Glen Shiel

Hollie Doyle has paid a glowing tribute to Glen Shiel (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) after the horse who provided her with a breakthrough Group 1 success was retired on Thursday. The pair combined to strike in the 2020 Champions Sprint on Champions Day at Ascot. However, the 8-year-old suffered a setback in training this season, after which a decision was taken by the connections of the Archie Watson-trained speedster to bring the curtain down on his glittering career.  "He's a star and he is a horse I'll also hold very close...

Saturday's Curragh card which features the G1 Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas is in doubt after 35 millimetres of rain hit the track overnight Thursday. With a morning inspection called, chief executive Pat Keogh is hoping for a turnaround with the course currently waterlogged in places. "We got a lot more rain than we anticipated overnight. We were forecast 15 millimetres at the most in the last 24 hours," he explained on Friday. "It's come completely out of left field, unfortunately. The track would not be raceable today. We'll just have...

The G1 Darley July Cup, scheduled for day three of the Moet & Chandon July Festival at Newmarket July 10, has attracted 42 entries, led by trainer Roger Teal's defending race champion Oxted (GB) (Mayson {GB}). The 5-year-old, a close fifth to Glen Shiel (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) in last year's G1 QIPCO British Champions Sprint at Ascot in October, has run well without greeting the judge in two starts this term, a runner-up effort to Summerghand (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) in the G3 Abernant S. at Newmarket Apr. 15...

Glen Shiel (GB) (Pivotal {GB}), who claimed a first Group 1 win at age six last season when upsetting the G1 British Champions Sprint S. at 16-1, could make his seasonal debut in the G3 Greenlands S. at The Curragh on May 22. The Archie Watson-trained gelding also has an option in the G2 Duke Of York S. at York on May 12. Cosmo Charlton, Head Racing Manager for owner Hambleton Racing, said, "Glen Shiel is in fantastic form. Everyone is very happy with him. He's stepped up into faster...

In ordinary times, this week would mark the revving up of the European bloodstock charabanc: standing room only, destination Deauville. As the threat of a second quarantine hangs over visitors or returnees from France to the UK like the Sword of Damocles, it's probably just as well that the traditional start to the yearling season has been delayed. This coming weekend, there will be no short shuffle between racecourse and sales ground for the Prix Jacques Le Marois and other delights ahead of a frenetic evening of activity in the...