Matthew Prior

Dark Angel’s Battaash Leaves King George Rivals In His Dust

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...

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Classic Empire Claiming Crown Handle Tops $10M

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...

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‘Great Value to be Found’ in Catalogue for Tattersalls Guineas Breeze-up Sale

A Blackbeard half-brother to the GII Sands Point Stakes heroine Eternal Hope (Teofilo) features among 201 juveniles catalogued to sell at next month's Tattersalls Guineas Breeze-up Sale, with a further 151 lots set to go through the ring at Park Paddocks during the Horses In Training section. Other highlights among the two-year-olds catalogued in the Guineas Breeze-up Sale include lot 163, a Torquator Tasso half-sister to the G2 Champagne Stakes third Aftermath (Justify) whose dam, Flying (Galileo), is a full-sister to the Group 1 winners Misty For Me and Ballydoyle;...

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