Hotazhell

Bars and taverns never seem to be lacking in high stool prophets willing to tell anyone who'll listen how they could have or even should have been something they're not.  The well-trodden path is a tempting one. There is security to the predictability and comfort in knowing there will be a cheque in the post at the end of the week. But what if there was something more out there? A greater reward that required a bigger risk perhaps.  The prospect of dying wondering about what magic lies outside of...

Aidan O'Brien looks set to saddle Los Angeles (Camelot) and Minnie Hauk (Frankel) in Sunday's G1 Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at ParisLongchamp, with the latter expected to be supplemented later this week to join the current cast of 17 contenders for Europe's richest race. Minnie Hauk has enjoyed a faultless campaign so far and will make her first trip to France following three consecutive Group 1 wins in the Oaks at Epsom, Irish Oaks at the Curragh and Yorkshire Oaks at York. Coral make her the 4/1 joint-favourite...

Group 2 winner Green Impact will miss the rest of the season after picking up an injury at York, according to trainer Jessica Harrington. Successful in the G2 Champions Juvenile Stakes, the son of Wootton Bassett won the Listed Glencairn Stakes this June after running sixth in the G1 2000 Guineas at Newmarket. He was sixth in the G1 Irish Derby to Lambourn (Australia), and was most recently fourth in the G2 York Stakes at York last week. "Green Impact won't run again this season. He got an injury in...

Irish trainer Jessica Harrington says that the likely pace setup of the Grade I Saratoga Derby Invitational Stakes and the prospect of keeping Hotazhell (Too Darn Hot) to his own age group were contributing factors to making the trip across the Atlantic Ocean with her stable star. One of the best juveniles in Europe last year, Hotazhell landed the G1 Futurity Trophy Stakes. However, he has raced only twice this campaign and was forced to sidestep the French 2,000 Guineas due to unsuitably quick ground.  Both of Hotazhell's efforts this...

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...

Thursday's G2 Dante Stakes hero Pride Of Arras (New Bay) has improved to a Timeform rating of 119p after his performance at York. The rating is the highest given to any of the winners of the middle-distance Classic trials this spring. Topping all 3-year-olds via rankings is G1 2000 Guineas hero Ruling Court (Justify) at 123. G3 Acomb Stakes victor and Dante favourite The Lion In Winter (Sea The Stars) is third at 118+. Leopardstown's G3 Derby Trial Stakes winner Delacroix (Dubawi) and G1 Futurity Trophy Stakes scorer Hotazhell (Too...

Saturday, Lingfield, post time: 15:35, WILLIAM HILL CHARTWELL FILLIES' STAKES-G3, £90,000, 3yo/up, f/m, 7fT Field: Great Generation (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}), Fair Angellica (GB) (Harry Angel {Ire}), Jabaara (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}), Spiritual (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), Ziggy's Dream (Ire) (Inns Of Court {Ire}), Cathedral (GB) (Too Darn Hot {GB}). TDN Verdict: Cathedral takes on her elders, getting a significant weight-for-age advantage which could give her the edge despite her inexperience. Second in the G3 Oh So Sharp Stakes at Newmarket in October, she had two of this season's...

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...

Tattersalls has released the catalogue for the Craven Breeze-Up Sale, of which dual Group 1 winner Vandeek (GB), Champion Two-Year-Old Native Trail (GB) and more recently G1 Futurity Trophy winner Hotazhell (GB) (Too Darn Hot {GB}) are alumni. The sale is set to take place between Monday 14 and Wednesday 16 April.  A total of 182 juveniles have been catalogued for the Craven Breeze-Up Sale, which features progeny by top-class sires like Dubawi (Ire), Blue Point (Ire), Kingman (GB), Mehmas (Ire), Too Darn Hot (GB), Wootton Bassett (GB), Havana Grey...

It may not have been obvious at the time but with the benefit of almost 20 years' hindsight it is now clear that the retirement to stud in 2006 of both Dubawi (Ire) and Shamardal was a pivotal moment for the Darley operation, and indeed the European stallion scene. There is now no shortage of their male-line descendants at stud and, in Blue Point (Ire) and Too Darn Hot (GB) in particular, their legacy looks assured within the Darley ranks.  The pair ended last year as first and second in...

Jessica Harrington has described Classic contenders Green Impact (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) and Hotazhell (GB) (Too Darn Hot {GB}) as two of the most exciting colts that she has had to look forward to for some time and revealed that the latter would get his campaign underway in a 2,000 Guineas--but the legendary trainer hasn't decided whether she will go to England, Ireland or France.  While Hotazhell is viewed as a Guineas prospect, Harrington admitted that she is "dreaming" that Green Impact can develop into a Derby horse this season....

Over a decade on from Pathfork recording a memorable Group 1 triumph in the National Stakes at the Curragh, the American-based Bonnie and Tommy Hamilton of Silverton Hill Farm are dreaming of further big-race riches in Europe with Hotazhell (GB) (Too Darn Hot {GB}).  If it has been a while between drinks for the Hamiltons in Ireland, Hotazehll appears as though he was worth the wait. Like Pathfork, Hotazhell is trained by Jessica Harrington.  He announced himself as a pretty serious colt with genuine Classic aspirations when landing the G3...