Shadwell

NEWMARKET, UK--Shadwell were responsible for the record-breaking sales-topper on Wednesday when Rihaam (Ire) (Dansili {GB}), in foal to Dark Angel (Ire), sold for 540,000gns, and Albasheer (Ire) (Shamardal), another from the draft, was the co-top lot on Thursday at 130,000gns. Boasting a rating of 107 and some top-notch form to go with it, having finished second in the G2 Champagne S. in 2020, Albasheer (lot 453) was knocked down to Tom Biggs of Blandford Bloodstock. He has yet to race this season and was last seen finishing mid-division in the...

NEWMARKET, UK--The legacy of Sheikh Hamdan still casts a long shadow over the bloodstock world, and the influence of his bloodlines was once more evident at Tattersalls on Wednesday when Rihaam (Ire), a 9-year-old daughter of Dansili (GB) in foal to Dark Angel (Ire), led the first day of the July Sale at a new record price of 540,000gns. With a buying bunch greatly enhanced by the returned freedom of international travel, several records were set at Park Paddocks, which saw the two top prices ever at a July Sale...

Just when you thought a fully-charged Royal Ascot couldn't be topped, along came Hollie Doyle.  The royal meeting was sadly missing The Queen for all five days this year but, France's republican tendencies aside, there are few in the racing world who would deny that Doyle is now the queen of Chantilly after reaching yet another milestone to become the first woman to ride a Group 1 Classic winner in Europe. Her great triumph came aboard Nashwa (GB) (Frankel {GB}) for Imad Al Sagar, who was achieving an important landmark...

Owen Burrows has been dealt a hammer blow with the news that brilliant G1 Coronation Cup winner Hukum (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) will miss the rest of the season after fracturing his hind leg.  Hukum made the breakthrough at the highest level when storming to Coronation Cup glory at Epsom on Friday and now his racing career hangs in the balance.  For Burrows, Friday's win also represented a memorable first at Group 1 level, with the trainer describing the success as "massive" at the time.  However, just three days...

There are more than a few echoes of the past when it comes to G1 Cazoo Oaks contender Rogue Millennium (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}). Bred by Shadwell, and trained from Kremlin House Stables in Newmarket, she will arrive at Epsom on the back of just two runs, both this season. Such a profile was no hindrance for the 2005 Oaks winner Eswarah (GB) (Unfuwain), trained for Sheikh Hamdan by Michael Jarvis. But while comparisons of yesteryear are understandable, Rogue Millennium, trained by the late Michael Jarvis's son-in-law Tom Clover, is a...

Less than a fortnight after it was announced that legendary trainer Kevin Prendergast would remain on the Shadwell roster, the 89-year-old operator confirmed that he was not the retiring kind and spoke for the first time since Hamdan Al Maktoum's passing about his long and successful relationship with the hugely influential owner. The Shadwell operation has been winding down gradually since Hamdan Al Maktoum passed away just over a year ago and, while major operators like Dermot Weld and Sir Michael Stoute will no longer train any of the horses...

"When you train you spend your whole life wanting a horse of this calibre, and then you get one and all you want to do is make sure that you get the very best out of him." So states William Haggas of his stable star, the Shadwell homebred Baaeed (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), whose seasonal debut, which is likely to be in the G1 Al Shaqab Lockinge S. on May 14, will be one of the most anticipated returns of the season. At this stage last year, Baaeed hadn't...

The class act of the field, Hukum (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), gave Shadwell Stable a dream start to Super Saturday and booked his ticket for Dubai World Cup night when landing the G2 Dubai City Of Gold in a tight finish with Without A Fight (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}). Drawn widest of all in stall 14, the Owen Burrows-trained Hukum jumped well and gradually manoeuvred to a handy spot tucked away behind the leading pack which was headed by Amhran Na Bhfiann (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who set a steady pace just ahead...

1ST-Meydan, AED82,500, Cond., 3-3, NH/SH 3yo, 1400mT, 1:24.35, gd. MONAADAH (c, 3, Giant's Causeway--Almusafa, by Haafhd {GB}), one of three horses--and now three winners--in the final crop of the legendary 'Iron Horse' Giant's Causeway, made his debut a winning one at Meydan on Thursday. Joining GIII Sam F. Davis S. hero and GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity third Classic Causeway and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile third Giant Game, the colt punched the breeze from the bell while out widest of all. Near the vanguard despite his isolation, he sidled over to...

The Stonestreet-bred, Shadwell-campaigned seven-figure Keeneland September yearling Malathaat (Curlin) was an unsurprising recipient of the Eclipse Award for champion 3-year-old filly Thursday evening. Her signature win came in the GI Longines Kentucky Oaks, but she also took the GI Central Bank Ashland and GI Alabama S. for trainer Todd Pletcher before a close third in a wild running of the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff. 

KILDARE, Ireland--The ever-changing nature of the bloodstock sales scene, particularly through two years of pandemic-induced disruption, has prompted regular use of the phrase 'direct comparisons do not apply'. This is certainly true of this year's February Sale at Goffs, which was extended to three days for the first time in a while. So while the fluctuations of percentage points in different sectors of the market may mean little, what can be gleaned from the returns over the last three days is that there has been a pleasingly solid if unflashy...

KILDARE, Ireland--"A good, good day," said Goffs group managing director Henry Beeby as he cogitated the results from another solid session of the Goffs February Sale. The all-weanling cast put on a show which resulted in €2,161,800 being added to turnover which has now surpassed that reaped by the previous two-day sale of 2020, while the median remained at a respectable €10,000 and the average was €15,665 for 138 horses sold (76%). In that transitional stage from being overgrown foals to becoming the nascent racehorses that many will appear to...