Pina Sonata

It has been a highly encouraging start to the year in Britain for the select racing interests of Mary Slack, whose colours have been carried to glory by the G3 Winter Derby winner Sky Safari (Zoustar) and last Saturday by her half-sister, the Listed Snowdrop Fillies' Stakes winner Pina Sonata (Pinatubo).  The owner-breeder runs an altogether larger operation in South Africa, where she owns Wilgerbosdrift, one of the country's largest stud farms based in the Western Cape. She and her daughter Jessica Slack-Jell are also credited with stepping in to...

There was much to absorb over the last weekend and, significantly for the tier of horseracing which prompts so much fan engagement, the two best horses in Europe both returned victorious in Dubai. Calandagan (Gleneagles) and Ombudsman (Night Of Thunder), first and second in last year's Qipco Champion Stakes and just two pounds apart in the 2025 Longines World Rankings, each put down an important marker for the season ahead, in the Dubai Sheema Classic and Dubai Turf respectively. And, yes, perhaps one can argue that there wasn't the usual...

Deauville's August-long Festival starts on Sunday, with the G1 Prix Rothschild offering a tantalising clash between some of Ballydoyle and Francis-Henri Graffard's leading ladies. The latter gets ready to saddle White Birch Farm's acquisition Matilda (Soldier Hollow) for the first time following her emphatic 6 1/2-length victory against the colts in the German 2,000 Guineas at Cologne in May. She is joined by Princesse Zahra Aga Khan's Mandanaba (Ghaiyyath), who is back at the mile over which she finished third in the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches after looking to run...