Blackbeard

We've all seen that video; it was in the month of March when Aidan O'Brien opened the gates at Ballydoyle to the Irish press and, tasked with naming his best 2-year-old by Brendan O'Rourke, the champion trainer did not hold back in his praise for Little Big Bear (Ire). After nominating Little Big Bear as being top of the class, O'Brien also advised O'Rourke, a renowned Irish racing commentator, to double his stake from a fiver to a tenner on the colt winning his maiden on debut at the Curragh...

Sir Mark Prescott will happily recount the story of the time he bashed his former pupil assistant William Haggas over the head with a frying pan for oversleeping. He will also reflect with pleasure on the great pride he felt when Haggas won the Derby in 1996 with Shaamit (Ire). When it comes to being a benevolent dictator, the Prescott pendulum has, by his own admission, swung more from dictatorship towards benevolence in recent years and, more than anyone involved in British racing, the master of Heath House cares deeply...

Following the frantic Saturday, a sense of serenity returns to the European racing scene on Sunday with Deauville hosting the leading action including the G1 Darley Prix Morny and G1 Darley Prix Jean Romanet. In the latter contest, France says bienvenue to the Australian wonder Verry Elleegant (NZ) (Zed {NZ}) who makes her eagerly anticipated Northern Hemisphere debut under Frankie Dettori for the Francis-Henri Graffard stable. Her astounding 11 Group 1 wins in her former country make her a figure of worldwide renown, but a 12th in Europe would truly...

Goodwood's trio of Group 1 races all went the way of owner-breeders, results that are both pleasing to see for the people who invest so much thought and money into the sport over generations, and which also highlight how hard it can be for prospective owners to get into horses at the top level. This season, ten European Classics have been won by homebreds, with two of those, Sammarco (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) and Mangoustine (Fr) (Dark Angel {Ire}), having been offered for sale by their breeders but bought back. Only...

It's getting hotter by the hour in Europe and Sunday's pattern-race tests at Chantilly and The Curragh will call for that extra element from the protagonists who brave the heat. One who has shown abundant courage despite being just a greenhorn is Ballydoyle's Blackbeard (Ire) (No Nay Never), who tackles the six-furlong G2 Darley Prix Robert Papin which will be his sixth juvenile start and third since his impressive success in The Curragh's G3 Marble Hill S. over this trip May 21. Aidan O'Brien is not known for taking in...