Royal Ascot

Prizemoney for Royal Ascot in 2021-set for June 15 to 19-will be £6-million, a 66% increase on 2020. Ascot Racecourse also revealed on Tuesday that the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. in July will be worth £875,000, up from £400,000 in 2020 when purses took a massive hit in the midst of the pandemic. Guy Henderson, chief executive officer at Ascot Racecourse, said, "In 2020 we had hoped to offer record prize money of more than £8-million at the Royal Meeting. In the event the pandemic made...

Group 1 winner Campanelle (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) and Breeders' Cup victor Golden Pal (Uncle Mo) are both targeting the 2021 Royal Ascot meeting trainer Wesley Ward has announced. The filly, a Stonestreet Stables colourbearer, will line up for the G1 Commonwealth Cup during the Royal Meeting. In 2020, Campanelle captured the G3 Queen Mary S. and then returned to Europe to add the G1 Prix Morny to her haul later in the summer. Although she has been entered in the G1 1000 Guineas and Irish equivalent, it is more likely...

Trainer Charlie Hills was very pleased with the recent performance of G1SP Equilateral (GB) (Equiano {Fr}) in the Listed Dubai Dash last Thursday, and the 6-year-old gelding will remain in Dubai for another tilt at the G2 Meydan Sprint on Feb. 18. In 2020, Equilateral ran second in the Sprint. "I was really delighted with him," said Hills. "Frankie [Dettori] gave him a great ride and it looked like he was always going to win the race. It's nice to have won the race twice now and he was 5lb...

Her Majesty The Queen has given her consent for Royal Ascot to consist of seven-race cards following the successful addition of races to the five-day meeting in 2020. The enforced late start to the Flat season last year in Britain amid the coronavirus crisis saw the introduction of the Copper Horse S., the Palace of Holyroodhouse S. and the Golden Gates S., while the Buckingham Palace S. was reinstated. The meeting also included 'Silver' versions of the Royal Hunt Cup and the Wokingham S. which have not been retained for...

While most American breeders are just now getting their first look at multiple Group 1 winner Caravaggio, who stood his first three years at Coolmore's headquarters in Ireland and now takes on the U.S. market for 2021, the son of Scat Daddy is not new to Ashford Stud. The speedy grey was born and raised at Ashford, having been bred by the farm's Director of Sales Charlie O'Connor and his in-laws' Windmill Manor Farms. "Caravaggio is a horse that's obviously very close to our hearts," Coolmore's Adrian Wallace said. "He...

Breeders' Cup hero Golden Pal (Uncle Mo) is targetting the G1 King's Stand S. as his long term goal. Second on debut, the Ranlo Investments colourbearer filled that position again in the G2 Norfolk S. at this year's Royal Meeting before returning Stateside to take the Skidmore S. at Saratoga in September. Brought back to Keeneland for the Breeders' Cup, he turned in a solid effort to win the G2 BC Juvenile Turf Sprint on Nov. 6. Another likely Royal Ascot contender is Stonestreet Stables' G1SW Campanelle (Ire) (Kodiac {GB})....

Scat Daddy's Royal Ascot superstar Caravaggio has been relocated from Coolmore's headquarters in Ireland to its American base at Ashford Stud, Coolmore announced Thursday. "Ever since he retired to stud, Caravaggio has been supported by top [North] American-based breeders such as David Anderson, Peter Berglar, John Gunther, Hunter Valley Farm, Runnymede Farm, Fred Hertrich, Mike Ryan, e5 Racing & Merriebelle Stables," said Ashford's Director of Sales Charlie O'Connor, who co-bred the MG1SW sprinter with his father-in-law's Windmill Manor Farms. "This support carried into the sales ring in both the U.S....

Holding a typically strong hand of 2-year-olds heading into Future Stars Friday at the Breeders' Cup Nov. 6, trainer Wesley Ward joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland Wednesday morning. Calling in via Zoom as the Green Group Guest of the Week, Ward talked about Golden Pal, the exciting son of Uncle Mo and Lady Shipman who figures to go favored in the Juvenile Turf Sprint, multiple group stakes winner in Europe Campanelle (Ire) and why he's so willing to run his fillies against the boys. Telling the story...

Undefeated Campanelle (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) will head straight to the Nov. 6 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Keeneland after connections decided to forego next weekend's G1 Cheveley Park S. at Newmarket. Campaigned by Stonestreet Stables, the Wesley Ward-trained filly broke her maiden at Gulfstream Park May 31 before taking the G2 Queen Mary S. during the Royal meeting at Ascot June 20. In her latest start at Deauville Aug. 23, she gave her trainer his third victory in the G1 Darley Prix Morny. "We took her out of...

Con Te Partiro (Scat Daddy), a stakes winner on three continents and a dual Group 1 winner in Australia in 2020, will return to the United States for an appearance in the Breeders' Cup before being offered at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale. The 6-year-old will be consigned by Bedouin Bloodstock as a racing/broodmare prospect. A $130,000 purchase by Gatewood Bell's Cromwell Bloodstock out of the 2015 Keeneland September Sale and trained in America by Wesley Ward, the daughter of Temple Street (Street Cry {Ire}) graduated by 5 1/2...

After a second straight year of rounding out the exacta at the prestigious Royal Ascot meeting, 'TDN Rising Star' Kimari (Munnings) returns from across the pond as the 2-1 morning-line choice in Saturday's GII Prioress S. at Saratoga. The 2019 G2 Queen Mary S. runner-up and 2020 G1 Commonwealth Cup second-place finisher has won her two prior attempts on dirt-airing on debut at Keeneland last spring and defeating the re-opposing 'TDN Rising Star' Frank's Rockette (Into Mischief) in a sloppy renewal of Oaklawn's Purple Martin S. Apr. 4. Kimari has...

Group 1 winner Golden Horde (Ire) (Lethal Force {Ire}) is targeting the G1 Haydock Sprint Cup on Sept. 5 for his next start, according to trainer Clive Cox. A winner of the 2020 G1 Commonwealth Cup S. at Royal Ascot, the 3-year-old colt ran third in the G1 Darley July Cup on July 11 and was fourth in Deauville's G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest on Aug. 9. "The Sprint Cup at Haydock would be a logical step to take from here, if all is well in the meantime," said Cox....