Haydock

Haydock Park has announced that the raceday scheduled for Saturday 20th June and the Old Newton Cup Meeting, due to take place from 2nd to 4th July, have been cancelled while investigations continue into the cause of the hole that occurred during racing last month. The race programme scheduled for Saturday 20th June will now take place at Nottingham Racecourse. The Tom Grennan concert originally scheduled to take place after racing will go ahead at Haydock Park as planned. All ticket purchasers and hospitality guests will be contacted directly with...

Significantly delayed by the discovery of a drainage hole in the home straight, Haydock's G2 Sandy Lane Stakes eventually played out with a compensatory dazzling performance from the high-class Venetian Sun (Starman). Reverting to six furlongs after failed efforts over further in the Moyglare and the 1,000 Guineas, Tony Bloom and Ian McAleavy's Prix Morny heroine went through this contest as if operating on a different level and only needed encouraging late on to dismiss Division (Kingman) by three lengths. Spicy Marg (Starspangledbanner) was another 1 1/2 lengths away in...

Three races during Haydock's William Hill Temple Stakes card have been called off after a hole was discovered on the round course during the first race. Racing has been switched to the inner course after John and Thady Gosden trainee Friendly Soul (Kingman) took a false step in Saturday's opener, the Listed William Hill Epic Boost British EBF Hedge Of Oak Stakes. The 2-1 favourite was pulled up after the incident. Haydock's clerk of the course Dan Cooper told ITV Racing, "In the first race Friendly Soul took a misstep...

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. Saturday's Observations features 3.7 million gns debuter Act Of Kindness. 4.45 Newmarket, Mdn, 2yo, f, 7fT ACT OF KINDNESS (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}), the third-highest-priced yearling sold at last year's Tattersalls October Book 1 bonanza at 3.7million gns, had been taken out of her intended debut at Sandown last month...

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. Friday's Observations features a high-priced sale graduate in the Amo colours. 4.00 Haydock, Novice, 2yo, 6f 212yT POKER (IRE) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) debuts nearly a year after making headlines at Tattersalls October Book 1 when selling for 4.3million gns, a record price for a colt offered at the sale....

Everybody had a fair crack at Saturday's Betfair Sprint Cup at Haydock and it was the 16-1 shot Big Mojo (Mohaather) who proved the quickest and toughest to register another Group 1 success for some very lucky owners. Following the example of Paul and Rachael Teasdale's Breeders' Cup-winning fairytale story Big Evs, the Mick Appleby-trained three-year-old forged his own day in the limelight as he grafted on the front end for William Buick throughout en route to a 1 1/4-length success. Last year's runner-up Kind Of Blue (Blue Point) was...

Following an impressive debut win at Newbury last month, TDN Rising Star Bow Echo (Night Of Thunder) denied chief rival Publish (Kingman) to double his tally in Saturday's Listed Ascendant Stakes at Haydock. Shrugging off that Juddmonte rival inside the final furlong, Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum's George Boughey-trained 5-6 favourite readily asserted under Billy Loughnane for a length success. Boughey thinks there is a lot more to come. "He's a lovely horse who has shown plenty of ability at home, but he's possibly still quite raw," he said. "He...

It's September and the time of reckonings across Europe's racing programme, with the first two weekends witnessing some crucial deciders ahead of year-end honours. It is fair to say that the sprint scene has been murky for a while and so Saturday's G1 Betfair Sprint Cup at Haydock takes on extra gravity. Success for Lazzat (Territories) will help clear the picture and if it is a clear-cut one it could even seal his title as champion sprinter, so it is only normal that trainer Jerome Reynier is feeling the heat....

Saturday, Haydock, post time: 15:35, THE BETFAIR SPRINT CUP-G1, £427,000, 3yo/up, 6fT Field: Annaf (Ire) (Muhaarar {GB}), Beauvatier (Fr) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), Diligent Harry (GB) (Due Diligence), Inisherin (GB) (Shamardal), James's Delight (Ire) (Invincible Army {Ire}), Kind Of Blue (GB) (Blue Point {Ire}), Lazzat (Fr) (Territories {Ire}), My Mate Alfie (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}), Run To Freedom (GB) (Muhaarar {GB}), Ain't Nobody (Ire) (Sands Of Mali {Fr}), Big Mojo (Ire) (Mohaather {GB}), Flora Of Bermuda (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}), No Half Measures (GB) (Cable Bay {Ire}), Rage Of Bamby...

Division (Kingman), an 800,000gns Tattersalls October Book 1 purchase, had shaped with promise when runner-up on debut at Windsor last month and started as the 4-6 favourite to build on that second time at Haydock. Always comfortable on the front end under James Doyle, the full-brother to the Lowther winner Celandine turned it on approaching the furlong pole to beat Night Mission (Dark Angel) by three lengths. The winner is the fourth foal out of Rockcliffe Stud's Listed Maggie Dickson Stakes winner and G3 Summer Stakes-placed Pepita, with the third...

Trainer Jerome Reynier is optimistic that Lazzat can consolidate his position as Europe's leading sprinter by adding another Group 1 success to his tally in Saturday's Betfair Sprint Cup at Haydock. An eight-time winner for the Marseille-based Reynier, Lazzat put himself in contention for top honours in this division when winning the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot in June, beating the high-class Japanese raider Satono Reve (Lord Kanaloa) by half a length, having been acquired by Wathnan Racing just a few weeks previously. More recently, the...

Following Monday's confirmation stage, French star Lazzat, July Cup heroine No Half Measures (Cable Bay) and the supplemented Sky Majesty (Blue Point) feature among 22 possible runners in Saturday's Betfair Sprint Cup at Haydock. Jerome Reynier's Lazzat got the better of Japanese ace Satono Reve when striking Royal Ascot gold in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes on his penultimate start. The son of Territories then suffered a surprise defeat when bidding for back-to-back wins in the G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville last time, but he is...