Time For Sandals

Wednesday, York, post time: 15:30, THE GO LOCAL STORES MINSTER STAKES-G2, £165,000, 3yo/up, 6fT Field: Big Mojo (Ire) (Mohaather {GB}), Ain't Nobody (Ire) (Sands Of Mali {Fr}), American Affair (GB) (Washington DC {Ire}), Aramram (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}), Cool Hoof Luke (GB) (Advertise {GB}), Crestofdistinction (GB) (Kodiac {GB}), Diligent Harry (GB) (Due Diligence), Elmonjed (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}), Jasour (GB) (Havana Grey {GB}), Kind Of Blue (GB) (Blue Point {Ire}), Quinault (Ger) (Oasis Dream {GB}), Regional (GB) (Territories {Ire}), Time For Sandals (Ire) (Sands Of Mali {Fr}). TDN Analysis: With...

One of the most exciting young stallions in Europe is on his way to Yeomanstown Stud after Gay O'Callaghan struck the winning bid for the sire of Group 1 winner Time For Sandals at a Tattersalls Ireland silent auction. Sands Of Mali has been at the centre of a legal dispute between Steve Parkin of Clipper Logistics and Ballyhane Stud boss Joe Foley, who has managed the career of the 10-year-old stallion since he joined the roster back in 2021.  In that time, the Group 1 winner has confirmed himself...

Harry Eustace's eyes light up as soon as the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale is mentioned. And why wouldn't they? It was at that sale where the 37-year-old's Group 1 winners Docklands (Massaat) and Time For Sandals (Sands Of Mali) were sourced and the Newmarket-based handler openly admits to having 'kept powder dry' for the action at Fairyhouse next week.  "We've had a lot of luck out of Fairyhouse, particularly with the filly [Time For Sandals]," he explained. "It's a sale that I have always worked hard at because it...

Three Group 1 winners this year have emanated from the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale, with their wins coming across four glorious days on the biggest stage of all: Royal Ascot. From the opening-day thrill of Docklands (Massaat) holding off Rosallion (Blue Point) in the Queen Anne Stakes came a dual top-level strike on the Friday of the meeting for Cercene (Australia) in the Coronation Stakes and Time For Sandals (Sands Of Mali) in the Commonwealth Cup. To have bought all three of these horses at Fairyhouse as yearlings would...

It's September and the time of reckonings across Europe's racing programme, with the first two weekends witnessing some crucial deciders ahead of year-end honours. It is fair to say that the sprint scene has been murky for a while and so Saturday's G1 Betfair Sprint Cup at Haydock takes on extra gravity. Success for Lazzat (Territories) will help clear the picture and if it is a clear-cut one it could even seal his title as champion sprinter, so it is only normal that trainer Jerome Reynier is feeling the heat....

Saturday, Haydock, post time: 15:35, THE BETFAIR SPRINT CUP-G1, £427,000, 3yo/up, 6fT Field: Annaf (Ire) (Muhaarar {GB}), Beauvatier (Fr) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), Diligent Harry (GB) (Due Diligence), Inisherin (GB) (Shamardal), James's Delight (Ire) (Invincible Army {Ire}), Kind Of Blue (GB) (Blue Point {Ire}), Lazzat (Fr) (Territories {Ire}), My Mate Alfie (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}), Run To Freedom (GB) (Muhaarar {GB}), Ain't Nobody (Ire) (Sands Of Mali {Fr}), Big Mojo (Ire) (Mohaather {GB}), Flora Of Bermuda (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}), No Half Measures (GB) (Cable Bay {Ire}), Rage Of Bamby...

Trainer Jerome Reynier is optimistic that Lazzat can consolidate his position as Europe's leading sprinter by adding another Group 1 success to his tally in Saturday's Betfair Sprint Cup at Haydock. An eight-time winner for the Marseille-based Reynier, Lazzat put himself in contention for top honours in this division when winning the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot in June, beating the high-class Japanese raider Satono Reve (Lord Kanaloa) by half a length, having been acquired by Wathnan Racing just a few weeks previously. More recently, the...

Following Monday's confirmation stage, French star Lazzat, July Cup heroine No Half Measures (Cable Bay) and the supplemented Sky Majesty (Blue Point) feature among 22 possible runners in Saturday's Betfair Sprint Cup at Haydock. Jerome Reynier's Lazzat got the better of Japanese ace Satono Reve when striking Royal Ascot gold in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes on his penultimate start. The son of Territories then suffered a surprise defeat when bidding for back-to-back wins in the G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville last time, but he is...

The G1 Commonwealth Cup winner Time For Sandals continued her preparation for the G1 Betfair Sprint Cup at Haydock on September 6 with a spin over five furlongs of Newmarket's July Course on Friday morning.  The daughter of Sands Of Mali won at Royal Ascot before finishing third in Goodwood's G2 King George Stakes when dropping back to five furlongs. "Coming here is as much mentally giving them a change of scenery, and a blow out, as it is physically, and we have done that," said her trainer Harry Eustace....

The early part of last week was spent covering the JRHA Select Sale in Japan, a trip that is always illuminating, to an auction that remains extraordinary. Number one of the list of most surprising things from the five days spent in Hokkaido was Teruya Yoshida picking up his guitar to serenade guests with a rendition of John Denver's Take Me Home, Country Roads. An excellent choice of song, well performed. The Shadai Farm principal should be encouraged to form a Travelling Wilburys-style bloodstock supergroup. Bluegrass enthusiast and songwriter Arthur...

It has been a strangely discombobulating week in some respects. It started in Westminster last Monday with the All-Party Parliamentary Group issuing its stark warning of the triple threat to the industry posed by potential betting duty harmonisation, affordability checks and an overdue Levy reform. This came on the back of an industry update in Newmarket the previous week at which the TBA chairman Philip Newton warned of a potential catastrophic collapse in the supply chain of young Thoroughbreds in Britain. Then, stepping through the golden gates of Royal Ascot,...

ASCOT, UK -- It was a day when so many of those engaged at Royal Ascot were thinking also of a great man gone away in Ireland. Kevin Prendergast would undoubtedly have revelled in the splendid results for some of his fellow Irish trainers on Ascot Heath as they in turn paid tribute to him. And there was even a winner for his old friend Awtaad, the last of the trainer's Classic winners, whose son Ethical Diamond triumphed in the Duke of Edinburgh Stakes after another, Ascending, had won Tuesday's...