Middleham Park Racing

York maiden winner The Strikin Viking (Ire) (Inns Of Court {Ire}) has been acquired by the Emir of Qatar's Wathnan Racing. Wathnan's racing advisor Richard Brown announced the news on Thursday. The G2 Railway Stakes runner-up will join the Newmarket-based Qatari trainer Hamad Al-Jehani. Bred by Tally-Ho Stud, the bay son of Asmeen (Ire) (Shamardal) was bought for 65,000gns out of the Tattersalls Guineas Breeze-Up Sale in May. From the family of worldbeater Azamour (Ire), he made his first two starts for Middleham Park Racing and trainer Kevin Ryan. The...

The Aidan O'Brien-trained Henri Matisse (Ire), a decisive winner of Sunday's G2 Railway Stakes at the Curragh, has been awarded a Timeform rating of 110p, identifying him as the highest-rated two-year-old colt to have raced so far in 2024. By Wootton Bassett (GB) and out of the multiple Group 1 winner Immortal Verse (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}), Henri Matisse is now unbeaten in two starts after swooping late to beat The Strikin Viking (Ire) (Inns Of Court {Ire}) by half a length on Sunday, five weeks on from his winning debut...

With an increasing number of international stamps in his passport, the multiple Group winner Brave Emperor (Ire) (Sioux Nation) is fast becoming one of the most admirable horses in training. Only twice in his 16 starts has the Archie Watson-trained four-year-old ever been out of the first three, but more impressive is that 10 of those runs have ended in victory - in five different countries, and counting. On Saturday, his 2024 debut resulted in a win in the Irish Thoroughbred Marketing Cup in Qatar, a local Group 2 staged...

The multiple Group winner Brave Emperor (Ire) (Sioux Nation) will attempt to conquer another frontier with his first run in Qatar at the weekend. Having won races in Britain, France, Germany and Italy, as well as picking up prize-money and black type in Sweden, the Middleham Park Racing representative will make his four-year-old debut in Doha in the Irish Thoroughbred Marketing Cup at the Amir Sword meeting on Saturday, in a race worth more than £225,000 to the winner. Trained by Archie Watson, Brave Emperor has now won nine of...

Haras d'Etreham resident City Light (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) became Europe's latest first-crop sire to get off the mark when his Rod Millman-trained daughter Denruth Diamond (Fr) graduated over 6 1/2 furlongs in Wednesday's Prix de la Rablais at Saint-Cloud. 2nd-Saint-Cloud, €30,000, Mdn, 6-14, 2yo, f, 6 1/2fT, 1:24.44, sf. DENRUTH DIAMOND (FR) (f, 2, City Light {Fr}--Jeune Et Jolie {Ire}, by Verglas {Ire}), who claimed minor prizes in outings at Windsor in April and May, was well away from the outside stall to race in an early second and assumed...

Karl Burke notched an exacta in last term's Listed Clipper EBF Marygate Fillies' S. at York and repeated the dose when once-raced winner Got To Love A Grey (GB) (Dark Angel {Ire}--Regatta {Fr}, by Layman) outlasted stablemate Dorothy Lawrence (GB) (Soldier's Call) in this year's renewal of the straight five-furlong dash. Got To Love A Grey went postward as the 5-2 second choice,  coming back off a six-length tally at Nottingham last month, and broke sharply from the far-side stall to seize an immediate lead. Unflustered on the front end...

On a day when first-season sires getting off the mark was a theme, Tally Ho Stud's Inns Of Court (Ire) (by Invincible Spirit {Ire}) was in on the act as his daughter Ziggy's Dream (Ire) scored on debut at Doncaster. Sent off the 9-4 favourite for the five-furlong Download The At The Races App EBF Maiden S. for unraced juveniles, Middleham Park Racing's half-sister to the listed-placed No More Regrets (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) quickly had the lead under Thore Hammer Hansen. Tackled by Sioux Warrior (Ire) (Sioux Nation) passing halfway,...

Brave Emperor (Ire) (Sioux Nation) will travel to Germany for the G3 Dr Busch Memorial at Krefeld on Apr. 28, according to Middleham Park Racing's Tom Palin. The listed winner, who was previously under consideration for the GI Kentucky Derby on May 6, ran second in the Woodford Reserve Cardinal Conditions S. when last seen on Apr. 1. "He is on his travels, he's going to go to Germany for a Group 3 on Apr. 28 [Krefeld, Dr Busch Memorial], that's where he'll run next," said Palin. "He's got no...

Middleham Park Racing's Brave Emperor (Ire) (Sioux Nation), who has earned 32 qualifying points on the European Road to the Kentucky Derby, will not make the trip to Churchill Downs in May. Confirming the decision to swerve the expensive journey across the Atlantic, Tom Palin of Middleham Park Racing said, "We have weighed it up and the horse's owners discussed the options. He has earned £108,000 but the costs of getting him to America would wipe out all of his earnings, so the decision has been made not to go,...

Bold Act (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}) extended his winning streak to four to land Chelmsford City's Woodford Reserve Cardinal Conditions S. under talented young apprentice Harry Davies. While the Godolphin colt earned 30 points in this final leg of the European Road to the Kentucky Derby, his trainer Charlie Appleby confirmed to TDN that Bold Act will not be aimed at the American Classic on May 6, heading instead towards a Derby trial at home. "We're delighted he's won but in all honesty he's not a horse we've had on...

Amid much ado about the start of the turf season in Britain on Saturday, it is important not to overlook the day's second-most valuable race after the Lincoln. Chelmsford City's Woodford Reserve Cardinal Conditions S., worth a decent £100,000, is the last of seven races in the European Road to the Kentucky Derby.  Launched in 2019 by the enterprising team at the Essex track, which continues to punch well about its weight on the prize-money front, the Cardinal's three winners to date (there was no race in 2020 during the pandemic)...

Group 1 winner The Platinum Queen (Ire) (Cotai Glory {GB}) (lot1924B) will be offered as a wildcard entry during the Tattersalls December Mares Sale. Successful in the G1 Prix de l'Abbaye, the bay will be sent through the ring during the second Sceptre Session on Nov. 29. The first Group 1-winning juvenile filly to be offered during the Tattersalls December Mares Sale this century, she was also the first of her age and sex to take the l'Abbaye since Sigy (Fr) (Habitat) in 1978. The Middleham Park Racing runner was...