High Chaparral

So You Think, a winner of 10 Group 1 races in both hemispheres, has died at the age of 19 after a short illness. Coolmore Australia announced the news on Monday morning. The farm said in a statement, "It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of 10-time Group 1 winner and leading sire So You Think, after succumbing to a short illness while receiving world-class care from the team at Scone Equine Hospital." The son of High Chaparral was described by his Southern Hemisphere trainer Bart Cummings...

4th-SAR, $100K, Msw, 2yo, f, 1 1/16mT, 2:52 p.m. ET. John Stewart's Resolute outfit went to $500,000 during Keeneland September to acquire BLUE MADAME (Dubawi {Ire}). The Chad Brown trainee is the first foal out of English & French Group 1 stakes winner Fancy Blue (Ire) (Deep Impact {Ire}), who is a half-sister to French MSW Casterton (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) and is herself out of the full-sister of dual U.S. champion grass horse High Chaparral (Ire) (Sadler's Wells). Making the races is Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling Sale grad Scratch...

Flat and jumps, north and south, in many ways Boxing Day belonged to the late High Chaparral (Ire), whose sons Karaktar (Ire) and Contributer (Ire) were responsible for group/graded doubles, one under each code, in Britain, Ireland, New Zealand and Australia. It is beyond dispute that High Chaparral was a brilliant racehorse. Retired to stud in the era of Galileo (Ire) and Montjeu (Ire), the horse who won two Derbys, two Breeders' Cup Turfs, an Irish Champion S. and a Racing Post Trophy perhaps never received quite the level of...

Cheltenham is behind us and, yes, we still have Aintree and Punchestown to come of the major jumps fixtures but, with the clocks on the turn, really the only thing to think about now is the return of the Flat. The turf season makes its staggered return in Ireland on Sunday, and in Britain the following Saturday. France is already racing ahead and packed in four stakes races at Saint-Cloud last Saturday, with the Listed Prix Omnium II providing the first TDN Rising Star on the European turf for 2023...

4th-Chantilly, $29,000, Debutantes, 2-6, 3yo, c/g, 8f (AWT), 1:39.82, ft. MR MOLIERE (GB) (g, 3, Kingman {GB}--Armande {Ire} {GSW & G1SP-Fr, $222,116}, by Sea The Stars {Ire}). O-Baron Edouard de Rothschild & Lady O'Reilly; B-SC Ecurie de Meautry & Petra Bloodstock Agency Ltd (GB); T-Andre Fabre; J-M. Guyon. Horseracing is a game of old. Appropriately, there is so much from the 17th and 18th centuries in the pedigree of Chantilly demolition winner Mr Moliere (GB). "Monsieur Moliere" for the French race commentator, evidemment. Moliere was the stage name of Jean-Baptiste...

The betting for the QIPCO 2,000 Guineas suggests that Godolphin has a very strong hand for Europe's early Classics, with Native Trail (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) a solid favourite and Coroebus (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) a clear second pick. However, such strength in depth brings its own complications. The European calendar boasts three principal Guineas races (chronologically, in Great Britain, France and Ireland) and the obvious aspiration when one has the two most likely candidates is to win all three.  It is a tough, albeit not impossible, assignment for one horse alone,...