Ruling Court

In terms of the horses themselves, Americans of due adventure could hardly have more compelling incentives to prospect the Arqana Breeze-Up Sale. Last year's auction was staged immediately after Kentucky-bred Ruling Court (Justify) vindicated his status as the record-breaking sale-topper of 2024 by winning the G1 2,000 Guineas, while GI Preakness Stakes winner War of Will (War Front) is among those American-bred graduates to have excelled back on native soil. But this time round there is a fresh spur to American interest. Because even as sires like Justify have finally...

Ruling Court (Justify), the brilliant 2,000 Guineas winner, has been euthanised following complications due to laminitis, according to a statement released on the Godolphin website. Charlie Appleby commented, "Everyone at Godolphin is deeply saddened by the loss of Ruling Court. He gave everyone a fantastic day at Newmarket in May and he will be sorely missed. I would like to thank all of the team, who did everything they could to save him." A €2.3 million purchase at the Arqana Breeze-Up Sale, Ruling Court produced a memorable performance to land...

The 2025 Keeneland September Yearling Sale has cataloged 4,686 horses to be offered over 12 sessions from Monday, Sept. 8 through Saturday, Sept. 20, Keeneland announced Tuesday. Click here for the online catalog of yearlings. Print catalogs are scheduled to start arriving in the mail the week of Aug. 18. Last year, the September Sale was the world's highest-grossing Thoroughbred auction in history with more than $428 million in sales for 2,894 horses. A total of 36 yearlings sold for $1 million or more, marking the highest number since 2006....

When it comes to Sandown's G1 Coral-Eclipse, there has been a shift of power to the Classic generation in recent times with seven of the last ten going their way. Saturday's renewal will either see a fifth consecutive success for the 3-year-olds or a break in the sequence and the onus is on Ombudsman to reestablish the reputation of the older horses. Godolphin's son of Night Of Thunder is the key protagonist on his emphatic Prince of Wales's Stakes success last month and to date has no blemish on his...

Friday, Sandown, post time: 15:00, THE DRAGON STAKES-Listed, £30,000, 2yo, 5f 10yT Field: Blue Orbit (Ire) (Starman {GB}), Military Code (GB) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), Rogue Supremacy (GB) (St Mark's Basilica {Fr}), Killavia (GB) (Havana Grey {GB}), Lebron Power (GB) (Starman {GB}), Love Olivia (GB) (Havana Grey {GB}), Solana Rose (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}), Staya (GB) (Havana Grey {GB}). TDN Verdict: Some Royal Ascot runners here, with Godolphin's Military Code looking to bounce back from an unplaced effort in the Coventry, KHK Racing's Staya having shown up prominently when fifth in the...

Saturday's G1 Coral-Eclipse at Sandown is shaping up to be the race of the season so far after a plethora of Group 1 winners were confirmed on Monday, headed by the John and Thady Gosden-trained Ombudsman. The son of Night Of Thunder came of age at Royal Ascot when winning the G1 Prince Of Wales's Stakes and only has one defeat on his record from six career starts. That came over this course and distance in May when Almaqam (Lope De Vega) produced a dominant performance from the front to...

Emulating his sire Kingman in style as well as bare results, Field Of Gold got the Juddmonte-Colin Keane retainer off to a flyer at the highest level in Tuesday's St James's Palace Stakes. Making a mockery of the Royal Ascot rematch with his 2,000 Guineas conqueror Ruling Court, the 8-11 favourite left that son of Justify and the G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains hero Henri Matisse (Wootton Bassett) trailing with his ruthless acceleration between the two and the one. Like his sire going one better than Newmarket in the G1 Irish...

With the exception of Ballydoyle's hot prospect 2-year-old Albert Einstein, there are no key figures missing from Royal Ascot's opening card on Tuesday and the scene is set for the first of the week's moments of truth. With the St James's Palace featuring the winners of the 2,000 Guineas, Irish 2,000 Guineas and "French 2,000 Guineas" and the Queen Anne boasting all the elite milers of Europe and a bit extra, the standard has been met again in the year which celebrates the 200th anniversary of the Royal Procession. From...

Tuesday, Royal Ascot, post time: 14:30, QUEEN ANNE STAKES-G1, £793,625, 4yo/up, 8fT Field: Cairo (Ire) (Quality Road), Carl Spackler (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), Dancing Gemini (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), Diego Velazquez (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), Docklands (GB) (Massaat {Ire}), Lake Forest (GB) (No Nay Never), Lead Artist (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), Notable Speech (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), Quddwah (GB) (Kingman {GB}), Rosallion (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}), Sardinian Warrior (Ire) (Saxon Warrior {Jpn}). TDN Verdict: This could be a case of take the Lockinge form and throw it in the air to see where...

Royal Ascot's Tuesday fields have been confirmed, with the key contest on the opening fixture being the 2,000 Guineas rematch between Godolphin's Ruling Court and Juddmonte's Field Of Gold in the seven-strong G1 St James's Palace Stakes. The sons of Justify and Kingman will be met by Wootton Bassett's G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains hero Henri Matisse from Ballydoyle, with the most notable withdrawal being Godolphin's dual Group 1 winner Shadow Of Light. In the opening G1 Queen Anne Stakes, the field of 11 features all the four main protagonists...

Sprinkled among the 42 entries for the Aug. 17 G1 Aga Khan Studs Prix Jacques le Marois are a trio from Japan for the first time. Sunday's G1 Yasuda Kinen hero Jantar Mantar (Palace Malice) anchors that trio, with fellow Group 1 winner Ascoli Piceno (Daiwa Major) signed on, as well as longshot Go To First (Rulership). Hailing from the stable of the sponsor is G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches heroine Zarigana (Siyouni), Zabiari (Wootton Bassett), and G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains fifth Ridari (Churchill). The late Aga Khan IV...

Ruling Court has been ruled out of Saturday's G1 Betfred Derby after trainer Charlie Appleby judged the ground to be too slow for the son of Justify. The 2,000 Guineas winner had been due to start as one of the favourites. "The ground conditions were a concern yesterday with Desert Flower. William said yesterday it was genuinely good-to-soft, but we appreciated that it was drying out through the course of the day," he explained. "We arrived here today with an open mind, let William ride the first race, but he...