Kind Of Blue

Wednesday, York, post time: 15:30, THE GO LOCAL STORES MINSTER STAKES-G2, £165,000, 3yo/up, 6fT Field: Big Mojo (Ire) (Mohaather {GB}), Ain't Nobody (Ire) (Sands Of Mali {Fr}), American Affair (GB) (Washington DC {Ire}), Aramram (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}), Cool Hoof Luke (GB) (Advertise {GB}), Crestofdistinction (GB) (Kodiac {GB}), Diligent Harry (GB) (Due Diligence), Elmonjed (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}), Jasour (GB) (Havana Grey {GB}), Kind Of Blue (GB) (Blue Point {Ire}), Quinault (Ger) (Oasis Dream {GB}), Regional (GB) (Territories {Ire}), Time For Sandals (Ire) (Sands Of Mali {Fr}). TDN Analysis: With...

In its fledgling years, Wathnan Racing may have made a major splash at Royal Ascot in particular, and added a 66/1 winner of the Dubai World Cup to its list of achievements in 2025, but the team now has another major prize in its sights the on the other side of the Atlantic. Commandment (Into Mischief) won last weekend's Florida Derby to take his string of victories for Brad Cox to four and put himself firmly in the reckoning for the Kentucky Derby on May 2. Billed as 'the greatest...

We should have seen it coming really. Night Of Thunder burst onto the scene in 2019 to be champion first-season sire with seven stakes winners to his name. Not all leading freshmen go on to put themselves into contention for champion sire honours, of course, but six years later this is exactly what the prolific Night Of Thunder has done, and he looks almost certain now to follow the achievement of his own sire Dubawi, who was champion in 2022. Dubawi, who turns 24 in January, took longer to get...

QIPCO British Champions Day at Ascot on Saturday is set to feature four of the top ten horses in the world, with Ombudsman (Night Of Thunder), Field Of Gold (Kingman), Delacroix (Dubawi) and Calandagan (Gleneagles) headlining the confirmations for the five Group 1 races made on Monday. The £1.3m QIPCO Champion Stakes looks like being one of the races of the year, with the world's top-rated horse, Ombudsman, leading 15 confirmations for the 10-furlong contest. The Godolphin-owned four-year-old's ongoing rivalry with Coolmore's Delacroix will be settled at Ascot on Saturday...

The majority of the season's stars have held their ground after the latest acceptance stage for Britain's richest race day, the QIPCO British Champions Day at Ascot on October 18. In the £1.3-million QIPCO Champion Stakes, the 2024 winner Anmaat (Awtaad) will lock horns with the G1 Princes Of Wales's Stakes/G1 Juddmonte International Stakes hero Ombudsman (Night Of Thunder) and G1 Eclipse Stakes winner Delacroix (Dubawi). Also entered in that contest is the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner Calandagan (Gleneagles), 2024 G1 Irish Champion Stakes scorer...

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...

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...

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...

We're off. Well, sort of. In a manner reminiscent of the sputtering start to the Flat turf season, Seven Days returns this week but is immediately taking a short break before promising to be back in time for the Lincoln and the Brocklesby. So, for those of you still in a post-Cheltenham/St Patrick's Day slump, here's a little look back on the week that was. We'll mention Cheltenham only briefly here to reiterate the point that we may well see the 100/1 Triumph Hurdle winner Poniros (GB) back in action...

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...