Bradsell

Bradsell (GB) (Tasleet {GB}) was the juvenile star of the opening day of Royal Ascot last year and the G2 Coventry S. winner has been supplemented to return next week in the G1 King's Stand S. for Archie Watson. "I guess Ascot's been pretty big in the storyline of my career," admits the Lambourn trainer, who also won't be short of two-year-old runners at the royal meeting in an attempt add to a record which includes the Windsor Castle S. "Soldier's Call (GB) was obviously our first big winner. I...

Top bloodstock agent Richard Brown has done his bit to alleviate any stresses vendors may have been feeling on the eve of the Doncaster Breeze Up Sale by explaining that he will be using a raft of metrics other than just times in an effort to find the next Perfect Power (Ire) (Ardad {Ire}) at this year's sale.  Monday's breeze took place on testing ground, with some two-year-olds handling it better than most, which will all be taken into account by the buying bench, according to Blandford Bloodstock's ace scout. ...

It has been another banner week for the breeze-up sector, not to mention the burgeoning Bahraini participation in European racing.  Following Classic victories for Cachet (Ire), Native Trail (GB) and Eldar Eldarov (GB), more graduates of the two-year-old sales scene lifted one of last weekend's major races in Britain, the G2 Mill Reef Stakes, and also the G3 Stockholm Cup.  Sakheer (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) was imperious in the Mill Reef, and was the standout in a magnificent seven winners on Saturday for Roger Varian, which also included landing a Group...

NEWMARKET, UK--There's no let-up in a sales calendar that becomes more packed every year, and the yearling action now switches to Newmarket, with the Tattersalls Somerville Sale sandwiched between last Friday's BBAG Yearling Sale in Germany, and a new French sale at Arqana this coming Thursday and Friday. This is in effect only the second year of the Somerville, a sale that grew out of the Tattersalls Ascot Yearling Sale, which itself only existed for four years, having been moved to Newmarket during the first year of the pandemic. That...

Bradsell (GB) (Tasleet {GB}), the brilliant G2 Coventry S. winner, has been ruled out for the rest of the season after picking up an injury in the G1 Phoenix S. at the Curragh on Saturday.  Sent off favourite in that race, Bradsell stumbled leaving the stalls under Hollie Doyle and could only manage fourth behind the ultra-impressive Little Big Bear (Ire) (No Nay Never). The injury was confirmed by the colt's trainer Archie Watson in a statement, "Bradsell unfortunately sustained a season-ending injury in the Phoenix Stakes at the Curragh...

Aidan O'Brien will rely solely on Little Big Bear (Ire) (No Nay Never) in his bid to win a record-extending 17th G1 Phoenix S. at the Curragh this afternoon after stablemate Blackbeard (Ire) (No Nay Never) was ruled out of the Saturday showpiece due to to allergies. Last successful with Sioux Nation in 2017, O'Brien has won the Phoenix S. with George Washington, Holy Roman Emperor and Mastercraftsman in the past, and Little Big Bear is a 7-4 chance to follow in the hoofprints of those illustrious former Ballydoyle-trained stars....

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 hasn't been a bad week for William Haggas. The Somerville Lodge stable cat has recently gone AWOL for fear that he might be entered up at Catterick and would have to live up to the extraordinarily rich vein of form currently being exhibited by the larger quadrupeds whose fetlocks he rubs up against during evening stables. Over the last fortnight 41 horses have been sent out by the trainer and 17 of them have returned home with a trophy to add to the cabinet. Most impressively, 10 of those...