True Love

Another absorbing day of action can be expected at Royal Ascot on Friday where the big match-up between Guineas winners True Love and Precise in the Coronation Stakes takes centre stage. Here are five things to look out for on Friday. Donnacha O'Brien Has Big Chance Of Joining Aidan And Joseph On Scoresheet One of the stories of the week has been the red-hot form of Aidan and Joseph O'Brien respectively. Donnacha could well join his father and brother on the scoresheet for the week on Friday given he has...

A total of 10 fillies, including Aidan O'Brien's English and Irish Guineas winners True Love (No Nay Never) and Precise (Starspangledbanner), have been entered in the G1 Coronation Stakes on Friday, June 19. The duo face G3 Fred Darling Stakes second Touleen (Lope De Vega) from the Owen Burrows yard. The filly finished sixth behind True Love in the G1 1000 Guineas at Newmarket. "She's well and seems good and it's all systems go for the Coronation," said Burrows. "We thought she had a good draw in the Guineas but...

Sunday, Curragh, post time: 15:55, TATTERSALLS GOLD CUP-G1, €300,000, 4yo/up, 10 1/2fT Field: Almaqam (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), Bay City Roller (Ire) (New Bay {GB}), Edward Hamilton (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), Green Impact (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), Royal Rhyme (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), Saddadd (Ire) (Pinatubo {Ire}), Tiberius Thunder (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), Minnie Hauk (Ire) (Frankel {GB}). TDN Analysis: There should be no stopping Minnie Hauk after her smooth re-entry in the Mooresbridge, given what we now know about her achievement in making Daryz pull out all...

It seems hard to believe now that the form of the Ballydoyle stable was being questioned prior to the 2,000 Guineas, before Gstaad (Starspangledbanner) acted as the pivot to a major upturn and sequence of wins in key races in early May. That he slammed Godolphin's genuine Group 1 performer Distant Storm (Night Of Thunder) and the rest by upwards of eight lengths in that Newmarket Classic and still managed to be convincingly beaten is the remarkable story of this year's renewal and he gets the chance to excel in...

Aidan O'Brien's pair of Gstaad (Starspangledbanner) and True Love (No Nay Never) headline the confirmations for the first Irish Classics of the season at the Curragh this weekend. Gstaad filled the runner-up spot behind Bow Echo (Night Of Thunder) in the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket earlier this month and, with George Boughey keeping his charge fresh for Royal Ascot, the Starspangledbanner colt is the odds-on favourite to gain compensation in Saturday's Tattersalls Irish 2,000 Guineas. A maximum field of 13 will go to post, with Karl Burke's G3 Greenham Stakes...

Where to begin? Perhaps to say that, though this sport faces myriad challenges, the mere thrill of actually going racing is the perfect antidote to such pernicious worries.  And it wasn't just the blazing sunshine and searing performance of Bow Echo on the Rowley Mile that has renewed the faith. A week earlier a trip to Ripon - justifiably dubbed 'The Garden Racecourse' - on a similarly sunny Saturday bit for a more ordinary race day provided no less enjoyable an experience.  It is easy to become despondent with what...

If Saturday had been all about the local heroes, by Sunday the major prizes were scattered more widely as first Jancis then True Love smuggled the silverware across the Irish Sea.  For the combined team of Ballydoyle and Coolmore, winning European Classics has become almost commonplace - a key part of the mechanism that keeps the wheels turning on the largest and most successful breeding operation in the world. The 2,000 Guineas was just missed but the 1,000 Guineas was in the bag.  The magnificent specimen that is True Love...

Trainer Aidan O'Brien is hopeful multiple Group 1 winner Precise (Starspangledbanner) will still make the starting gate for the G1 Betfred 1000 Guineas on May 3. A winner of four of her five starts, she is on the recovery trail after spiking a temperature a few weeks ago. "She's in good form, she had a temperature two or three weeks ago and we had to just back off her and slowly pick her back up," said O'Brien of his 2025 G1 Moyglare Stud Stakes and G1 Fillies Mile heroine, who...

The Coolmore partners' G1 Fillies' Mile heroine Precise (Starspangledbanner) has been awarded a mark of 113p by Timeform for her Newmarket heroics. She leads the rankings for her age and sex, with Aidan O'Brien stablemate and G1 Cheveley Park Stakes winner True Love (No Nay Never) is second at 111. G1 Prix Morny victress Venetian Sun (Starman) is third for Karl Burke at 110p, while another O'Brien runner, G1 Prix Marcel Boussac winner Diamond Necklace (St Mark's Basilica) is fourth at 109p. Group winner and G1 Moyglare Stud Stakes second...

Saturday, Curragh, post time: 16:00, KEENELAND PHOENIX STAKES-G1, €210,000, 2yo, c/f, 6fT Field: Do Bronxs (Ire) (Oasis Dream {GB}), Power Blue (Ire) (Space Blues {Ire}), Puerto Rico (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), Green Sense (Ire) (Starman {GB}), True Love (Ire) (No Nay Never). TDN Verdict: With Gstaad ruled out by Aidan O'Brien on Saturday morning, True Love holds sway here. Having dominated the Queen Mary, she has followed up in style over course and distance in the Railway and her three-pound allowance with the colts makes her a tough proposition. The...

Sprinters young and old hold sway this weekend, with the juveniles centre stage on Saturday in the G1 Keeneland Phoenix Stakes before the hardened category specialists take over in the G1 ARC Prix Maurice de Gheest 24 hours later. In the former contest, Aidan O'Brien looks set to add an 18th renewal with either the Coventry winner Gstaad (Starspangledbanner) or the Queen Mary winner True Love (No Nay Never) having missed out in six of the last seven. Gstaad and True Love's powerhouse performances at Royal Ascot set them apart...

Saturday's G2 Railway Stakes winner True Love has shot to the top of Timeform's two-year-old fillies' rankings following her five-length success, in which she beat three rival colts. The daughter of No Nay Never, who broke her maiden when winning the G2 Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot, has been awarded a mark of 110p, which puts her just 1lb behind her stable-mate, G2 Coventry Stakes winner Gstaad (Starspangledbanner). Another Ballydoyle runner, G2 Norfolk Stakes winner Charles Darwin (No Nay Never), also has a rating of 110p. "True Love was...