Auguste Rodin

TIPPERARY, Ireland -- Aidan O'Brien walks into the semi-covered ride, shakes hands with each member of the assembled press pack and apologises for the rain. Within his private fiefdom of Ballydoyle there is plenty that he can control, particularly via the earpieces on each of his 50 riders currently warming up in front of him, but the weather isn't one of them. The rain fell on his parade at Newmarket just over a week ago when the longed-for procession of City Of Troy (Justify) in the 2,000 Guineas failed to...

Fifty-eight entries for the Betfred Oaks on May 31 have been revealed, led by last season's champion juvenile filly Opera Singer (Justify). The G1 Prix Marcel Boussac winner remains the market leader despite the recent announcement by her trainer Aidan O'Brien that she may miss the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket following a minor setback in training.  Her stable-mate Ylang Ylang (GB) (Frankel {GB}) is also among the 13 fillies to have been entered from Ballydoyle. Irish trainers Noel Meade, Jim Bolger and Dermot Weld have one entry apiece while Paddy...

I love Paris in the springtime, sang Ella Fitzgerald, and I'm pretty sure it was a thinly-veiled reference to her secret passion for heavy ground three-year-old maidens at Saint-Cloud. What Classic clues may we glean there? Well, maybe none. But I liked the look of Narkez (Fr), who gave his rivals a six-length walloping in the Prix Comrade last Tuesday, picking up where he left off after winning at Clairefontaine last October. Bred by Nurlan Bizakov under his Sumbe banner, the colt represents that magic Siyouni (Fr)-Galileo (Ire) cross, though...

On a day where connections worldwide were treated to the very best racing in the UAE, Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) ran out a shock 28-1 winner of the G1 Longines Dubai Sheema Classic at Meydan for Charlie Appleby and William Buick. It was a race of contrasting emotions for two of the powerhouse stables in Europe as Aidan O'Brien's dual Derby winner Auguste Rodin (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), sent off a 5-4 favourite, trailed home in last. But the day belonged to Rebel's Romance, who was placed prominently by...

Class came to the fore in the G2 Dubai Gold Cup as Tower Of London (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) ran out an authoritative winner for Aidan O'Brien and Ryan Moore. A brother to St Leger hero Capri (Ire), Tower Of London came into the Group 2 contest at Meydan off the back of a cheeky victory in the G3 Longines Red Sea Turf H. in Saudi Arabia. Tower Of London built on that victory to post a career best at odds of 2-1, storming home from the rear to run out...

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES -- Twelve of the world's top middle-distance dirt horses representing a half-dozen racing nations will clash in Saturday's $12-million G1 Dubai World Cup at sprawling Meydan Racecourse in Dubai. The fields and post positions for the evening's four non-Group 1 races--including the Dubai Kahayla Classic for the Purebred Arabians--were announced Monday, while stalls for the five elite-level contests were allotted during a ceremony Wednesday evening emceed by Rishi Persad and Laura King at the Armani Hotel at the iconic Burj Khalifa in Central Dubai. Ushba Tesoro...

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES -- Headed by the first appearance from the seven World Cup night horses from the yard of Aidan O'Brien, there was a buzz of activity on both the dirt track and turf course Tuesday morning at Meydan proper as well as back on the Tapeta track a couple of furlongs down the road. The Ballydoyle septet slowly ambled out of the tunnel near the 1600-metre starting point on the the dirt surface, led by G3 Red Sea Turf H. hero Tower of London (Ire) (Galileo {Ire},...

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES -- It has been a circuitous first three decades of life for Pat Comerford, from big city Melbourne to Alice Springs smack dab in the middle of Australia and from studying in Central Missouri to New Zealand to the bright lights of Dubai. At age 28, Comerford is set to call his first Dubai World Cup meeting, having cut his teeth on the mic in the Northern Territories almost by accident. Called up into a similar role at the Singapore Turf Club--a job that has proved...

It was an evening to remember for Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum's Godolphin team, as the worldwide operation accumulated no fewer than five statuettes over the course of the evening at Thursday's 53rd Annual Eclipse Awards Presented by FanDuel TV, John Deere, Keeneland and The Jockey Club, honoring and recognizing excellence in Thoroughbred racing. And they saved the best for last, as Cody's Wish (Curlin), whose story resonated with nearly every fan of Thoroughbred racing and beyond, was named Horse of the Year and champion older dirt male for...

LONDON, UK -- Japan stole the show at the Longines World Racing Awards in London, with Silk Racing's Equinox (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) named the Longines World's Best Racehorse for 2023 while the G1 Japan Cup claimed the title of Longines World's Best Horse Race. The top-rated three-year-old filly in the world was Japan's Triple Tiara winner Liberty Island (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}). Equinox's top rating of 135 - the highest ever awarded to a Japanese horse - was achieved in his four-length romp in the Japan Cup, his final appearance...

Since the publication of Patrick Cooper's letter suggesting that the Irish Derby should be shortened in distance we have had a predictably mixed response in correspondence on the subject. You can find Cooper's letter in full here. In essence, it highlights the fortunes of two Frankel colts, the Irish Derby and Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud winner and Arc runner-up Westover and the Dewhurst and 2,000 Guineas winner Chaldean, both of whom raced for Juddmonte. The latter is now a Juddmonte stallion at Banstead Manor Stud, while Westover is about to...

"The Breeders' Cup is always very special and to see a young sire like Justify get two Grade I-winning juveniles was fantastic but for me it had to be Auguste Rodin winning the Breeders' Cup Turf. He was in a hopeless position along the rail and had to be exceptional to get up for the victory. He's a colt that could stand anywhere in the world and physically he's quite similar to his grandsire Sunday Silence. It would be great to see him back at the Breeders' Cup this year...