Ruling Court

The Lion In Winter (Sea The Stars), a stylish winner of the G3 Acomb Stakes in 2024, leads the 42 remaining G1 Betfred Derby entries following the latest scratching stage. One of 16 Irish-trained runners, he is trading at 100-30 on Betfred for the June 7 showpiece at Epsom. Trained by Aidan O'Brien, the bay has a slew of stablemates entered, including Wootton Bassett Group -winning colts Twain--third choice at 7-1 and a winner of the G1 Criterium International, Swagman, GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf hero Henri Matisse, and G1...

We've seen a Classic double double, but could we now see a double Triple Crown bid for Godolphin? The quest for the Triple Crown is usually more of 'a thing' in America, though its compact five-week challenge draws consternation from some quarters, and Bill Mott is biding his time before committing Sovereignty to a run in the Preakness Stakes on May 17.  Though the American Triple Crown is a more marketable concept than the sprawling near-five-month challenge that has remained unfulfilled in Britain for 55 years, certainly the Derby had...

NEWMARKET, UK -- "Awesome, awesome, awesome," chanted William Buick after galloping off across Newmarket Heath with Desert Flower, beyond the winning post, into history. When Good Cheer slipped through the slop at Churchill Downs on Friday evening, few could have predicted how many more cheers were to come for the global Godolphin team, in the Kentucky gloom and the chilly Suffolk sunshine.  A Classic double double, the breadth of which has surely not been seen before, despite the extraordinary achievements of some of Godolphin's regular rivals among the vast owner-breeder...

NEWMARKET, UK -- "Well that was good timing," said a beaming Freddy Powell, a man with a sale to sell next week. The work had just been done for him.  Ruling Court was known only as Oak Tree Farm's Justify colt at this time last year - a colt that would soon top the Arqana Breeze-up Sale at €2.3 million. Next year, he will be the sale catalogue's cover star. Big prices, however, are not always a guarantee of big results, but this horse had on his side the fact...

Flying the flag for Justify in Saturday's G1 Betfred 2,000 Guineas Stakes at Newmarket, Ruling Court proved William Buick's judgement to be spot-on as he provided Charlie Appleby with a third renewal in four years. Selected by Godolphin's number one over the 2-year-old champion Shadow Of Light, the 9-2 second favourite travelled notably strongly held up towards the stand's side and when delivered to overhaul his stablemate inside the final furlong gave generously to see out the mile the better of the pair. It was the 15-8 favourite Field Of...

It was the perceived wisdom of 2024 that the 2-year-old fillies were a level above the colts and as Newmarket's two mile Classics loom this weekend, we get a first measurement of whether that has carried over. On the face of it, the line-ups for the Betfred-sponsored 2,000 and 1,000 Guineas suggest that the fillies' monument is the one most anticipated among Suffolk's hardcore. There's a good old Godolphin-Ballydoyle stand-off between two unbeaten peer leaders and TDN Rising Stars in Desert Flower and Lake Victoria to come on Sunday and while it...

Following Monday's confirmation stage, 17 colts remain in contention for Saturday's Betfred 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket, headed by the impressive G3 Craven Stakes winner Field Of Gold (Ire) (Kingman {GB}). The potential field is down from the 24-strong group who stood their ground at the latest entry stage, with last year's G2 Coventry Stakes scorer Rashabar (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}) and G1 Futurity Trophy hero Hotazhell (GB) (Too Darn Hot {GB}) featuring among those who were taken out of the race on Monday. Aomori City (Fr) (Oasis Dream {GB}),...

The Lion In Winter (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) was the most notable absentee as the latest entries for the first two British Classics of the season were released on Tuesday. A total of 24 colts remain in contention for the Betfred 2,000 Guineas, while the number of possible runners in the Betfred 1,000 Guineas has been whittled down to 17, before any supplementary entries. Aidan O'Brien confirmed last week that The Lion In Winter was an unlikely runner at Newmarket, with all roads instead leading to the G2 Dante...

NEWMARKET, UK -- Beyond the action on the racecourse at Newmarket this week, there are plenty of pointers to the first two Classics of the season to be found in the mornings and Charlie Appleby took to the Rowley Mile early on Wednesday with a team which included his two best juveniles of last year. Desert Flower (Ire), the unbeaten G1 Fillies' Mile winner, was by far the most visually impressive of the Godolphin workers as she powered through the dip and up the hill under William Buick. Her efforts...

The catalogue for the Arqana Breeze-Up Sale, which takes place between 8 and 10 May, has been released and features the progeny of world-class stallions Justify, Wootton Bassett (GB), Lope De Vega (Ire), Sea The Stars (Ire), Dubawi (Ire) and more. A total of 192 two-year-olds feature in the sale that was headed last year by recent UAE 2,000 Guineas hero Ruling Court (Justify), who was sold by Norman Williamson's Oak Tree Farm to Godolphin for €2.3 million. There are seven horses by Justify in this year's sale that features...

The entries for the first two British Classics of the season have been released, with 57 horses entered in the Betfred 2,000 Guineas and another 43 in the Betfred 1,000 Guineas. Aidan O'Brien is responsible for eight possible runners as he seeks a record-extending eleventh success in the 2,000 Guineas, which is scheduled to take place at Newmarket on Saturday, May 3. They include the ante-post favourite The Lion In Winter (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), who was unbeaten in two starts as a two-year-old, including the G3 Acomb Stakes...

If last week's Saudi Cup card in Riyadh was dominated by Japanese-trained runners, then Super Saturday at Meydan was the day that Charlie Appleby and Godolphin served notice to the world that this is a team which will take some stopping in the weeks and months to come. At a meeting which is ostensibly made up of trials for Dubai World Cup night in five weeks' time, it was two winners with Classic pretensions back in Europe who arguably created the biggest impression, certainly so in the case of Ruling...