Luxembourg

Four-Time Group 1 winner Luxembourg (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), whose finest hour came when landing the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown in 2022, has been retired and will join Coolmore's National Hunt roster at Castlehyde Stud. Trained by Aidan O'Brien, Luxembourg won seven times and amassed career earnings in excess of £2.7 million. He retires having earned a career-high rating of 123. "We're delighted to have Luxembourg join our team here in Castlehyde," said Cathal Murphy. "He has a very similar profile to the much-missed Fame And Glory, in that he...

DEL MAR, USA -- Ahead of the big day on Saturday, Friday's Breeders' Cup card is all about the youngsters, and the European trainers have come mob-handed with two-year-olds.  After last year's triumphs for Big Evs (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}) and Unquestionable (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) in the Juvenile Turf Sprint and Juvenile Turf, expectations are again high that these trophies can be smuggled out of the country.  In the former, the form of the G2 Flying Childers Stakes could well be key, as the first three home at Doncaster...

EPSOM, UK--With squally showers and a freezing wind, it wasn't really the day for a 99, unless you're the Aga Khan.  Ezeliya (Fr), the bonny bay filly from a family replete with class and stamina, made the Oaks her own from a long way out, and in so doing broke the Epsom hoodoo of her sire Dubawi (Ire) in becoming the 99th individual Group 1 winner for her stalwart of a breeder. "Days like this are why we all do it," said a beaming Pat Downes, manager of the Aga...

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES -- Headed by the first appearance from the seven World Cup night horses from the yard of Aidan O'Brien, there was a buzz of activity on both the dirt track and turf course Tuesday morning at Meydan proper as well as back on the Tapeta track a couple of furlongs down the road. The Ballydoyle septet slowly ambled out of the tunnel near the 1600-metre starting point on the the dirt surface, led by G3 Red Sea Turf H. hero Tower of London (Ire) (Galileo {Ire},...

Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has long been a racehorse owner but he has also become immersed in the breeding world since his retirement from football. On Saturday, his homebred Spirit Dancer (GB) (Frankel {GB}), who Ferguson races in partnership with Ged Mason and Peter Done, lines up in the $2-million G2 Howden Neom Turf Cup on the Saudi Cup undercard. The seven-year-old, trained by Richard Fahey, has been wintering in the Middle East, where he won the G2 Bahrain International Trophy in November before finishing fourth in...

The Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia (JCSA) has published the likely fields for the Saudi Cup meeting to be held Saturday, Feb. 24, at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in the Saudi capital of Riyadh. The United States is set to be represented by a five-strong entry in the $20-million richest race in the world, a team headed by White Abarrio (Race Day), who will be making his first start since besting Derma Sotogake (Jpn) (Mind Your Biscuits) in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita Nov. 4. The 5-year-old, trained...

Officials at the Hong Kong Jockey Club could offer their devoted fans only limited access to the Longines Hong Kong International Races meeting from 2020 to 2022, a necessity attributable to the Coronavirus outbreak in March 2020, and while the attendance restrictions were gradually eased over the next few years, there were certain parameters and restrictions in place to ensure the show would go on. With things more or less back to normal in the SAR, the patrons--a reported 65,252 of them--poured through the Sha Tin turnstiles Sunday afternoon to...

Six weeks after dropping his nose down on the line ahead of Mr Brightside (NZ) (Bullbars {Aus}) to win the G1 Cox Plate in Melbourne, Peter Lau's ROMANTIC WARRIOR (IRE) (g, 5, Acclamation {GB}--Folk Melody {Ire}, by Street Cry {Ire}) was the 13-10 favourite to go back-to-back in Sunday's G1 Longines Hong Kong Cup at Sha Tin and held off a stubborn late rally from Luxembourg (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) and Hishi Iguazu (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) to prevail by a head. Perfectly placed in fourth by James McDonald, who flew...

Some 44 horses representing England, France, Ireland, Japan, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates in addition to a typically deep group representing the home team will line up for Sunday's Longines Hong Kong International Races at Sha Tin Racecourse in the New Territories, with record prizemoney of HK$118 million (£12 million/US$15.1 million) up for grabs across the four events. There figure to be clear favourites in each of the four races, but each come with his own set of question marks.   Romantic Warrior (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) loves the Sha...

The obstacles were already considerable for three-time reigning Hong Kong Horse of the Year Golden Sixty (Aus) (Medaglia d'Oro) long before connections of the 44 runners for Sunday's Longines Hong Kong International Races meeting took their seats for Thursday's morning barrier draw in the Sha Tin parade ring. Already a nine-time Group 1 winner and victorious in 25 of his 29 career starts, the 8-year-old has not started since defeating Beauty Joy (Aus) (Sebring {Aus}) in the G1 Champions Mile in late April, a 224-day hiatus. Only twice in his...

Luxembourg (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) and Highfield Princess (Fr) (Night of Thunder {Ire}) are among 16 elite-level winners and 25 overseas-based horses that have been extended invitations to the Longines Hong Kong International Races meeting at Sha Tin Racecourse Sunday, Dec. 9. Winner of this year's G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup and a narrowly beaten second to his GI Breeders' Cup Turf-winning stable companion Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) in defence of his crown in the G1 Irish Champion S. at Leopardstown Sept. 9, the G1 Longines Hong Kong Cup-bound Luxembourg...

Shadwell's Mostahdaf (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) dominated the G1 Prince of Wales's S. by four lengths at Royal Ascot last month and improved his Longines World's Best Racehorse Ranking (WBRR) from 121 to 128 to sit second behind the 129-ranked Equinox (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) on the leaderboard, with the latest rankings released by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA) on Thursday. Luxembourg (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) who was second as the favourite in the 10-furlong contest, sits on 123 while Adayar (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) was third home and is weighted...