In an exhibition of pure sprinting prowess, Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid al Maktoum's Battaash (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) brought all his power to bear on his rivals on Friday to register back-to-back successes in Goodwood's G2 King George Qatar S. Despite the contrasting ground conditions to the easy turf he encountered 12 months ago and the obvious questions posed by defeat in the June 19 G1 King's Stand S. at Royal Ascot, the bay attracted heavy support as the 8-11 favourite and was in front before he had raced two...
The 17th edition of the Claiming Crown, held Saturday at Gulfstream Park, generated total handle of $10,118,000--up 0.57% from 2014 despite rainy conditions which caused four races to be taken off the turf. Gulfstream was hosting the event for the fourth year. "We're extremely pleased with the success of Saturday's Claiming Crown," said P.J. Campo, General Manager of Gulfstream Park and Vice President of Racing for The Stronach Group. "We had big fields and tremendous participation from horsemen throughout North America. We're confident the numbers would have been even more...
This time next week, County Waterford native Paul Cunningham will know whether he's the proud breeder of a Cheltenham Gold Cup winner. If he is, then National Hunt racing's blue riband will have delivered another rags-to-riches story to rival classics of the genre given to us in years past. Okay, so The Jukebox Man isn't trained by a dairy farmer a la 1990 winner Norton's Coin, nor will bookmakers be offering odds of 100/1 when the eight-year-old faces the starter at Prestbury Park. Equally, Ben Pauling, the trainer of The...