Botanik

"I'm on a mission to make GB great in its own right." A statement from Britain's new prime minister, perhaps? No. Forget Westminster, and cast your mind instead to the rolling Cotswold hills that frame the area around Cheltenham. Those words are uttered not far up the road from the home of National Hunt racing, at Overbury Stud, by the new owner of the stud's newest stallion. Jayne McGivern is unashamedly proud of her recent purchase of Golden Horn (GB), the horse who lit up the 2015 Flat season, graduating...

Few, if any, trainers have been in more consistent form this season than William Haggas, who now finds himself atop the table in Britain, with a strike-rate of 27% for the season. His earnings of £4,611,340 at the time of writing place him narrowly ahead of reigning champion Charlie Appleby. Top of the Somerville Lodge list of horses, and the earner of roughly a third of the yard's prize-money this year, is of course arguably the best horse in the world, Baaeed (GB), around whom continues to swirl uncertainty as...

Deauville August comes to a close on Sunday, with the focus being the grand old monument of the meeting, the G2 Lucien Barriere Grand Prix de Deauville. In keeping with much of the festival's feature races, there is a significant overseas presence in the 12 1/2-furlong contest with Shadai's Mar. 26 G2 Dubai Gold Cup winner Stay Foolish (Jpn) (Stay Gold {Jpn}) looking to hold a class edge over the domestic runners. More importantly, the Arc entry will provide some kind of guide to the prospects of Japan's leading contender...