Doncaster

Boardsmill Stud's first-season sire Poet's Word (Ire) (by Poet's Voice {GB}) is off the mark after his daughter Zabbie (GB) took Thursday's William Hill Build Your Odds Racing League Nursery H. at Doncaster. Placed three times before a disappointing ninth in a Southwell maiden July 29, the Richard Hannon-trained 9-1 shot raced towards the fore of the main group uder Sean Levey before earning the lead with half a furlong remaining and beating X J Rascal (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) by a head.

The Sept. 10 G2 Champagne S. is next for the unbeaten Isaac Shelby (GB) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), according to trainer Brian Meehan. Owned by the Manton Thoroughbreds VII partnership led by Sam Sangster, the chestnut won at Newbury on debut, and followed up in the July 9 G2 Superlative S. If the colt continues to progress, a crack at the G1 2000 Guineas is on the horizon next spring. "We put him in the Champagne S. at Doncaster and that is probably likely to be his next spot," said...

The 433-strong catalogue for the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale at Doncaster is now online. Set for Aug. 23-24 at 10 a.m. each day, the sale has enjoyed a good run of late with its alumni, with G2 Superlative S. hero Isaac Shelby (GB) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) the latest poster child. The 2021 edition has already yielded 43 winners sold through the ring last year, tops of all juvenile sales up to this point in the season. Some of the highlights include an Al Kazeem (GB) half-brother to Isaac...

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-pedigreed horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Saturday's Observations features a half-brother to Group 1 winner Zaaki (GB) (Leroidesanimaux {Brz}). 1.42 Newmarket, Mdn, £8,000, 2yo, f, 7fT ZAAKARA (GB) (Bobby's Kitten) represents a rare link-up between Kirsten Rausing and Sir Michael Stoute, but the Freemason Lodge handler was at one time responsible for this debutante's half-brother...

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-pedigreed horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Thursday's Observations features a daughter of American champion Stellar Wind (Curlin). 14.35 Doncaster, Mdn, £6,800, 2yo, 6f 2yT John Deer's homebred RUSSET GOLD (GB) (Al Kazeem {GB}) is a Roger Varian-trained full-brother Listed Denford S. winner Saint Lawrence (Ire). The April-foaled chestnut, also a half-brother to dual group-winning GI...

Racing Staff Week, that was started by Racing Welfare on June 25, celebrates the contribution of everyone working in the horseracing and Thoroughbred breeding industry. The feature events of the week are charity races slated for Friday, July 1 at Doncaster and Newton Abbot. Supported by Betfair, both events will have 12 members of stable staff taking part each and raising funds for Racing Welfare.

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-pedigreed horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Sunday's Observations features a half-brother to Group 1 winner Ultra (Ire) (Manduro {Ger}). 2.12 Doncaster, £7,800, Mdn, 2yo, 7f 6yT MODERN DANCER (GB) (Kingman {GB}) is a notable Godolphin debutante, being a half-brother to the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere-winning sire Ultra (Ire) (Manduro {Ger}) from the late Gerald Leigh's...

The Goffs UK Spring Store Sale at Doncaster came to a close on Tuesday, and figures were the second highest achieved in the sale's history. Of the five lots that made six-figure sums over the two-day stand, three of them went through the ring during the second session, led by a gelded son of Gris de Gris (Ire) as lot 301. Henriette Knight paid £155,000 for the bay from the Brown Island Stables draft, who is from the same family as the listed hurdler Queen des Places (Fr) (Sabrehill), who...

Rathbarry Stud's first-season sire James Garfield (Ire) (by Exceed and Excel {Aus}) has his first winner after the filly Lady Bullet (Ire) captured Doncaster's British European Breeders' Fund EBF Maiden S. on Saturday evening. Sent off the 11-4 joint-second favourite for the five-furlong contest, the Alice Haynes-trained bay was professional throughout under Kieran O'Neill and stayed on to gain the advantage inside the final 100 yards en route to a half-length verdict over New Definition (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}). The dam, who was runner-up in the G3 Prix d'Arenberg, is...

   Thursday saw the final fields take shape for Saturday's flat turf season prologues at Doncaster and The Curragh and with them the sensation of new winds careening the established order. While the hardened tifosi look to the established pillar of the Town Moore fixture, the Lincoln Handicap, the breeding merchants will pivot towards the arrival of untested and unproven stock in the card's "Brocklesby" and in the Co. Kildare venue's opening maiden. These two juvenile medleys contain the first runners for some of Europe's most enticing first-season sires, with...

For many years it was a tradition that the British Flat racing season would start on the Carholme at Lincoln towards the end of March and then finish at Manchester (and at Lingfield, which raced on the same afternoon) in November. Lincoln and Manchester have both now been lost in the mists of time, each having closed its doors in the 1960s. Happily, the season's first big race (the Lincolnshire H., as it became known in 1860, having previously been known as the Lincoln Spring H.) and its last big...

The single-session Goffs UK Autumn Sale catalogue is now online. A total of 223 lots, consisting of yearlings, horses-in-training and pointers, have been entered for the Oct. 21 sale at Doncaster, which begins at 10 a.m. There have been several celebrated graduates of the sale including Group 1 winner Dream of Dreams (Ire) (Dream Ahead), dual group winners Zain Claudette (Fr) (No Nay Never) and The Lir Jet (Ire) (Prince of Lir {Ire})) and G2 Mill Reef S. winner Wings of War (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}). Among the 52 yearlings...