Shaikh Nasser Al Khalifa

Royal Ascot hero and prolific Bahrain winner Isle Of Jura (New Approach) has been retired from racing after suffering another setback. The five-year-old enjoyed a stellar 2024 season, notably securing the Bahrain Triple Crown, before returning to Britain to provide trainer George Scott with a first Royal Ascot triumph when beating the subsequent G1 King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner Goliath in the G2 Hardwicke Stakes. Isle Of Jura spent 15 months on the sidelines following that landmark success, before returning last month with a runner-up finish in...

Billy Jackson-Stops has been appointed as the racing manager of Shaikh Nasser Al Khalifa's Victorious Racing, with the former assistant trainer to Ralph Beckett describing the opportunity as a "great honour". Victorious Racing's red and white silks have become an increasingly familiar sight in recent years, both at home in Bahrain and in Europe. High-profile runners for the team have included last year's G1 Nunthorpe Stakes and G1 Flying Five Stakes hero Bradsell (GB), as well as the George Scott-trained Isle Of Jura (GB) (New Approach {Ire}), who completed the...

Every day is a school day if you follow TDN. Thankfully, master of all subjects Emma Berry delivered yesterday's lesson on the Bay City Rollers--apparently one of the most popular bands of the 1970s--in her excellent Seven Days column, allowing me to stay in my lane with today's news that the unbeaten two-year-old colt of the same name is unlikely to run again this year after his comfortable victory in Saturday's G2 Champagne Stakes at Doncaster. That is according to trainer George Scott, who already has his sights set on...

There is no doubt that one of the feel-good moments in an excellent week of action at Royal Ascot came when Isle Of Jura (GB) (New Approach {Ire}) won the G2 Hardwicke Stakes on the final day of the meeting. Much of the joy that sprung from the result was aimed towards jockey Callum Shepherd after he had missed out on a plum ride in the Derby. But the importance of the win for the horse's trainer, George Scott, who was enjoying a first Royal Ascot success, and his owner...

Royal Ascot was tremendous in myriad ways. Sun up, crowd up, and a spread of results which drew in some of the world's biggest owners and trainers alongside syndicates and smaller yards. Then on Sunday morning came the news that QIPCO is to significantly reduce its sponsorship of British racing from next year. British Champions Day will still be run in its name, and the company owned by Sheikhs Hamad and Fahad Al Thani will remain as an official partner of Ascot racecourse, but Newmarket's Guineas meeting, Ascot's King George...