The Lion In Winter

A total of 25 colts remain in the June 7 £1.5-million G1 Betfred Derby (In Honour of His Highness Aga Khan IV) at the latest scratching stage. Part of a seven-strong Irish-trained contingent is The Lion In Winter (Sea The Stars), who is still the narrow 5-2 favourite, for Aidan O'Brien and the Coolmore partners, despite running sixth in the G2 Dante Stakes behind 4-1 chance Pride Of Arras (New Bay), who is trained by Ralph Beckett. Other colts carrying the Coolmore partners' colours include G3 Leopardstown's G3 Derby Trial...

Thursday's G2 Dante Stakes hero Pride Of Arras (New Bay) has improved to a Timeform rating of 119p after his performance at York. The rating is the highest given to any of the winners of the middle-distance Classic trials this spring. Topping all 3-year-olds via rankings is G1 2000 Guineas hero Ruling Court (Justify) at 123. G3 Acomb Stakes victor and Dante favourite The Lion In Winter (Sea The Stars) is third at 118+. Leopardstown's G3 Derby Trial Stakes winner Delacroix (Dubawi) and G1 Futurity Trophy Stakes scorer Hotazhell (Too...

Thursday, York, post time: 15:45, AL BASTI EQUIWORLD DUBAI DANTE STAKES-G2, £192,200, 3yo, 10f 56yT Field: Alpine Trail (Fr) (Dubawi {Ire}), Damysus (GB) (Frankel {GB}), Devil's Advocate (GB) (Too Darn Hot {GB}), Mister Rizz (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), Nightwalker (GB) (Frankel {GB}), Pride Of Arras (Ire) (New Bay {GB}), Royal Playwright (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), Sea Scout (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), The Lion In Winter (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), Tuscan Hills (Fr) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), Wimbledon Hawkeye (GB) (Kameko). TDN Verdict: After a few days of...

Wednesday, York, post time: 15:13, 1895 DUKE OF YORK CLIPPER STAKES-G2, £150,000, 3yo/up, 6fT Field: Elite Status (GB) (Havana Grey {GB}), Inisherin (GB) (Shamardal), Kerdos (Ire) (Profitable {Ire}), Marshman (GB) (Harry Angel {Ire}), Night Raider (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), Royal Zabeel (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}), Flora Of Bermuda (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}), Rage Of Bamby (Ire) (Saxon Warrior {Jpn}). TDN Verdict: There is still plenty of time for Night Raider to justify his early TDN Rising Star tag, particularly having dominated Newcastle's Listed Golden Rose Stakes on only his third start...

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...

Recent Southwell novice winner Nightime Dancer (Ire) (Ghaiyyath {Ire}) has been added to the potential field for the Betfred Derby at the latest entry stage. Owned by Norway's Stall Perlen, the colt was bought as a foal by Peter and Ross Doyle for 110,000gns from his breeder GCE Farm and is trained by Richard Hannon. Nightime Dancer, whose granddam Ragsah (Ire) Shamardal) is a half-sister to Dubai Millennium (GB), has a fascinating pedigree as he is inbred to the latter's dam Colorado Dancer (Ire) and also to Urban Sea through...

ROSEGREEN, Ireland -- It's that time of year again. The countdown to the Classics. Better than Christmas. And there are few better ways to indulge dreams of what may be about to unfold in the coming weeks than by annoying Aidan O'Brien for a morning at Ballydoyle. He must find it irksome, all these pesky journalists turning up, as surely as the first swallow of spring. But if he does, he hides it well, and almost seems to revel in sharing what he clearly finds the most rewarding part of...

Aidan O'Brien has revealed that long-time 2,000 Guineas favourite The Lion In Winter (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) is unlikely to make the Newmarket Classic on May 3 and nominated Expanded (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) and Twain (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) as being the most likely Ballydoyle-trained representatives for the race instead. The news, which was delivered at the annual Ballydoyle press morning, saw Expanded usurp The Lion In Winter as the new 2,000 Guineas favourite at odds of 6-1 while Twain has also shortened into 9-1. "The Lion In...

As the entries for the Betfred Derby were announced on Tuesday, Aidan O'Brien has admitted that it would be no surprise to see another of his colts take a major step forward this spring to rival current favourite The Lion In Winter (Ire), a son of the 2009 Derby winner Sea The Stars (Ire).  "Being realistic, The Lion In Winter won his maiden very nicely and then went and won a Group 3 at York [Acomb Stakes]. They were two very good runs but obviously he was meant to go...

Rising Stars accounted for a tally of 20 European Group 1 heats during the course of 2024, with City Of Troy (Justify), Bluestocking (GB) (Camelot {GB}), Lake Victoria (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), Notable Speech (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) and Bradsell (GB) (Tasleet {GB}) all notching multiple victories at the highest level. Godolphin's Endless Victory (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}) set the ball rolling at Wolverhampton in February and TDN's signature tag was attained by 57 individuals in Europe last term, up six on 2023's total of 51. Dubawi (Ire) is the numerically dominant sire...

It's not easy to write a column while watching the Olympics, especially as Britain attempts to out-battle France for eventing gold at the Palace of Versailles, but here goes. It was France which had the upper hand at Ascot on Saturday or, correctly speaking, Francis-Henri Graffard, whose return from Chantilly to the Berkshire track with the rampaging Goliath (Ger) (Adlerflug {Ger}) should have been eye-popping enough to ensure that his runners are never again sent off at such generous odds in Britain. We can now savour the prospect of once...