In an exhibition of pure sprinting prowess, Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid al Maktoum's Battaash (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) brought all his power to bear on his rivals on Friday to register back-to-back successes in Goodwood's G2 King George Qatar S. Despite the contrasting ground conditions to the easy turf he encountered 12 months ago and the obvious questions posed by defeat in the June 19 G1 King's Stand S. at Royal Ascot, the bay attracted heavy support as the 8-11 favourite and was in front before he had raced two...
The 17th edition of the Claiming Crown, held Saturday at Gulfstream Park, generated total handle of $10,118,000--up 0.57% from 2014 despite rainy conditions which caused four races to be taken off the turf. Gulfstream was hosting the event for the fourth year. "We're extremely pleased with the success of Saturday's Claiming Crown," said P.J. Campo, General Manager of Gulfstream Park and Vice President of Racing for The Stronach Group. "We had big fields and tremendous participation from horsemen throughout North America. We're confident the numbers would have been even more...
The IRE Incentive will extend to Italy for the first time this year to reward Irish-bred winners of designated races in the country. The popular sales initiative, run by Irish Thoroughbred Marketing (ITM), has been in operation since 2021 and has helped to stimulate Irish bloodstock and sales. Over 1,000 IRE Incentive races in Ireland and Great Britain have been run since with over €5 million in bonuses spent at Irish auctions. Figures from Weatherbys show that Italy is the third biggest market for Ireland in Europe after Britain and...