Cheltenham

Sales returned to Cheltenham Racecourse on Friday for the first time since the pandemic, and the Cheltenham November Sale produced record results. Fifty horses were sold for £4,288,500-a record for any select point-to-point sale--at an average of £85,770 and a clearance rate of 93%. Topping trade was the 4-year-old Arctic Bresil (GB) (Blue Bresil {Fr}) (lot 28), who finished second in a highly regarded maiden point-to-point at Tattersalls Farm. He was bought by Gerry Hogan for £305,000. In total, 14 lots realised £100,000 or more from 12 individual buyers. "This...

Jon Pullin, who has been clerk of the course at several British racecourses including Doncaster, Uttoxeter, Southwell and Wolverhampton, will take up that position at Cheltenham. Pullin held the positions of group racing manager at Arena Leisure, managing director of Royal Windsor Racecourse and assistant racing director at Arena Racing Company before being promoted into his current role as ARC's racing director in 2017. Current Cheltenham clerk of the course Simon Claisse will remain in his position through the new season opening on Oct. 22 and 23, with Pullin to...

Cheltenham will honour the late Lorna Brooke on Friday's seven-race Hunter Chase Racing card. The penultimate race on the card, the Lorna Brooke Open Hunters' Chase goes off at 7.45p.m. Brooke, 37, passed away Apr. 19 as the result of a spinal injury sustained during a fall at Taunton Racecourse Apr. 18. "Lorna was a dear friend and rode for me on many occasions," said Shropshire-based Philip Rowley. "I will always be thankful to her for providing me with my first winner under Rules, which was The General Lee in...

The return of point-to-pointing in Britain and Ireland has facilitated a number of recent winners to be entered for the Tattersalls Cheltenham April Sale which, because of ongoing Covid restrictions at racecourses, will be held in Newmarket on April 23. Twenty-three young jumpers have been catalogued, 17 of which have won a point-to-point or bumper in the last few weeks, including the 5-year-old Takoda (Ire) (Doyen {GB}), who strolled to a 25-length victory on debut at Higham on April 2. Also catalogued is a Shirocco (Ger) half-sister to the Grade...

Three-time Grand National-winning trainer Gordon Elliott is fully cooperating with the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB)'s inquiry into a disputed photo allegedly displaying Elliott sitting on a dead horse, the BBC reported on Sunday. The image, which some believe to be digitally altered, appears to show Elliott making a peace gesture while sitting on a dead horse lying on its side and captioned "new work rider". "I'm aware of a photo circulating on social media," the trainer tweeted late on Saturday night. "The IHRB have been in contact with me...

Former Cheltenham racecourse chairman Lord Vestey has died at the age of 79. Samuel Vestey, 3rd Baron Vestey, whose wife Celia, the sister of Gold Cup-winning trainer Henrietta Knight, died last year, aged 71, had a long association with the sport. Sporting his familiar blue silks, his runners enjoyed success over jumps and on the Flat. Jamie Osborne, now a successful trainer, was in the irons when the Knight-trained Karshi (GB) (Persian Bold {Ire}) delivered one of Vestey's biggest wins. Owned and bred by Vestey himself, he won the 1997...

Racing Welfare marks its jumps season return with a 'Virtual West Open Day' Sunday, Nov. 8.  Sponsored by Sporting Life, the Virtual West Open Day will offer video content from the region's racehorse trainers as well as footage of racing's premier horses, jockeys and personalities. Also featuring a jumps schooling session and insights from a vet and farrier on Instagram, the Virtual West Open Day will present a live point-to-point Facebook demo with Derek 'Tommo' Thompson from Chaddesley Corbett. For more information on the Virtual West Open Day, visit www.racingwelfare.co.uk/westopenday/....

There was a significant spike in the total of confirmed coronavirus cases in the UK on Sunday--less than 10 days before the scheduled start of the Cheltenham Festival. Chief Medical Officer, Professor Chris Whitty, reported that the number of positive tests for the virus has risen to 35 after 12 new patients were identified in England. Whitty said three patients were close contacts of a known Covid-19 case that was transmitted within the UK--believed to be a Surrey resident--while another new patient, from Essex, has no relevant international travel to...