Lingfield

After the bombshell dropped by connections of Luxembourg (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) on Friday, the door to the Epsom Derby has been well and truly kicked open and suddenly, the quintet lining up for Saturday's Listed SBK Derby Trial at Lingfield have a clearer path to the Blue Riband. Godolphin's Walk of Stars (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) is of obvious interest in the race in which the fellow Charlie Appleby-trained Adayar (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) met with defeat 12 months ago and he is equipped for it, being a descendant of the blue-hen...

David Probert, Michael Appleby, George Rooke and Godolphin all won divisional titles on All-Weather Championships Day at Newcastle. Probert won his first All-Weather Champion Jockey title with 82 victories. Probert said, "It was always a goal for me to have a championship since winning back in 2008 when I was champion apprentice. It's a massive achievement and I have plenty of people to thank for that, and hopefully it rolls into a good grass season." Appleby, who collected his fifth consecutive trainers' title and sixth overall with 52 winners, said...

The approach of Storm Eunice, which will impact Ireland and the United Kingdom on Friday, has caused some racecourses to cancel their cards as a precautionary measure. Fakenham was called off on Thursday due to the severe weather warnings, and the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board has cancelled Dundalk's Friday card, too. The storm is expected to bring high winds and, in some cases, snow. "We discussed the situation with Jim Martin of Dundalk Stadium and Met Eireann this morning and again this afternoon and we felt with the current forecast...

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-pedigreed horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Wednesday's Observations features a half-sister to triple Group 1 winner Advertise (GB). 2.30 Lingfield, Novice, £7,000, 2yo, f, 8f (AWT) SYLVIA BEACH (GB) (Ulysses {Ire}) represents the Cheveley Park Stud-John and Thady Gosden combination and is a half-sister to the G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest, G1 Commonwealth Cup and...

Group 1 winner Pyledriver (GB) (Harbour Watch {Ire}) will return in the Betway Churchill S. at Lingfield next weekend before an intended start in the G1 Longines Hong Kong Vase in December. The 4-year-old, who claimed the G2 King Edward VII S. and G2 Great Voltigeur S. at three, had an abbreviated two-start campaign this season. Second by 2 1/4 length in the G2 Jockey Club S. at Newmarket making his 4-year-old bow, Pyledriver clawed his way to a neck victory in Epsom's G1 Coronation Cup over Al Aasy (Ire)...

The All-Weather Championships Finals Day will be held at Newcastle for the first time on Good Friday, Apr. 15, 2022. Started by the Arena Racing Company in 2013, the All-Weather Championships are now in its ninth season which begins on Tuesday, Oct. 19. There are six All-Weather Championships races, and the Listed Coral Burradon S. carded for Good Friday with total prizemoney on offer over £1 million. Lingfield, which previously hosted the meeting, will instead hold the new £395,000 All-Weather Vase that same day. The All-Weather Vase card, featuring six...

The William Hill Racing League ended at Newcastle on Thursday evening with Team talkSPORT crowned the winner. A total of 12 teams competed in the weekly Thursday races that began six weeks ago, with Gosforth Park, Doncaster, Windsor and Lingfield (twice) all hosting a night. Each race carried a £50,000 purse, with 25 points awarded to the winner, with points available through 10th place. Besides the £1.8 million in prizemoney on offer throughout the contest, another £200,000 in bonuses was on off with £150,000 going to the winning team. At...

Classic preparations continue apace on Saturday, with Lingfield staging the Listed Oaks and Derby Trials and Naas hosting the G3 Irish Stallion Farms EBF Blue Wind S. Godolphin did not fare well in the main events at Chester this week, but are well-represented again in both Lingfield trials with the Derby hopeful Adayar (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), such an eye-catching runner-up in the Apr. 23 G3 Sandown Classic Trial on the same card that the filly Nash Nasha (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) captured a well-contested novice. Adayar will be a warm order...

Undefeated group winner High Definition (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), favoured for the June 5 G1 Cazoo Derby, will miss an intended start in the Listed Lingfield Derby Trial on May 8, trainer Aidan O'Brien revealed. Owned by a Coolmore partnership with Westerberg, the G2 Beresford S. winner's bloodwork was off as of Wednesday evening. "High Definition won't be going to Lingfield on Saturday--his bloods just weren't 100% this evening," said O'Brien. I'm not sure where he might run. We'll just have to wait and see how things go over the coming...

A saliva testing trial, a screening method for cocaine and some other banned substances, is now under way at UK racecourses, the British Horseracing Authority announced on Wednesday. Utilising oral swabs, the testing method results are provided near-instantly indicating whether substances are present in a rider's system above existing thresholds. If the trial is successful, British racing will become the first major sport in Britain to utilise on-the-day screening for banned substances through oral swabs. If a jockey does not test negative during the trial, they would be stood down...

Jockey Rob Havlin was banned for three weeks by the Lingfield stewards after finishing second aboard John and Thady Gosden's 16-1 second string Stowell (GB) (Zoffany {Ire}) on Wednesday evening. The Sky Sports Racing HD Virgin 535 Novice S. was won by fellow Gosden trainee Polling Day (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) with Frankie Dettori in the irons as the 2-9 crowd's pick. Havlin's mount met with some traffic throughout the race, but was making up ground while under a conservative ride to miss by a head. There was a...

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-pedigreed horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Today's Observations features a high-profile Tattersalls October Book 1 graduate. 3.55 Lingfield, Novice, £5,300, 3yo, 10f (AWT) POLLING DAY (IRE) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) is one of two John Gosden-trained newcomers in the Godolphin silks and is the apparent first string with Robert Havlin on board. A 625,000gns purchase...