Hurricane Lane

It's a childish game but I've long amused myself by seeing how many song titles can be weaved into headlines and this weekend's results provided an open goal for a Neil Young classic, not once but twice.  Two hurricanes blew across Town Moor on Saturday at the opposite ends of the distance spectrum. Hurricane Ivor (Ire) (Ivawood {GB}) is an admirable sprinter who has bounced back from a blistering debut for Fabrice Chappet and subsequent illness that ruled him out of much of his juvenile season. He has been creeping...

Many open questions surrounding some of Europe's best will be answered in the space of less than an hour on Saturday, with Leopardstown's G1 Irish Champion S. and Doncaster's G1 Cazoo St Leger condensed in the middle of an absorbing spell of action. There will barely be time to reflect on the promise of the winner of the G2 KPMG Champions Juvenile S. that forms part of Irish Champions weekend before the focus is switched to Town Moor for its own glimpse of futurity in the G2 Champagne S. In...

To borrow from Charles Dickens, the past week can be encapsulated in one line: it was the best of times, it was the worst of times.  Actually, let's face it, when it comes to bad times it hasn't just been this week, has it? Events of this year in particular have made it harder to love racing as we rock from one unsavoury incident to the next courtesy of some of the sport's leading trainers in Europe and America. The image that can now just be described as 'that photo',...

Since the change of the G1 Grand Prix de Paris trip to 12 furlongs in 2005, there is a sense that the Bastille Day feature has grown in stature and in this year's edition the quality has inched up again due mainly to the fact that Hurricane Lane (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) is here. It is 10 years since a winner of the G1 Irish Derby appeared in this race and that was Treasure Beach (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), who was fourth behind another of Andre Fabre's record 13 winners in Meandre...

After it was suggested earlier this week that he could head straight for the G1 St Leger in September, Godolphin's G1 Irish Derby winner Hurricane Lane (GB) (Frankel {GB}) was on Saturday supplemented to the July 14 G1 Grand Prix de Paris. "It obviously looked like the Irish Derby was a tough race and we half expected him to lie down for three or four days afterwards, to be honest with you," trainer Charlie Appleby said. "However, he came out of the race really well, he's not missed an oat...

Anyone who either dabbles in the business with a mare or two, or operates in the higher echelons with a sizeable broodmare band, would be more than excited in the Classic countdown to have a five-length winner of a Newmarket trial who was catapulted into second favouritism for the Derby. That was the position breeder Philippa Cooper found herself in on Guineas weekend when Mohaafeth (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) cantered all over his rivals for a cosy success in the listed Newmarket S. for William Haggas and Shadwell. And she admits...