Riocorvo

Great Pretender will stand for €10,000 in 2026, Haras de la Hetraie announced via press release on Tuesday. Successful with his progeny on either side of the English Channel, the stallion will likely be standing his final season in 2026, according to the farm. All posted fees exclude VAT. Grade 1 stallion Nirvana Du Berlais will stand for €7,500 and already has a pair of Grade 1 winner in Lulamba and Leader Sport from his first crop of four-year-olds. Bathyrhon's fee remains unchanged at €6,000. He is among the top...

"Come to Vichy," they said. "We'll stop in Deauville on the way, it'll be fun." So began a 60-hour pilgrimage to one of the five days of racing that comprise the biggest week of the year at the Hippodrome Vichy Bellerive, a charming course with delicate touches of Art Nouveau glamour set on the banks of the Allier river.  TDN readers of a National Hunt persuasion (there may be some!) might have felt their interest piqued at the mention of the Allier region, deep in central France and famed for...