King Power

A special aspect of British racing is the existence of some spectacular country estates devoted solely to the purpose of breeding and training racehorses. For anyone with a love of the turf, names such as Kingsclere, Manton and Beckhampton have resonated down the years.  We owe a debt of gratitude to those who ensure that they continue in this modern era, with their swathes of land so attractive to developers and their historic buildings so expensive to maintain. Andrew Balding's base at Park House Stables has subsumed its village's name...

It doesn't take long for the Kentucky Downs meeting to hit full gear, as Saturday's program features three graded contests, including the GIII DK Horse Nashville Derby Invitational Stakes, with prize money that could reach $3.1 million. The purse remains intact should one of the 10 Kentucky-breds--eight in the main body of the field and two also-eligibles--is home first over the mile and five-sixteenths journey along the Kentucky/Tennessee border. The four foreign raiders are ineligible for the KTDF money, but the base purse of $2.5 million already makes it one...

There is no doubt that, in general, Newmarket's G3 Craven S. has lost much of its former relevance as a 2000 Guineas trial, but in the last two years it has enjoyed a revival with winners Master Of The Seas (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and Native Trail (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) going close in the mile Classic. Godolphin and Charlie Appleby have another leading man this time in the GI Summer S. and G3 Prix Francois Boutin scorer Mysterious Night (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}), but the one that really catches the...