Watership Down Stud

Wathnan Racing's Tornado Tower (Frankel), an 850,000gns Book 1 full-brother to G1 Irish Derby, G1 Grand Prix de Paris and G1 St Leger hero Hurricane Lane, made his second start a winning one in Wednesday's TMT Group Maiden Stakes at Chester. "We had the option of going a mile-and-a-half or a mile-and-a-quarter here, but decided he'd shown enough zip in his last piece of work to go a mile-and-a-quarter," explained James Doyle. "He was learning on the job early, we got rolling a little way from home and it set...

Forz Europe's 1.1-million guineas Tattersalls October Book 1 graduate Superior Choice (Dubawi) returned off a debut fourth over one mile at Newmarket in October with an encouraging seasonal return in Saturday's Madri Excepcional Maiden Stakes at Leicester. The John and Thady Gosden trainee employed patient tactics and settled fourth of the six runners for most of the 10-furlong contest. Inching closer in the straight, the 10-3 third choice launched his bid inside the final quarter-mile and quickened impressively in the closing stages to easily outpoint Heyzoom (Dubawi) by two lengths....

Darley's Sam Bullard and Watership Down Stud manager Simon Marsh have paid Too Darn Hot the ultimate compliment by drawing parallels between the young stallion and last year's European champion sire Night Of Thunder. Both sons of Dubawi operate under the same Darley roof and Too Darn Hot, the sire of multiple Group 1 winners in both hemispheres, is charting a similar path towards elite stallion status, according to Bullard and Marsh. Bullard said, "Dubawi was what we set out to achieve in the early days of the Darley stallions...

Tom Harris of Lordship Stud will never forget the day he first laid eyes on the Le Havre mare Ville De Grace, nor will he forget the sale of her first foal after the filly by Frankel went the way of Juddmonte for 1,500,000gns at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale. A three-time winner for the Sir Michael Stoute stable, notably winning the G3 Pride Stakes, Ville De Grace is now based at Lordship Stud after being bought for 2,000,000gns at the 2022 Tattersalls December Mares Sale. Recounting...

Notable absentees from the first-day buyers' sheet at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, the Coolmore partners made their second seven-figure purchase of Wednesday's session when going to 1,700,000gns for the No Nay Never colt out of the G1 Cheveley Park Stakes heroine Millisle (Starspangledbanner). Consigned by Watership Down Stud, lot 266 is the third foal out of Millisle, who also won the G3 Ballyogan Stakes as a three-year-old. Her first foal, Alfareqa (Frankel), successful once in five career starts, was herself a Book 1 yearling when bought...

A nomination to Australian Champion First- and Second-Season Sire Too Darn Hot has been added to the Inglis Digital August (Late) Online Sale held from August 22-27. The son of Dubawi broke the first-season sire earnings record during the 2023/2024 season. Responsible for four-time Australian Group 1 winner Broadsiding, Too Darn Hot has sired the winners of more group races than well-known Australian stallions Snitzel, Fastnet Rock, I Am Invincible and newly crowned champion sire Zoustar, at the same stage of their careers. The sale of the Too Darn Hot...

Jaber Abdullah's once-raced Hope Queen (Night Of Thunder), a granddaughter of storied European champion Attraction, posted a debut success for the Karl Burke stable at Beverley last month and repeated the dose on black-type bow with a battling victory in Thursday's Listed European Bloodstock News EBF Star Stakes at Sandown. "We knew we had a nice filly after she won at Beverley and it's nice to get a Listed win into her," said winning rider Clifford Lee. "Once we got a clear run, I knew I was always going to...

With chief rival Ghostwriter (Invincible Spirit) scratched during the preliminaries, jockey William Buick seized the opportunity of registering a 2,000th British winner aboard Godolphin's ultra-consistent El Cordobes (Frankel) in Thursday's Kingdom Of Bahrain-sponsored G2 Princess Of Wales's Stakes at Newmarket. "To do it on my home track for Godolphin and Charlie [Appleby], makes it particularly special," said Buick after his landmark achievement in a contest which comes with a free ticket to the G1 Caulfield Cup. "The favourite [Ghostwriter] came out, but this horse really deserved it," the rider added....

Tickets are now on sale for this year's TBA Flat Breeders' Awards Evening, which takes place on Wednesday, July 9 at Chippenham Park and will be sponsored by Watership Down Stud. The event, which takes place on the eve of Newmarket's July Festival and the July Sale at Tattersalls, celebrates British-bred successes from the 2024 Flat racing season and will be hosted by Sky Sports Racing presenter, Gina Bryce. A total of 13 awards will be presented during the course of the evening, including the prestigious Andrew Devonshire Bronze and...

The prize-money for the G3 Watership Down Stud Too Darn Hot Greenham Stakes at Newbury has been increased to £100,000 this year. Set for Saturday, Apr. 12, as part of the Dubai Duty Free Spring Trials meeting, the seven-furlong contest holds an illustrious roll of honour including Mill Reef, Paco Boy (Ire), Frankel (GB) and Kingman (GB). Sponsored by Watership Down Stud since 2019, the race will receive a £10,000 boost to the total prize fund in 2025. The renewal takes place three weeks prior to the first Classics of...

A colt by Dubawi (Ire), the first foal out of the G1 Prix de Royallieu heroine Loving Dream (GB) (Gleneagles {Ire}), became the fourth seven-figure lot of Wednesday's session at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale when selling online to Yulong for 1,100,000gns. Lot 268 was consigned by Watership Down Stud and is out of the former Gosden trainee who also won the G2 Ribblesdale Stakes. Loving Dream is in turn out of the Listed winner Kissable (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) whose other progeny include the GII Pennine...

Ollie Sangster snagged last year's renewal of Sandown's Listed European Bloodstock News EBF Star Stakes with subsequent G1 Fillies' Mile runner-up Shuwari (Ire) (New Bay {GB}) and collected back-to-back renewals of the seven-furlong contest with recent Haydock winner Celestial Orbit (GB) (No Nay Never--Rose Bonheur {GB}, by Danehill Dancer {Ire}). Settled off the tempo in seventh until easing closer in the home straight, the 9-1 chance moved to within striking distance with a quarter-mile remaining and was beyond recall once quickening to the fore approaching the final furlong, keeping on...