Hukum

The Japanese stallion studs are in the midst of hosting their annual parades in Hokkaido and there will doubtless be plenty of interested onlookers at Darley Japan, where the stallion yard has been boosted by a quartet of new recruits for the 2024 season. Two of the four are brand new to stud and have arrived from Britain with pretty lofty reputations, and rightly so. Both Adayar (Ire) and Hukum (Ire) are winners of the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S., while Adayar, more pertinently, is a Derby...

So long has this column been disrupted by sales and travel that this final instalment for a Flat season that seems to have whizzed by faster than ever should perhaps be renamed 28 Days. That's not to say that we are giving you four times the value, however. The last week or so has been spent in California at the 40th running of the Breeders' Cup. Any racing event which draws some of the best racehorses from a variety of nations is a treat, and with its 14 Grade 1...

Celebrating 40 Years of the Breeders' Cup When Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum passed away early in 2021 after decades of prominence in Thoroughbred racing and breeding, it was unclear in the sport what would happen to his vast bloodstock and farm holdings. Racing needn't have worried. His daughter, Sheikha Hissa, catapulted into the public eye as the head of Shadwell right at the same time the racing stable was seeing a resurgence. The bedrock laid over decades of success by Sheikh Hamdan was the perfect foundation for stunning...

Hukum (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), the brilliant winner of this year's King George at Ascot, has been retired to stand at Darley Japan for 2024 where he will remain in the ownership of Shadwell. A full-brother to six-time Group 1 winner Baaeed (GB), the dual Group 1 winner will join the roster in Hokkaido and nomination details will be announced at a later date. Trained by Owen Burrows, Hukum enjoyed a stellar career and was twice successful at the highest level. Along with that memorable King George triumph, where...

5th-ELP, $70K, Msw, 2yo, 6f, 2:45 p.m. Shadwell's MUAZARAH (Into Mischief) leads a battle of the homebreds in Sunday's fifth race at Ellis Park. The Todd Pletcher trainee is out of a half-sister to the dam of a pair of prolific European runners in MG1SW Baaeed (GB) (Sea the Stars {Ire}), who debuted at Shadwell Stud this season, and MG1SW Hukum (Ire) (Sea the Stars {Ire}). Just to his outside, Unreasonable (Honor Code), racing in the Calumet Farm colors, is out of a half to both GISW Geri (Theatrical {Ire})...

Last week this column was led by Hukum (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}). Now, for the same owner/breeder, Shadwell, it is the turn of Al Husn (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}). It was quite the boost for Newcastle's all-weather G3 Hoppings Fillies' S. that both the winner Al Husn and runner-up Nashwa (GB) (Frankel {GB}) went on to win a Group 1 on the turf on their next start. With Nashwa having won the G1 Falmouth S. in emphatic fashion, she reopposed Al Husn in attempting to defend her crown in the...

It's Goodwood, it's Galway, but this week's column comes to you from Glorious Golspie, 170 miles north of Britain's most northerly racecourse, and roughly the same distance across Scotland from the country's most recent retiree from the training ranks. Keith Dalgleish has packed up his stable at Carluke and moved to Oban in the western Highlands to pursue, at his own choosing, a life outside racing. A successful jockey in his days working for fellow Scot Mark Johnston, and later Scotland's most prolific trainer, Dalgleish will be missed both north...

On December 3, 1995, the G1 Royal Bond Novice Hurdle was won by the Aidan O'Brien-trained Thats My Man (Ire). It is unconfirmed, but those may well have been the words uttered by John Magnier when he decided to appoint O'Brien to uphold the good reputation of his surname at Ballydoyle. This he has done with aplomb. From that December day at Fairyhouse until Sunday at the Curragh, A P O'Brien has been the name printed alongside 400 Group or Grade 1 winners. From his roots in National Hunt, he...

Shadwell will announce details relating to Baaeed (GB)'s stud career later this week, according to the owner-breeder's racing manager Angus Gold, who also revealed that Group 1-winning sprinter Minzaal (Ire) will be joining their roster ahead of the next year's breeding season. However, Baaeed's brother Hukum (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), whose career hung in the balance after he suffered an injury when winning the G1 Coronation Cup at Epsom, returned to training with Owen Burrows on Monday and is expected to make a return to the track in 2023....

William Haggas is looking to the future after Baaeed's shock swansong defeat in the Qipco Champion S. at Ascot on Saturday by revealing the six-time Group 1-winning superstar's younger brother is set to make his debut soon.  Baaeed (GB) (Sea The Stars {GB}) lost his unbeaten record on his 11th and likely final start on Champions Day when finishing fourth, beaten a little under two lengths, behind Bay Bridge (GB) (New Bay {GB}). That was despite being sent off as a prohibitively short-priced favourite at odds of 1-4. Haggas was...

With Britain en fete in the midst of the Platinum Jubilee festivities, the Oaks and Derby fell slap-bang in the middle of a four-day bank holiday and, despite the absence of Her Majesty the Queen at Epsom, the meeting still offered much cause for celebration. Sir Michael Stoute is never one to blow his own horn, though he is often heard humming on Newmarket Heath while watching his horses work. And as one of British racing's senior trainers, on the royal roster to boot, he was a most fitting winning...

Owen Burrows has been dealt a hammer blow with the news that brilliant G1 Coronation Cup winner Hukum (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) will miss the rest of the season after fracturing his hind leg.  Hukum made the breakthrough at the highest level when storming to Coronation Cup glory at Epsom on Friday and now his racing career hangs in the balance.  For Burrows, Friday's win also represented a memorable first at Group 1 level, with the trainer describing the success as "massive" at the time.  However, just three days...