Conversations

Mick Appleby will bid to begin the new year with a bang when stable star Raasel lines out in the Dubai Dash at Meydan. Appleby will run four horses in total at Meydan over the coming weeks and months, all of whom cost just over £60,000 combined, which illustrates the Northern England-based trainer's ability to sniff out a bargain at the sales.    In this week's Starfield Stud-sponsored Conversations Q&A, Appleby discusses his approach to sourcing talent, speaks out on the poor prize-money in Britain and how difficult it is...

Former amateur rider-turned-television pundit, Jane Mangan is next up in the Starfield Stud-sponsored Conversations series. From her family's approach to breeding to her time working in Ballydoyle and at Primus, Mangan makes for an engaging subject in this week's Q&A with Brian Sheerin. Brian Sheerin: This year will be remembered for the remarkably strong trade at the sales. Your family's Conna Stud was a beneficiary of the excellent trade when selling a Churchill (Ire) filly for €230,000 at the Orby Sale in September. How did the year go as a...

   There have been a lot of football analogies in racing this week. Most have centered around a hypothetical situation whereby the Kevin De Bruynes or the Erling Haalands of this world were leaving the Premier League for sunnier-and more lucrative pay packets-in foreign leagues.     For all the Manchester City fans out there, you can relax, as the analogy was simply fictional. However, there is nothing fictional about the mass exodus of talent facing British and Irish racing.    Ger Lyons is better qualified than most to speak about...

The weekly TDN Europe Q&A continues as Graham Motion, who will be bidding to make his Royal Ascot breakthrough with Spendarella (Karakontie {Jpn}) in the G1 Coronation S., sits down with Brian Sheerin. Motion, one of the leading trainers in America, reveals that William Buick has been booked to ride, how he feels the best is yet to come from Spendarella, as well as giving his views on industry topics.   Brian Sheerin: You have come close to Royal Ascot success in the past. Can Spendarella make the breakthrough for...