Americain

It is very clear how important the Melbourne Cup is within Australia. Observers at Tattersalls last week were left in no doubt of that. A large proportion of the most expensive lots were bought to head Down Under, with the Melbourne Cup repeatedly mentioned as the ultimate target. It is now, though, a major race both within Australasia and internationally, its global appeal having increased dramatically 30 years ago in the 3 minutes 23.43 seconds which it took Vintage Crop (Ire) to take the prize on the first Tuesday in...

When the gates open for the G1 Hong Kong Vase on Sunday, Ebaiyra (Distorted Humor) will be bidding to round off her trainer Alain de Royer Dupré's 49-year career with a 94th Group 1 win. Now pause. And read that sentence again.  Forty-nine years. Ninety-three Group 1 victories. Almost two per season. And a mind-boggling total of 320 wins at group level.  Royer Dupré's retirement from the training ranks brings the curtain down on a whole chapter of French and international racing history. It is quite fitting that his final...

DEAUVILLE, France—Stephanie Nigge may have been born and bred in Deauville, the town in which she now trains, but she has travelled a long way to get there. And in many ways, her two major patrons reflect both her roots and her stints on the international racing circuit. Gerard Augustin-Normand, one of France's biggest owner-breeders and a fellow Norman, has had a long association with the Nigge family, having initially had horses in training with Stephanie's father Markus, who also trains in Deauville. Augustin-Normand now has 10 horses in training...