Coventry stakes

Royal Ascot winner Rashabar (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}) is set for a step up in trip on his next start as connections of Brian Meehan's colt have identified the G1 National Stakes at the Curragh as a likely target for the shock 80-1 winner of the Coventry Stakes.  Rashabar came close to providing Meehan with a third success in the Prix Morny when narrowly failing to reel in Aidan O'Brien's Whistlejacket at Deauville earlier this month. "There's a fair few options, but we will be sticking in Group 1...

Royal Ascot-bound Cowardofthecounty (Ire) (Kodi Bear {Ire}) has been snapped up by Barbara Banke's Stonestreet Stables and other American-based partners. Cowardofthecounty made a scintillating start to his career when scoring on debut for Joseph O'Brien over 6f at the Curragh.  The form has since been franked with the runner-up, the Aidan O'Brien-rained Whistlejacket (Ire) (No Nay Never), landing the First Flier S. over 5f at the Curragh in similarly impressive fashion.  Cowardofthecounty is prominent in the betting for the Coventry S. at odds of 5-1 and, according to O'Brien, the...

During a time where rising costs and a shaky underbelly to the yearling and foal market is causing many producers to rejig their approach to the breeding season, James Cloney certainly did his bit to provide smaller breeders either side of the Irish Sea with some much-needed encouragement when Camille Pissarro (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) entered the Royal Ascot picture by making a winning debut for Aidan O'Brien at Navan last weekend. Sold by the breeder to Coolmore's MV Magnier and Peter Brant's White Birch Farm for 1.25 million gns...

Asadna (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}), one of the big talking horses this season, has been switched from George Boughey to Alice Haynes by Sheikh Abdullah Almalek Alsabah after the colt's ninth-placed effort in the G2 Coventry S. at Royal Ascot.  Much of the hype surrounding the colt stemmed from a scintillating 12-length victory on debut at Ripon. It was on the strength of that performance that Asadna was sent off just 7-2 for the Coventry but he failed to land a glove on River Tiber (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) and was...

At first there are tears and then the words come tumbling out.  "We got a bit of bad news before the Curragh," Con Marnane explains. "Theresa's cancer is back again. That's why the whole thing was so emotional." Theresa is Con's wife and it is her yellow and black silks, made famous by Different League (Fr) (Dabirsim {Fr}) winning the Albany, that were carried to that stirring victory in the G3 Marble Hill S. by Givemethebeatboys (Ire) at Irish racing's HQ. He is one of two Royal Ascot-bound Bungle Inthejungle...

Share prices in Jessica Harrington's Givemethebeatboys (Ire) (Bungle Inthejungle {GB}), a leading G2 Coventry S. contender, took a spike on Thursday with the news that legendary jockey Frankie Dettori would take the ride on the colt at Royal Ascot on Tuesday. Givemethebeatboys, a gritty winner of the G3 Marble Hill S. at the Curragh when last seen, will be offered up for sale by his owner Con Marnane at the Goffs London Sale on the eve of the race. He is not the only horse that Marnane and Harrington will...

Aughamore Stud's Michael Gleeson has said that producing Asadna (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}), arguably the most impressive two-year-old winner there has been so far this season and a genuine Royal Ascot contender, eclipses anything the family-run farm has achieved in the sales ring.  Gleeson runs one of the shrewdest breeding and pinhooking operations in Ireland along with his brother Laurence. The Westmeath men have made a habit of producing a number of big results at the sales in recent years and are now savouring what looks a real Coventry S. contender...

However unlikely it seemed back in the autumn when the syndicate was formed, the members of the Dew Sweepers LLC have been provided with reason to believe their dream of securing a Royal Ascot winner can become a reality with the news that Irish Champion Jockey Colin Keane has committed to riding both of their runners next week. It makes sense, too. The Dew Sweepers LLC, formed and managed by Jack Goldthorpe, features several Irish ex-patriots and they will be cheering on Keane as he gets the leg over Late...

ASCOT,UK—It was a dream that started with the purchase of two relatively inexpensive yearling fillies at the Tattersalls December Yearling Sale of 2013. Berkshire Honey (GB) (Sakhee's Secret {GB}) never raced and Berkshire Beauty (GB) (Aqlaam {GB}) eventually won over a mile at Southwell in January as a 4-year-old. Hardly the stuff of dreams at this stage, but standing in the winner's enclosure on a sundrenched day at Royal Ascot is something quite different.  A little over seven years on from their first foray into the racing world, that's where...

G2 Coventry S. ADMIRAL NELSON (GB) (Kingman {GB} - Shamandar {Fr}, by Exceed And Excel {Aus}) Bred by Bob and Pauline Scott, he was a Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale topper at £440,000 and lived up to expectations on his winning debut in a five-furlong Curragh maiden on June 12, earning TDN Rising Star status in the process. His dam was a decent juvenile, winning the listed Dick Poole Fillies' S. and beating subsequent Grade 1 winner Dubawi Heights (GB) in the Watership Down Stud Sales Race. ARMY OF INDIA...