Gold Cup

For the past two weeks, we have been telling you how some of racing's biggest names fell in love with the sport. Now it's our turn. Here are some of the stories behind the bylines you see every day in the TDN. Chris McGrath We all know how pedigrees can confound us. We spend more than we can afford on the best page we can, and end up trying to salvage something in a maiden claimer. And then the horse you put an immediate line through, when you first go...

ASCOT, UK -- It takes a good one to overcome adversity, and there can be no argument brooked when it comes to the talent of Kyprios (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). It is writ large in form figures which predominantly feature the figure 1. But those bare statistics frame a year-long gap in which the horse was missing in action, with those around him fearing the worst as he battled to overcome an infection in a hind joint which nearly claimed his life.  "I saw him all the way through it and...

Reigning Gold Cup hero Courage Mon Ami (GB) (Frankel {GB}) will not defend his crown at Royal Ascot after suffering a setback. The five-year-old was bought privately by Wathnan Racing ahead of last year's meeting, having won each of his three previous starts for breeder Anthony Oppenheimer. Courage Mon Ami then provided one of the moments of the meeting as he took the stayers' crown in the hands of Frankie Dettori, before going on to disappoint in the Goodwood Cup and having to settle for second in the Lonsdale Cup...

The Ascot Gold Cup is the main priority for defending champion Courage Mon Ami (GB) (Frankel {GB}) and St Leger third Gregory (GB) (Golden Horn {GB}), according to Richard Brown, racing advisor for owners Wathnan Racing.  The John and Thady Gosden-trained duo gave the Qatar-based operation the perfect start to their ownership enterprise last season. Both horses hold entries for the Boodles Yorkshire Cup on May 17, while Sandown's Henry II S. a week later is another possible option for the duo to tune up for their main summer assignment....

ASCOT, UK--Even before the action was underway on Gold Cup day, there appeared to be entertainment aplenty for the King and Queen. Sir Mark Prescott had managed to book the royal version of speedy boarding and was positioned in the first carriage with their majesties for the royal procession. This may well have been a strategic move from them in the middle of a week which requires plenty of stamina, with two processions still to come. It's a long ride by horse-drawn carriage from Windsor Great Park to Ascot Racecourse...

Trainer Ralph Beckett has revealed that Group 3-winning filly Haskoy (GB) (Golden Horn {GB}--Natavia {GB}, by Nathaniel {Ire}) has been retired due to a tendon injury. Haskoy, fourth in the St Leger last year, having gone past the post in second, made a winning return at Newbury when landing the G3 Al Rayyan S. She had been just 8-1 for the Gold Cup at Ascot. Beckett said of the Juddmonte-owned filly on Twitter, "Haskoy has strained a tendon, consequently she is being retired to the paddocks." Haskoy is the first...

Santa Anita will play host to three Grade I races, while Grade III action features the return of a champion at Churchill Downs and a talented Louisiana-bred attempting to make the grade at Lone Star Park during holiday stakes action Monday. The GI Shoemaker Mile S. at Santa Anita is set to be the first of 41 Breeders' Cup Challenge series races in North America this year. A field of 11 goes postward seeking the winner's share of the $500,000, as well as an automatic berth in the GI Breeders'...

   Jamie Codd is an amateur jockey in name only. One of the finest National Hunt riders that Ireland has ever produced, Codd can count 10 Cheltenham Festival winners to his name, and has strong claims of adding to his tally next week.    But it's not just about the action on the track with Codd. In his role with Tattersalls Ireland, Codd will put in many hours behind the scenes to ensure the smooth running of the Cheltenham Sale, of which Gold Cup livewire Bravemansgame and Brown Advisory Novice...

Is it just me or should France be known as the bloodstock land of opportunity? This is the country that saw Wootton Bassett (GB) and Walk In The Park (Ire) pull themselves up by the bootstraps after entering the stud book at relatively modest sums. There are few serious racing nations that provide as much of a chance for a stallion to flourish than France does. Take Kauto Star (Fr), the greatest staying chaser of the modern era, as an example. He hailed from the largely unheralded Village Star (Fr)...

Gordon Elliott, Barry Geraghty and Charles Byrnes were among those to lead the tributes to Davy Russell, one of the finest National Hunt riders to ever pull on a pair of silks, who retired at the age of 43 after partnering Liberty Dance to victory in the Thurles feature on Sunday.  Russell will forever be remembered for partnering Elliott's Tiger Roll to successive Grand National triumphs in 2018 and 2019. Like those momentous days at Aintree, Russell signed off from the saddle with his customary wave aboard the Elliott-trained Liberty...

Stradivarius, the three-time Gold Cup winner and the undisputed champion stayer of his generation, has been retired to stud.  Trained by John and Thady Gosden, Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) won three Yorkshire Cups and two Doncaster Cups but will be best remembered for those epic Gold Cup triumphs at Ascot. Owned by Bjorn Nielsen, who told TDN Europe about his intention to support the popular chestnut at stud upon his retirement, Stradivarius will join the roster at the National Stud.  The 8-year-old bows out from the game as...

We have heard much about Frankie Dettori since his ride in the Gold Cup at Ascot, but less so about his luckless mount, Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}). By his owner and breeder Bjorn Nielsen he is referred to as 'The Strad', talked of as one would a favourite son or best friend. The eight-year-old stallion has earned his place in Nielsen's heart, just as he has earned the wider affection of the racing public. He remains equine box office, with this season regarded by many as a prolonged...