Goliath

The connections of the half-dozen European raiders among a field of 11 for Sunday's HK$26-million Longines Hong Kong Vase (2400m) will have been mostly pleased with the outcome of the barrier draw, which was held in the state-of-the-art parade ring at Sha Tin Racecourse Thursday morning. Resolute Racing and Baron Philip Von Ullman's Goliath (Adlerflug) makes a second trip across to Hong Kong in the space of eight months, having finished a disappointing ninth to Tastiera (Jpn) (Satono Crown {Jpn}) at a fairly short price in the G1 FWD QE...

DEL MAR, USA -- From the shock win of Arcangues in the 1993 Classic through the great Goldikova and Six Perfections to Talismanic, French-trained horses have left their mark on the Breeders' Cup roll of honour and it will be no surprise to see that list extended this year. Only one French trainer is here in Del Mar but he is the one who is making his own indelible mark on his country's racing scene. Francis Graffard will be champion trainer in his home country this year for the first...

The Breeders' Cup teams for Aidan O'Brien and Francis-Henri Graffard are taking shape, with both set to send strong representation to the two-day event at Del Mar on October 31 and November 1. Leading the Ballydoyle cavalry is Minnie Hauk, winner of the Oaks, Irish Oaks and Yorkshire Oaks and runner-up in the Arc. The daughter of Frankel is training toward the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Turf. "Our races have been nicely spaced out this year and she came out of the Arc well; everybody seems happy with her so that's...

Francis Graffard has had his horses on song from early spring, and anyone who felt that the trainer surely could not maintain such a good run of form is now being proved wrong. He is so far clear of Andre Fabre in the French trainers' table that a first champion title for Graffard is starting to look a mere formality.  As if to underline his dominance, the trainer secured two more Group 1 victories on Sunday. Goliath struck in the Grosser Preis von Baden - a first top-level win for...

Resolute Bloodstock's Goliath (Adlerflug) will be making his German debut in the G1 Grosser Preis von Baden on September 7, according to trainer Francis-Henri Graffard. The 5-year-old gelding won the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes last year and only missed by a head when second in the G3 Prix Gontaut-Biron at Deauville on August 16. "I will run him over longer distances again and will have him start again over 2400 metres," Graffard told Galopp Online during Thursday's racing at Deauville. "He will compete in the Grosser...

Godolphin's G1 Prince Of Wales's Stakes hero Ombudsman (Night Of Thunder) has been awarded a mark of 130 by Timeform for his efforts at Royal Ascot on Wednesday. He is now the highest-rated older horse in Europe, with Jan Brueghel (Galileo) and Goliath (Adlerflug) both at a mark of 128. Almaqam (Lope De Vega) is rated 126, as is White Birch (Ulysses). The Aga Khan's Calandagan (Gleneagles) is rated 127. Timeform handicapper Rory King said, "Ombudsman might have lost his unbeaten record in the Brigadier Gerard but that still represented...

LONDON, UK -- City Of Troy (Justify) and Laurel River (Into Mischief), owned by two of racing's superpowers, Coolmore and Juddmonte, have been jointly crowned Longines World's Best Racehorse for 2024.  At a ceremony to mark the Longines Racing Awards at the Savoy Hotel in London on Tuesday it was revealed that they had each gained a rating of 128, marking the first time since 2019 that two horses had shared the top spot in the world rankings.  The top-rated performance for City Of Troy came in the G1 Juddmonte...

John Stewart says that he is 'putting his money where his mouth is' after spending 6,265,000gns--close to $8 million--on five fillies at Tattersalls this week, headed by Group 1 Prix Marcel Boussac winner Vertical Blue (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) at 3.2 million gns.  Vertical Blue is trained by Francis Graffard, who manages the career of Stewart's most high-profile horse in Europe, Goliath (Ger) (Adlerflug {Ger}). The four-year-old gelding was last seen finishing sixth in the Japan Cup.  That effort was deemed unsatisfactory by the man behind Resolute Racing, who has outlined...

The connections of Fantastic Moon (Ger) (Sea The Moon {Ger}), eleventh in Sunday's G1 Japan Cup, have declined an invitation to the G1 Longines Hong Kong Vase at Sha Tin Racecourse on Sunday, December 8, and the four-year-old has been officially retired, Liberty Racing's Lars-W. Baumgarten confirmed Monday on X. Fantastic Moon will enter stud in 2025 at Gestut Ebbesloh as previously announced. "Finishing 11th in the Japan Cup, Fantastic Moon appeared a bit tired in the final furlong. It was a long season for him. We'll pass on the...

Three top-class European invaders made the trip across to contest Sunday's G1 Japan Cup, trying to put a dent in the locals, who have more or less owned the 2400-metre feature since the turn of the century. But each was done in--to varying degrees--by a race that was run at a walking pace for the opening mile, and favoured Do Deuce (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) ensured that the trophy would remain in Japan for another year. The 5-year-old took off from the back of the field approaching the home straight...

Anticlimactic goes by the household name of disappointing and there was no disguising the glum faces at Goffs on Friday when Gouache (Ger) (Shamardal), the dam of live Japan Cup hope Goliath (Ger) (Adlerflug {Ger}), failed to sell at €5 million. A collective groan was heard in the jam-packed auditorium when Henry Beeby uttered the words, "I'm afraid that's not enough," at €5 million. One pressroom colleague suggested that he wouldn't be rushing into a game of poker with the Goffs chief executive any time soon as things seemed to...

Three of Europe's top 2400-metre gallopers face an 11-strong local challenge in Sunday's G1 Japan Cup, looking to snap an 18-year run of success for Japanese-based horses. While it has become next to impossible for the raiders to walk away with the Tokyo spoils, that was not always the case. In the first 17 renewals, horses from overseas prevailed on no fewer than a dozen occasions, including theretofore unprecedented consecutive winners for Sir Michael Stoute with Singspiel (Ire) and Pilsudski (Ire) in 1996 and 1997, respectively. But since that time,...