting maiden winners and Classic trials, but any horse who can stick around in the Flat pack for as long as Kyprios has done must be cherished.  Four members of the final crop of his sire Galileo (Ire) have entries in the Derby and/or Irish Derby, but otherwise we will be relying on his older runners, including last year's St Leger one-two Illinois (Ire)...

While visually making heavy weather of bringing up a third renewal of Navan's Listed Bar One Racing Vintage Crop Stakes on Saturday, Ballydoyle's stayer supreme Kyprios (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) is back and at this point still in command of this sphere. Those unaccustomed to the way the 7-year-old operates would have found themselves underwhelmed at the way he took a relative age to subdue the drastically overmatched Poetic Sound (Ire) (Poet's Word {Ire}) in this 14-furlong warm-up for the season's Cup races, with even takers of the cramped 1-7 on...

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-bred horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Wednesday's Observations features a seven-figure son of Gun Runner. 2.18 Leopardstown, Mdn, €15,000, 3yo, c/g, 10fT GUN CARRIAGE (Gun Runner) is one of a trio from Ballydoyle here and probably the third-string on jockey bookings, but given that he was a $1.25-million purchase at Keeneland September is very much...

Dual Grade I winner Bolshoi Ballet (Ire) has sired his first reported foals, a pair of fillies born at The Beeches Stud last week, Coolmore announced. One filly is out of Moon Over Thefirth (Ire) (Flemensfirth), a full-sister to 2024 star novice hurdler Ballyburn (Ire), who is favoured for the Brown Advisory Novices' Chase at Cheltenham next week. A half-sister to graded-winning chaser Emily Gray (Ire) (Flemensfirth) and to the dam of Thyestes and Bobbyjoe Chase winner Nick Rockett (Ire) (Walk In The Park {Ire}), Roses Of Summer (Ire) (Gold...

We are now in our second full year of operation at Stonereath Farm. As our Kentucky division, it has allowed Blue Diamond Stud to diversify and is now home to 16 of our mares. We are very lucky to have an excellent team to oversee the farm, headed by our CEO Ted Voute, farm manager Jenn Laidlaw and financial controller Erin Dilger. TDN chats with Imad Al Sagar to find out about the operation's mating plans for 2025 in America. ANGLE OF ATTACK, 7, Maclean's Music--Bourbon Warfare, by Colonel John....

Without a doubt, one of the great privileges of working in racing journalism is being able to get close to the equine stars and hear first hand from the people who bred, own, train, or ride them, as well as the countless people who look after retired racehorses and give them a meaningful life long after their last race is run. At TDN, we try to bring our readers a wide range of stories, from the paddocks, breeding sheds, sales rings, training grounds and racecourses around Europe and beyond. We...