Paul and Clare Rooney

Group 3 winner A Bit Of Spirit will be trained toward the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere on October 5, according to trainer Clive Cox. The son of Palace Pier, who carries the Paul and Clare Rooney colours, won the G3 Solario Stakes last month and was also under consideration for the G2 Royal Lodge Stakes closer to home on September 27. "We're over the moon with the success at Sandown and with that under his belt we're drawn towards the Lagardere," said Cox. "With the ability to perform on any...

There's no jumping off the merry-go-round now that the yearling sales are in full swing, and this week's action will take the travelling show to Newmarket and Baden-Baden for Tattersalls Somerville and Germany's premier yearling sale at BBAG. The latter should expect a stampede, as the word around the grounds is that Wednesday's Ryanair flight from Stansted to Karlsruhe will be chock-a-block with new visitors to BBAG's sale alongside the racecourse at Iffezheim.  This year I've been jocked off the Baden-Baden trip by Brian Sheerin, and the current sulk at...

After a rare three-way head-bob at the culmination of Saturday's G3 Solario Stakes at Sandown, Paul and Clare Rooney were celebrating as the 2-1 favourite A Bit Of Spirit (Palace Pier) prevailed by the smallest of margins. Locked in a tussle to the line with Oceans Four (Zoustar) and Humidity (Ulysses), the son of Darley's red-hot first-crop sire who had been second in the Listed Pat Eddery Stakes and Listed Stonehenge Stakes was ultimately inches in front where it counts. Two nose margins told the tale, with Godolphin's Pacific Avenue...