Blue Point

The search for the next Vandeek (GB) (Havana Grey {GB}) just became a whole lot tougher. That's not to say that separating potential Group 1 winners apart from the near-200 horses who breeze up the Rowley Mile is an easy task to start with.  However, the howling wind, vertical hailstorm and torrential rain added a whole new dimension to the breeze at this year's Tattersalls Craven Breeze-Up Sale.  They tell us year after year that the times don't matter. That they only serve as just another piece of the jigsaw...

Richard Hannon has said there is not one horse that he would swap Rosallion (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}) for and reported the Group 1 winner to be firmly on course for the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket on May 4.  Previously described as "right up there with the best we've ever had" by his handler, Rosallion is a general 8-1 chance for Classic glory at Newmarket.  His big day in the sun last year came when storming to G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere glory and confidence is clearly high in the camp...

The entries for the first two Classics of the season have been released, with 49 horses entered in each of the Qipco 2,000 Guineas and Qipco 1,000 Guineas. The colts will line up at Newmarket on Saturday, May 4 when it is likely that much of the attention will focus on the unbeaten City Of Troy (Justify), who at this stage is the ante-post favourite for the 2,000 Guineas. Trained by Aidan O'Brien, he has left Ireland for two of his three starts to win the G2 Superlative S. at...

Respected point-to-point handler and ex-jumps jockey Charlie Poste says that he is "absolutely loving" his first endeavours into the breeze-up business and looks forward to consigning his first draft at the upcoming Tattersalls Craven Breeze-Up and Goffs UK Doncaster Breeze-Up sales.  Poste trained over 100 winners between the flags in Britain, including talented chaser Third Time Lucki, but explained how the broad international market for breeze-up horses compared to the parochial feel to the point-to-point game made it a no-brainer to try his hand at the former.  The early indications...

Out from the cloudy backdrop on a morning borrowed from winter comes a sight so good that it serves to remind that spring has in fact sprung and the Flat season is not as far away as it seems.  There is Group 1 winner Bucanero Fuerte (GB) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) leading Derby entrants Mr Hampstead (Galileo {Ire}) and Padesha (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}). And who's that lobbing along in behind? Potential Dubai World Cup runner Elegant Man (Arrogate) and Qipco Champion S. hero King Of Steel (Wootton Bassett {GB}) add...

Bloodstock agent Mike Ryan has given the lowdown on the top Chad Brown-trained juvenile prospects that were selected at last year's Book 1 session at the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale. Ryan, who has sourced well over 50 Group/Grade 1 winners in his long and distinguished career, including Book 1 graduates Newspaperofrecord (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), Digital Age (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) and Domestic Spending (GB) (Kingman {GB}), admitted to finding trade "a little easier" in 2023 compared to previous visits to Park Paddocks.  Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf heroine...

Anyone who bets on racing will know too well the perils that come with predicting the outcome of a sporting event. But what if we take it a couple of steps further and, for a bit of fun, try and gaze into the crystal ball and see what could be in store for 2024? From Frankie Dettori returning to the saddle in Europe to Wathnan Racing continuing its march in Britain, here are 10 predictions-some fun and some serious-for the new year.  Dettori's Groundhog Day To Continue Into 2024 We've...

There will be a lot of I-told-you-sos when looking back on the first-season sires' championship with Blue Point (Ire) living up to his lofty billing by amassing 50 individual winners in Europe including two Group 1 scorers in what can only be described as a dream debut season.  The pledge of support behind Blue Point from a very early stage, in what was viewed by many as the most competitive first-season sires' championship in a long time, was telling.  Perhaps one of the most accurate predictions came from trainer Richard...

There was a familiar theme to develop at Park Paddocks on Wednesday as, for the second time in the space of 24 hours, the progeny of Havana Grey (GB) dominated at the December Foal Sale with a colt by the Whitsbury Manor Stud-based stallion fetching 250,000gns to unknown entity Rumstar Bloodstock.  A brother to G3 Cornwallis S. winner Rumstar (GB), lot 638 was one of two foals by the sire to clear six figures on the day, with five more foals by Havana Grey selling for at least 80,000gns. Whitsbury's...

ARCADIA, USA -- A clean sweep for Europe in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint. How about that to start the Breeders' Cup? And then for the closing act, a one-two for Aidan O'Brien in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf after the drama of the early-morning scratching of race favourite River Tiber (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}). For the curtain up, Big Evs (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}), named to honour a fallen friend, paid the best possible tribute to the late Paul Evans in giving his British owners Paul and...

Lodge Park Stud produced one of the most unlikely of turnarounds to top Monday's Book 2 session at Tattersalls with their Dubawi (Ire) filly selling to Godolphin for 725,000gns.  Not because the price wasn't expected as the quality of their offering was never in doubt. But when the filly gave herself a nasty cut en route to Book 1 and was forced to miss that engagement, plans B, C and D whirled through the head of her breeder Damien Burns. To the delight of Burns, his Dubawi filly out of...

With Dubawi as its lynchpin, there have of course been plenty of red-letter days for Darley in recent years, but the results from the Arc meeting at Longchamp on Sunday can nevertheless be deemed to be extra special. Best of all was the victory in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe for the unbeaten Ace Impact (Ire), a member of the first crop of Cracksman (GB). That stellar performance was backed up by a first-crop Group 1 winner for Blue Point (Ire), who is leading the first-season sires' table and...