HOKKAIDO, Japan-The demand for the progeny of Kitasan Black (Jpn) continued at the JRHA Sale on Tuesday as, just 24 hours after supplying the top lot of the yearling session, a half-brother to G1 NHK Mile Cup winner Schnell Meister (Ger) topped the foal segment for the Shadai Station-based stallion at ¥410 million [roughly $2.59 [...]

HOKKAIDO, Japan-“The world is getting smaller,” MV Magnier remarked when discussing some of the pedigrees on offer at this year's JRHA Select Sale, and so it proved when a Kitasan Black (Jpn) colt out of the multiple Group-1 placed Galileo (Ire) mare Delphinia (Ire) set a new record at ¥590 million [roughly €3.34 million] for [...]

HOKKAIDO, Japan-One thing the Japanese breeders are not short on is patience. It is here where the middle-distance horse is truly admired and cultivated arguably better than any other racing nation.  That patience will come in handy, according to Shadai Stallion Station's Naohiro Hosoda, when it comes to getting the best out of Equinox (Jpn) [...]

HOKKAIDO, Japan–Expectation rather than trepidation. Pre-JRHA Select Sale nerves are different to the ones we go through back in Europe, that's for sure.  A quick scan through the over 500-strong catalogue of foals and yearlings will remind you just how small the world is with many familiar names cropping up on any given page.  However, [...]

A €210,000 daughter of Too Darn Hot (GB) headlined what was a predictably tricky two-year-old section to the Summer Sale at Arqana as the curtain definitively came down on the 2024 breeze-up season.  It was Brendan Holland's Grove Stud who consigned the day one top lot, who was bought by bloodstock agent Arthur Hoyeau on [...]

Connections of Moqadama (Ire), a winning sister to back-to-back Royal Ascot scorer Khaadem (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}), say that they want to “strike while the iron is still hot” with the broodmare in the upcoming Tattersalls Online Sale.  Consigned by Castleton Lyons, Moqadama will become the first US-based horse to sell on the Tattersalls Online [...]

Prominent breeze-up consignor and pre-trainer Ian McCarthy says that having a genuine Derby horse through his hands will be very hard to top and explained how he will be rooting for graduate Ambiente Friendly (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}) in Sunday's Irish Derby at the Curragh. McCarthy sold Ambiente Friendly on behalf of the colt's breeders Al [...]

Irish Derby weekend kicks off at the Curragh on Friday and there are no shortage of potential talking points. From highly-regarded juveniles, intriguingly-bred newcomers, stars of the future and potential banana skins, all of the ingredients are there to make the action on the track absorbing and informative. Here are some things to keep an [...]

After lighting up Royal Ascot, a tilt at the Melbourne Cup could be on the cards for Crystal Black (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}), with Ireland's reigning champion jockey Colin Keane explaining how the gelding has provided his father “with a new lease of life” after a horror fall in 2021 almost left the trainer paralysed.  The [...]

Nicky Henderson and Henry de Bromhead have spoken out against the rumoured changes to the National Hunt programme in Britain that would see Grade 1 winners not being qualified to run in the Mares' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.  Dual Champion Hurdle winner Honeysuckle signed off on her glittering career for de Bromhead by notching [...]

Isle Of Jura (GB) (New Approach {Ire}) stormed to a memorable Hardwicke victory on Saturday to provide trainer George Scott and rider Callum Shepherd with a breakthrough Royal Ascot success. The win was a timely one for Shepherd, who endured a hammer blow when losing the ride aboard Ambiente Friendly (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}), who would [...]

You can keep your fashionistas, foodies, royal processions and Group 1 races. Give me the scenes that followed the success of Crystal Black (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) in the Duke Of Edinburgh Stakes any day of the week instead.  Win, lose or draw, the Wear A Pink Ribbon Syndicate who own Crystal Black came to Ascot [...]