Tattersalls

He was missing throughout all of last season, but Paul Dean's Sir Ron Priestley (GB) (Australia {GB}) made certain he is front and centre this year after dominating Saturday's G2 Betfair Exchange Jockey Club S. at Newmarket. Returning for the first time since finishing second in the 2019 G1 St Leger when winning Nottingham's Listed Further Flight S. over 14 furlongs Apr. 7, the 15-8 joint-favourite was always in his element out in the clear much as this race's last winner Communique (Ire) (Casamento {Ire}) had been in 2019. A...

NEWMARKET, UK--So which way would the breeze blow this time? Just like the spring, teetering between the frost that coated the sales grounds on Friday morning and the imminent return of the swifts, the Tattersalls Guineas Sale caught the juvenile market at a pivot of the weathervane. After a traumatic experience last year, the sector had opened a new cycle with a solid start at the Craven Sale here, followed by a quite astounding rally at Doncaster where records tumbled across the board. This catalogue, which doesn't always benefit from...

NEWMARKET, UK--Much like the trainers who brought members of the preceding crop up the road to the Rowley Mile a couple of weeks ago, rehearsing for this weekend's Classics, consignors at the third juvenile auction of the European sales calendar have returned here with a much better sense of where they stand. When they arrived for the Craven Sale, they could only hope for signs of stability after the chaos of last year, when they had been the very first to be soaked by the Covid tsunami. And that is...

Bjorn Nielsen's triple G1 Gold Cup hero Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) halted the longest losing streak of his career with a first success in Wednesday's G3 Longines Sagaro S. tackling two miles of his favoured Ascot stomping ground. Backing up another Royal triumph by snaffling a fourth G1 Goodwood Cup in July, the homebred chestnut was edged out by ill-fated G1 Epsom Derby hero Anthony Van Dyck (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in ParisLongchamp's G2 Prix Foy in September and was not disgraced when seventh back over the same course...

Haras d'Etreham-based Almanzor (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) became the latest European freshman sire off the mark when Francis-Henri Graffard trainee Faro de San Juan (Ire) notched a debut win in Chantilly's Prix du Soleil de Bretagne. Prominent throughout, the 160,000gns Tattersalls December foal and 13-10 favourite ran on well in the closing stages of the 5 1/2-furlong newcomers' test to score by a half length from Perfect Colour (GB) (Ultra {Ire}). 2nd-Chantilly, €27,000, Mdn, 4-26, unraced 2yo, 5 1/2fT, 1:04.74, gd. FARO DE SAN JUAN (IRE) (c, 2, Almanzor {Fr}--Fixette...

Nine wildcards-three breeze-up 2-year-olds and six horses-in-training-have been added to the Tattersalls Guineas Breeze-Up and Horses In Training Sale on Apr. 30. Joining the breeze-up section are a Havana Gold (Ire) filly out of listed winner Maremmadiavola (Ire) (Kheleyf), who has produced one winner from two foals of racing age (lot 284); an Exceed and Excel (Aus) colt out of the G2 Queen Mary S.-placed Shyrl (GB) (Acclamation {GB}) (lot 285); and a Kodiac (GB) colt out of listed winner Village Fete (GB) who is a half-brother to dual Group...

Listed winner Declaring Love (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) has been added as a wildcard to the Tattersalls Guineas Horses in Training Sale. Offered as lot 37, the 4-year-old filly won the Listed Lansdown S. at Bath on Apr. 16 and will be consigned by trainer John Butler's Charnwood Stables. She is from the family of Australian MGSW Mugatoo (Ire) (Henrythenavigator) and stakes winner Elik (Ire) (Dalakhani {Ire}). Slated for Apr. 30 at 10 a.m., the sale precedes the Tattersalls Guineas Breeze Up Sale.

The steady return of high-class flat action to the European turf heightened to a crescendo last week, with enthusiasts of that realm treated to a plethora of quality racing not only across the UK, Ireland and France, but also in Australia, where European-bred and -sired horses shone bright on the second day of The Championships. While significant pointers were staged for the middle-distance and sprinting divisions, all eyes were on the Classic trials, with now under two weeks until the Newmarket editions. And while a handful of black-type races shook...

Michael Pescod's Chindit (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) arguably set the standard in Sunday's G3 Watership Down Stud Too Darn Hot Greenham S. at Newbury and while he had to work he was able to prevail in a tight finale to the seven-furlong Guineas trial. Successful in the G2 Champagne S. at Doncaster in September before finishing ninth in the G1 Dewhurst S. on a soft surface at Newmarket in October, the 7-4 favourite was on contrasting ground here and may have been feeling it racing in mid-division early under Pat...

When entries were taken the previous Friday for a six-furlong Aqueduct turf maiden scheduled for Thursday, Apr. 8, you can safely assume that owner Larry Goichman wasn't necessarily brimming with confidence. After all, he was pitching his 200,000gns Tattersalls October Book 1 purchase Star Devine (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) in against two well-meant runners from the all-conquering Chad Brown barn, a Godolphin homebred trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott and a second-timer from the always potent Christophe Clement shedrow. Goichman approached the start with a can-do attitude. "You've got...

NEWMARKET, UK—"That's what I love about this place," one shopper complained on Tuesday afternoon as a consignor extolled the virtues of the horse being paraded before him. "There's never any bad news." Well, he must have spent the last year under a rock. Pretty universally, all that anyone in the European industry sought from the new breeze-up cycle at Newmarket this week was a renewed sense of stability. And, while the closing session of the Craven Sale at Tattersalls proved somewhat tougher going for vendors than the first day, there...

NEWMARKET, UK—After such giddy disruption to the last cycle, the first session of the European breeze-up calendar gave the sector a comforting sense that its world might be easing back on its axis. But those seeking continuity could find it, not between the market that was eventually salvaged last summer and the one that was tested here on Tuesday, but extending from the 2-year-old sales already staged this year across the ocean. Practical Joke has been the toast of the Florida sales, not least with the $750,000 filly who topped...