geldings

Group 1 winner Al Riffa (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), a two-time winner at the highest level, leads the 16-strong G1 Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe field by Timeform ratings at 125, the company announced on Friday. Trained by Joseph O'Brien, the 4-year-old is rated four pounds inferior to Calandagan (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}), who finished second to Al Riffa's third behind City Of Troy in the G1 Eclipse earlier this season. Another rated higher is Goliath (Ger) (Adlerflug {Ger}), who is two pounds above the G1 National Stakes and G1...

You wait ages for one gelding capable of spicing up the Arc field to appear - then two come along at once. Expediency is the obvious backdrop to France Galop's move to reconsider the ban on geldings in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, but the debate nevertheless goes to the heart of what sport is meant to be: the best against the best.  It's more nuanced and interesting than a straight in-house polemic about Group 1 race conditions. You'd have a hard job selling that one to the general...

It is time BHA race planning and the TBA conduct a review of the increasing number of pattern races won by geldings. Their findings should be presented to the International Grading and Race Planning Committee (IRPAC). The number of stallions at stud in the UK has now decreased to an alarmingly inadequate level. The choice of sires and sire-lines available to breeders has become chronically polarised. The increasing incidence of geldings winning so many pattern races is just exacerbating an already desperate situation that breeders find themselves facing and highlights...

NEWMARKET, UK--In many ways the Tattersalls February Sale is to Flat racing what the January transfer window is to football, the chance to add a squad member or two--and perhaps get rid of a few more--potentially bringing rich rewards for those who traded cleverly when the season reaches action stations a few months from now. Owner/breeders including Godolphin, Juddmonte and Shadwell feature among the high-profile teams set to ring the changes with significant departures, so too leading trainers such as John and Thady Gosden, William Haggas and Roger Varian, leaving...

A store by Lucky Lion (Ger) already named Arthur (Ger) (lot 358) topped the Tattersalls Ireland July Store Sale Part II to bring the curtain down on the sale company's store sale season on Thursday. Derek O'Connor made a winning bid of €32,000 on behalf of Eoin Barry/Sean Aherne for the son of the multiple listed-winning jumper and Grade 3-placed Ajesha (Ger) from the Liss House consignment. Glen Stables' lot 418, a grey gelding by Yeats (Ire) was next on the buyers' sheets at €27,000. He was picked up by...

A varied catalogue featuring 92 2-year-olds, 162 2- and 3-year-old stores, 151 horses-in-training, and 80 fillies and mares comprise the upcoming Arqana Summer Sale. Flat-bred 2-year-olds will breeze at Deauville Racecourse beginning at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, July 4. The first day of the sale will consist of Flat-bred 2-year-olds and stores on Wednesday, July 5, while breeding stock and horses-in-training will sell the day after. Both sessions will begin at 11 a.m. American Grade I winner Chez Pierre (Fr) (Mehmas {Ire}) was sourced as a juvenile out of this...

The catalogue for the Tattersalls Ascot June Sale, which features a 15-strong draft from Godolphin, is now online. Set for Tuesday, June 6, the sale is comprised of 117 lots divided between 24 fillies and mares in- and out-of-training, 56 colts and geldings in- and out-of-training, 21 stores, and 16 point-to-pointers. Leading the Godolphin consignment is four-time winner Silent Film (GB) (New Approach {Ire}) as lot 48, and another lot of note is dual winner Winwood (Ger) (Siyouni {Fr}) (lot 49). Other consignments represented include Andrew Balding, Robyn Brisland, Byerley...

Barely two months have passed since the Tattersalls December Sale ended the Park Paddocks sale year, and the curtain is already rising on the 2023 sales season, as the two-day February Sale, begins on Thursday. The catalogue features a diverse group of over 370 fillies and mares in/out-of-training, broodmares, colts and geldings in/out-of-training, yearlings, and 2-year-olds. One of the highlights of the sale is consigned by Barton Sales on behalf of Lady Ogden, lot 93. A striking bay son of the late Galileo (Ire), the Apr. 26-born juvenile is out...

A total of seven wildcards have been added to the Tattersalls Ascot July Sale on July 12. Leading the new additions is Resilience (GB) (Aclaim {Ire}) (lot 55), who is a five-time winner from Mill House Racing Ltd. and is rated 85. Lot 89, the 5-year-old gelding Jack The Savage (GB) (Passing Glance {GB}), is also entered on the back of a debut victory in a Worcester bumper on July 4 from Laura Horsfall Racing. The catalogue now boasts 100 lots, with 27 fillies/mares in/out-of-training, 57 colts/geldings in/out-of-training, four point-to-pointers...

A gelding by Walk In The Park (Ire) brought a session-topping final bid of €220,000 during the second session of the Goffs Land Rover Sale on Wednesday. Consigned by Glenwood Stud as lot 249, the 3-year-old sold to Andy and Gemma Brown and Joey Logan. That trio had been in action for the second dearest lot during Tuesday's session, the €200,000 Aide Memoire (Fr) (Martaline {GB}). He is a half-brother to outstanding Group 1 chaser Monalee (Ire) (Milan {GB}). Lot 339, a gelding by Milan (GB), brought €165,000 from the...