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...
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...
Alongside the Godolphin duo of Nation's Hope (Ghaiyyath) and Palladas (Lope De Vega), The Last Dance (Iffraaj) recently made an impressive debut at Chantilly to become the third European-trained three-year-old to be named a 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' since our Winter Watch run began back in November. It looked a strong race in which The Last Dance debuted on March 3, facing eight other newcomers over 9.5f of the Chantilly all-weather. They included the Wertheimer homebred Maine (Night Of Thunder), a sibling to two winners of the G1...
Turbulente was a prophetic winner at Chantilly on Friday considering the events that would transpire less than 24 hours later across the Middle East. The Wertheimer-bred daughter of Australia from the family of a horse whose greatest exploits came in Australia - Americain (Dynaformer) - looks one to follow as the French Classic trials come around. Super Saturday went ahead in Dubai amid early rounds of missile strikes and interceptions across the region as American and Israeli troops struck Iran and the inevitable retaliation ensued. Sheikh Mohammed demonstrated his own...