Starlust
Spend a morning on the gallops with Ralph Beckett and you could end up with more than just the natural shot in the arm that comes with observing racehorses at close quarters in the English springtime. Barns full of bluebloods. Well, that's a given now, particularly on the back of a pretty spectacular 2024. Sunshine is not always a given, but on this fine morning it has been turned to full beam, lighting up the rolling turf which envelopes this haven on the edge of Salisbury Plain. Bluestocking, last year's...
Grade I winner Starlust has booked a spot at stud in the Hunter Valley at Riverstone Lodge. The GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint hero will stand for A$27,500 (inc GST) after a Royal Ascot campaign. Out of G3 Prix de Saint-Georges heroine Beyond Desire (Invincible Spirit), the son of Zoustar was bred by Branton Court Stud in Great Britain. Sold for 55,000gns out of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale Book 2 to Dermot Farrington on behalf of Jim and Fitri Hay, Starlust is currently trained by Ralph Beckett and is...
DEL MAR, USA -- From the 2,000 Guineas to the Breeders' Cup Classic, he is the horse who has kept us captivated, wondering and engaged, through to season's end. And that, really, is why we are all fans of horse racing. That longing to know what can't be known for sure until those gates spring open, the skirmishes are had, and the winning post looms. In the end, for City Of Troy (Justify), unbeaten and burgeoning with promise at two, redeemed in the Derby and then some at Sandown and...
DEL MAR, CA - Mrs. Fitri Hay's Starlust (GB) (Zoustar {Aus}), a longshot third in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at Santa Anita last year, added to a dream run for trainer Ralph Beckett and jockey Rossa Ryan with a 33-1 upset in an eventful renewal of the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Del Mar. With the rail-drawn, 4-year-old filly Believing (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) a late scratch after flipping in the gate and delaying the start by a good 10 minutes, 4-5 favorite and world-record setter Cogburn...
RP Racing's Big Evs (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}) came into Friday's GI Breeders' Juvenile Turf Sprint carrying great expectation. The 2-year-old's trainer, Mick Appleby, was making his Breeders' Cup debut, as was jockey Tom Marquand. Far from newcomers in their respective bases in the UK, the duo had to travel a long way for this year's World Championships at Santa Anita, but the voyage proved worth their while as the Irish-bred proved best in a blistering renewal of the five-furlong turf test. "I'm still gobsmacked," said a visibly moved Appleby...