Highland Reel

For the first time since 1996, Seamie Heffernan will not be based at Ballydoyle--but Aidan O'Brien's long and trusted ally has revealed that he still hopes to be riding big-race winners in the Coolmore colours in the future.  It has been one of the worst kept secrets in Irish racing for some time that Heffernan, one of the constants at Ballydoyle for almost three decades now, would not be returning to the fold.  And on the eve of the opening day of the Flat season in Ireland, Heffernan lifted the...

Aidan O'Brien is preparing a twin assault on the G1 Longines Hong Kong Vase, a race he has won three times in the past, and Stone Age (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Broome (Ire) (Australia {GB}) are set to represent the Ballydoyle maestro in Sunday's race. Globetrotting sensation Highland Reel (Ire) won the Hong Kong Vase in 2015 and 2017 before Mogul (GB) bolstered O'Brien's record in the race when landing the Group 1 contest in 2020. Order Of Australia (Ire) (Australia {GB}), who tasted high level success on the international...

Multiple Classic and Breeders' Cup-winning rider Seamie Heffernan thinks taking prize-money off winning jockeys found guilty of careless riding is the best way to avoid controversial climaxes to races. Heffernan was speaking shortly after Paul Hanagan was handed a 10-day ban for careless riding after winning the G2 Norfolk S. at Royal Ascot aboard 50-1 outsider The Ridler (GB) (Brazen Beau {Aus}). https://twitter.com/theTDN/status/1537434261824733186 Hanagan, who was recently demoted as Richard Fahey's stable jockey, allowed The Ridler, trained by his former boss, to drift across the track, hampering a number of...

When you run a breeding operation as successful as Camas Park Stud, victories on the biggest stage are expected, but that doesn't make top-level triumphs any less special. Capri (Ire), Highland Reel (Ire), Nyquist and No Nay Never were all either bred or pinhooked under the banner of the Cashel-based stud, run by Tim Hyde and his son Tim Jnr, who were once again put in lights at Royal Ascot when Little Big Bear (Ire) (No Nay Never) stormed to victory in the Listed Windsor Castle S. on Wednesday. Away...

Continuing our assessment of the prospects of first-season sires with runners in 2021, bloodstock agent and breeder Liam Norris shares his view on this year's crop. He says, "Ardad (Ire) was such a good 2-year-old. We sent mares to him and from what I saw of his stock at the sales, they looked forward and racy types. I'd be disappointed if they don't pop out of the traps with huge precocity.  "I was always a huge fan of Highland Reel (Ire) as a racehorse. It's important not to forget that...

Agent Matt Coleman of Stroud Coleman Bloodstock has had plenty of success buying decent 2-year-olds from the breeze-up sales, such as G1 QIPCO British Champions Sprint S. winner Sands Of Mali (Fr) (Panis) and G2 Norfolk S. winner Prince Of Lir (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}). He gave us his view on what we might expect from the first runners for this year's freshman sires. Coleman said, "I guess Churchill (Ire) is the headline act of the first-season sires and I have heard some good words on his stock from Ireland. He...

The wait is very nearly over for the young pretenders we will examine in this fourth installation of our multi-part Value Sires series: stallions with their first runners in 2021. While the full verdicts must be delayed until these are given a fair shake with their first full seasons with 2- and 3-year-olds, the reality is that the first juvenile races in the coming months will be akin to a perpetual Christmas morning in the bloodstock world, with each of us eager to unwrap the packages we have been examining...