'It's All About Having Winners' – Lillingston Relishing Red-Hot Run
July 25, 2022
Purveyors of Twitter will have noticed that Luke Lillingston has made his way onto timelines on an almost daily basis in recent weeks but the Mount Coote Stud operator had his name pegged into lights on Saturday when dear old Sir Busker (Ire) (Sir Prancealot {Ire}), a horse he bought for just €25,000 in 2017, [...]
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Apricot Twist Rewards Barouche Stud's 'Two-Pronged Attack'
July 21, 2022
There's an old proverb that reads, 'All the flowers of the tomorrows are in the seeds of today,' which came to mind when Apricot Twist (Ire) (Expert Eye {GB}) ran out a comfortable winner of the opening six-furlong maiden at Naas on Wednesday. In the case of Apricot Twist, who earned herself a TDN Rising [...]
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'We're Not At The Sales To Buy Clean X-Rays-We're There To Buy A Racehorse'
July 20, 2022
Mark Johnston, one of the most successful trainers of the modern era in Britain, joined forces with his son Charlie last winter and things couldn't be going better for the father-and-son team in their first full season holding the licence together. The Middleham team sent out 100 or more winners for 28 consecutive seasons [...]
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'This Is Just The Beginning' – US Owner Has Big Plans With Joseph O'Brien
July 19, 2022
Eric Long has struck it lucky with Zoinnocent (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}), the first horse he has had in training in Europe and, speaking ahead of the filly's run in Thursday's G3 Silver Flash S. at Leopardstown, the American businessman has outlined plans to grow his string with Joseph O'Brien. Zoinnocent ran out an impressive winner [...]
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First Winner For Cloth Of Stars
July 18, 2022
Cloth Of Stars (Ire), twice placed in the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and a winner at the highest level when landing the Prix Ganay, enjoyed a breakthrough winner as a stallion on Monday with Kenmaya (Fr) scoring at Vichy. Trained by Christophe Escuder, Kenmaya bagged the opening juvenile claimer over six furlongs by [...]
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'I Was Dreading Doing That Interview All Week' – Big Day for Small Owner
July 16, 2022
When you have a limited number of bullets to fire, you can't expect to hit the target too often, let alone on Irish Oaks day at the Curragh, but Ronan Fitzpatrick, racing manager to Mark Dobbin, sensed something special was in the offing on Saturday. So much so, Fitzpatrick, full sure that either Cairde Go [...]
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'We Know we are Succeeding Because John [O'Connor] is Laughing at us Less'
July 15, 2022
They have reached dizzy heights as breeders and now Gillian and Vimal Khosla are concentrating on achieving big-race success as owners with Fennela (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), a daughter of their outstanding broodmare Green Room (Theatrical {Ire}), in Saturday's G1 Juddmonte Irish Oaks. The Khoslas know a thing or two about breeding top-notchers. Green [...]
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Michael Donohoe – 'A Good Trainer Will Make A Bad Agent Look Very Clever'
July 13, 2022
Michael O'Donohoe of BBA Ireland and leading owner Zhang Yuesheng have been making waves off the track in recent weeks after buying a number of high-quality broodmare prospects to visit the Chinese businessman's Group 1-winner Lucky Vega (Ire) at the Irish National Stud. Zhang Yuesheng also has Royal Ascot heroine Magical Lagoon (Ire) [...]
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'It's Mind-Boggling' – O'Brien Shares All About Belmont Heroine McKulick
July 11, 2022
Adrian O'Brien, who under the banner of Hazelwood Bloodstock, raised and consigned GI Belmont Oaks winner McKulick (GB) (Frankel {GB}) on behalf of her breeder Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Maktoum, has opened up about what Saturday's top-level triumph means to everyone on his farm. Hazelwood Bloodstock, which O'Brien set up alongside his wife Philippa [...]
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Crystal Estrella Shines As Record-Breaking July Sale Concludes
July 8, 2022
NEWMARKET, UK–It's not often that a camera crew follows a filly on her way into the ring but the confidence behind Crystal Estrella (GB) (Iffraaj {GB}) was well placed at Tattersalls with Sir Michael Stoute's charge selling to Team Valor for 275,000gns on the final day of a record-breaking July Sale. An impressive winner of [...]
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Shadwell Shine Again as Albasheer Shares Top Lot at 130,000gns
July 7, 2022
NEWMARKET, UK–Shadwell were responsible for the record-breaking sales-topper on Wednesday when Rihaam (Ire) (Dansili {GB}), in foal to Dark Angel (Ire), sold for 540,000gns, and Albasheer (Ire) (Shamardal), another from the draft, was the co-top lot on Thursday at 130,000gns. Boasting a rating of 107 and some top-notch form to go with it, having finished [...]
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'It's Rare That We See Stats Like That': Rimaud on Zarak
July 6, 2022
The Aga Khan Studs is celebrating 100 years of success in 2022, making the emergence of Vadeni (Fr) (Churchill {Ire}) as one of the most talented colts in training and Zarak (Fr) being one of the hottest young stallion prospects in Europe all the more fitting. Georges Rimaud has played an integral role in [...]
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