Melbourne Cup

After lighting up Royal Ascot, a tilt at the Melbourne Cup could be on the cards for Crystal Black (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}), with Ireland's reigning champion jockey Colin Keane explaining how the gelding has provided his father "with a new lease of life" after a horror fall in 2021 almost left the trainer paralysed.  The celebrations that followed Crystal Black's victory in the Duke Of Edinburgh Stakes at Ascot went unrivalled as the Wear A Pink Ribbon Syndicate who own the former Dermot Weld-trained inmate burst into song in the...

Ascot Racecourse and the Victoria Racing Club (VRC) have signed a new strategic partnership this week, acknowledging the unique ties between the two "sister" tracks, it was announced on Tuesday. The signatories are Ascot chairman and His Majesty's representative, Sir Francis Brooke, and Neil Wilson, chairman of the Victoria Racing Club. Both courses stage their nations' premier Flat meetings and they work together on various race planning initiatives, which have led to multiple runners in the Royal Ascot sprints from Australia and numerous runners in the Melbourne Cup and other...

Leading Royal Ascot fancy A Piece Of Heaven (Fr) (Jukebox Jury {Ire}) will sport a new set of silks when he lines out in the Copper Horse Handicap after Syndicates Racing secured a deal for the potential Melbourne Cup contender to join Joseph O'Brien.  That bit of business comes as a double blow to A Piece Of Heaven's former trainer Barry Fitzgerald as, not only did he lose his flag-bearer in the transaction, but he now finds himself without a yard to train from after a fallout with his landlord...

In a race that is longer than the vast majority of Thoroughbred races in the U.S., Thursday's two-mile GII Belmont Gold Cup S. was won in high style by Eclipse Thoroughbreds and The Estate of Albert Frassetto's The Grey Wizard (Ire) (g, 5, Caravaggio--Fancy {Ire}, by Galileo {Ire}), who waited until the final moments to close with a rush and nab the narrow victory from Champagne Juan (Justify). With the victory, The Grey Wizard annexed the Golden Ticket for the G1 Melbourne Cup at Flemington Nov. 5. Sent off at...

A berth in the G1 Melbourne Cup is at stake in Thursday's GII Belmont Gold Cup, the first of the weekend's graded stakes during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga. The New York Racing Association has gone so far as to fly in one of the world's premier commentators, Victoria-based Matt Hill, to describe the action in the two-mile test--essentially two laps of the inner turf course at the Spa. Godolphin won the 2018 Melbourne Cup with Cross Counter (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) and Siskany (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) returns to...

'Light Up Racing', an initiative led by a group of industry participants, striving to illuminate the path to transparency, awareness, and accountability in horse racing, has been launched, according to a press release. Light Up is spearheaded by a group of industry participants, including Price Bell, Roderick Wachman, Jason Litt, and Dr. Jeff Berk. Kick Collective, the marketing agency behind the Australian-based initiative Kick Up for Racing, is driving the marketing and communications. "We have been inspired by the impactful work of Kick Up in Australia and believe we have...

On a sunny Tuesday, 84,492 patrons were on hand to witness the Anthony and Sam Freedman-trained Without A Fight (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) win the 163rd G1 Melbourne Cup. There were so many layers to the victory of Without A Fight. The 7-year-old gelding has arguably been in career best form, winning the G1 Caulfield Cup S. last start and joined a rare collection of Thoroughbreds to claim both Cup races in the same season--the latest being the great mare Ethereal (NZ) (Rhythm). The victory also served as back-to-back victories for...

It is very clear how important the Melbourne Cup is within Australia. Observers at Tattersalls last week were left in no doubt of that. A large proportion of the most expensive lots were bought to head Down Under, with the Melbourne Cup repeatedly mentioned as the ultimate target. It is now, though, a major race both within Australasia and internationally, its global appeal having increased dramatically 30 years ago in the 3 minutes 23.43 seconds which it took Vintage Crop (Ire) to take the prize on the first Tuesday in...

Flemington beckons for Rich Ricci's Vauban (Fr) (Galiway {GB}) after the classy stayer made light of the switch to 12 furlongs in Monday's G3 Ballyroan S. at Naas. A winner of the Listed Prix Frederic de Lagrange before turning into a high-class hurdler, the five-year-old had marked his return to the Flat with an authoritative success from the front in Royal Ascot's Copper Horse H. and took the move to Pattern company in his stride here. Always comfortable tracking this faster early tempo in third, the 4-6 favourite was sent...

York's historic Ebor Handicap will become the seventh win-and-you're-in race for the £4.4 million Melbourne Cup in November. The Ebor, which will be run on August 28 for total prize-money of £500,000, is the first race outside Australia to provide automatic entry to the prestigious staying contest, which has been won over the years by European trainers Dermot Weld (twice), Alain de Royer-Dupre, Mikel Delzangles, Andreas Wohler, Joseph O'Brien (twice) (Rekindling 2017 and Twilight Payment 2020) and Charlie Appleby. William Derby, chief executive and clerk of the course at York,...

Frankie Dettori has committed to riding in this year's Melbourne Cup and will bid to win the race for the first time on November 7.  The 52-year-old enjoyed a dream final week at Royal Ascot when riding Courage Mon Ami (GB) (Frankel {GB}) to Gold Cup glory and partnering a further three winners at the meeting. Dettori was set to retire after the Breeders' Cup meeting at Santa Anita but the opportunity to ride a first Melbourne Cup winner at Flemington is understood to have enticed the legendary jockey into...

Typically, the names Sangster, Manton, Tattersalls, and British-bred runner at Windsor don't scream `American connections,' but in the case of Inquisitively (GB) (Ten Sovereigns {Ire}), peel back the onion a bit and you'll find more than a few stars and stripes among the connections. Inquisitively, a barely-beaten second at Windsor in his May 29 debut, is entered in Wednesday's Windsor Castle at Royal Ascot, and will carry his owners' hopes as well as a bit of history on his back. Inquisitively sold for 40,000gns euros at the 2022 Tattersalls October...