Prince Khalid Abdullah

Following an interview with Guy Harwood to mark the 40th anniversary of Dancing Brave's Classic season, we examine the horse's stud career in Britain and Japan  By Emma Berry "Neither of us thought we'd ever get another horse like him," says Grant Pritchard-Gordon, former racing manager to Prince Khalid Abdullah in the early days of Juddmonte and, crucially, through the 1986 tour de force of Dancing Brave.  "Then I remember when Frankel won his Guineas, I was in the box with Prince Khalid and I said to him, 'I never...

Year in, year out we can appreciate the best horses of each generation but how often are we granted the privilege to witness one whose talent is so immense that his name will echo down the decades?  Those who made their way to Newmarket's traditional opening meeting 40 years ago likely came away with a favourable impression of Dancing Brave's win in the Craven Stakes but they could hardly have dared to dream of what was to come. For Guy Harwood, however, that dream was already alive, even on that...

Charismatic international jockey Frankie Dettori and 1980s legend Dancing Brave (Lyphard) are the two newest members of the QIPCO British Champions Series Hall of Fame. Launched in 2021, the Hall of Fame is specifically for UK Flat racing, and both inductees will be honoured through a special presentation moment ahead of the G1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas at Newmarket Racecourse on Saturday, Apr. 30. Dettori, 51, is the third jockey to be inducted after Lester Piggott and Pat Eddery. He has ridden almost 3,300 British winners, third to Piggott and Willie...

Following a year in the racing world when all has changed, if not utterly, then significantly, a further adjustment to the norm is brought about by the departure of Lord Grimthorpe as Juddmonte's racing manager. Royal Ascot 2021 will mark the end of a 22-year stint in the role which has seen him closely allied to some of the greatest names in the sport's modern history as the public face of the operation which is as admired as much as it is successful. That admiration extends to Grimthorpe himself, better...

This week started with International Women's Day and, while it could be argued that there's more to be done when it comes to equal opportunities, in many ways women today have it relatively easy when it comes to finding employment in racing. This was not the case when Alex Scrope began her career in bloodstock. In fact, initial opposition to her working in the world in which she had been immersed since birth came from within her own family. Her father, Colonel Adrian Scrope, the revered manager of Lord Derby's...

Thanks to advances in obstetrics, our own species is blessed to no longer confront quite so frequently the awful paradox that routinely confronted our ancestors: the death of a mother, as the cost of new life. And, of course, even a Thoroughbred as precious and cherished as Kind (Ire) (Danehill) is ultimately always livestock, prone to the kind of mishaps that tend to school the stockman in understatement whether facing triumph or disaster. But the consolation that we can seek, on their behalf, is the same: legacy. Undoubtedly there will...

Kind (Ire) (Danehill-Rainbow Lake {GB}, by Rainbow Quest), the dam of the undefeated champion Frankel (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), passed away from foaling complications on Monday, Juddmonte announced. Also the dam of fellow Group 1 winner Noble Mission (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), the second generation Juddmonte homebred and listed winner was 20. Her final foal, a colt by Kingman (GB), was foaled on Mar. 2. Stud Director UK Simon Mockridge commented, "I cannot thank the Rossdales and Juddmonte team enough for the tireless care they have given Kind. To many she will...

The silks of the late Prince Khalid Abdullah's Juddmonte Farms were already set to be carried aboard US raider Tacitus (Tapit) in the $20-million Saudi Cup (1800m, dirt) Feb. 20, and the breeding operation will also be represented by Derevo (GB) (Dansili {GB}), after the former Sir Michael Stoute galloper arrived in the nick of time to take out the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup (2000m, dirt) Saturday at King Abdulaziz Racetrack in Riyadh. The 340,000gns Tattersalls Autumn Horses In Training acquisition just touched off the commonly owned...

A year ago, a brigade of American runners dominated results in the inaugural running of the $20-million Saudi Cup, taking four of the top five placings in the world's richest race. Another top-level group of U.S.-based horses are set to return to Riyadh for the second running of the 1 1/8-miles race Feb. 20. Leading the group is Charlatan (Speightstown), who returned from a layoff to record a scintillating victory in the Dec. 26 GI Malibu S. last month. The newly turned 4-year-old worked six furlongs in 1:12.60 (1/5) at...

Jack Wolf, founder of Starlight Racing, joins this week's TDN Writers' Room to discuss their big star Charlatan as well as Starlight's past successes in Authentic, Ashado and more.

Juddmonte homebred Headman (GB) (Kingman {GB}-Deliberate {GB}, by King's Best) will stand at Figerro Breeding Farm in France for €2,800 this term. The news was reported by the Racing Post on Sunday. A winner of four of his nine starts including the G2 Prix Eugene Adam and G2 Prix Guillaume d'Ornano for Prince Khalid Abdullah and trainer Roger Charlton, the bay earned $430,789. The sixth foal out of the winning Deliberate, Headman is a half-brother to Grade II winner Projected (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) and G3 Prix Chloe runner-up Delivery (GB)...

On most mornings there are more than 2,000 horses being exercised on Newmarket Heath, Britain's epicentre of the Thoroughbred industry.  Plenty of them will end up as minor winners and a decent number of stakes winners will progress from the blustery East Anglian acres of turf to sun-drenched winner's enclosures across England and beyond. Every now and then a champion will emerge.  It is perhaps a term used too liberally. Each year there's a champion 2-year-old, champion 3-year-old, champion stayer, champion sprinter. To call Enable (GB) a champion doesn't really...