Pascal Bary

Borders may be closed around the world but the resourcefulness of the bloodstock industry has meant that horse sales have continued to be staged, even if not all the horses catalogued can actually be present in the ring. When Spinning Memories (Ire) (Arcano {Ire}) lines up for the G3 Prix du Palais Royal on Thursday it will be the start of quite an international week for the mare, though she will only travel between her stable in Chantilly and the racecourse at Clairefontaine. Five days later, the 5-year-old sprinter will...

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 the first runner for highly anticipated first-season sire Shalaa (Ire). 10.10 Deauville, Mdn, €22,000, unraced 2yo, 5fT Lady Bamford's €250,000 Arqana August acquisition CHERIE AMOUR (FR) (Shalaa {Ire}) becomes the first representative for Haras de Bouquetot-based freshman sire Shalaa (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) in this five-runner...

Gerard Augustin-Normand's Pretreville (Fr) (Acclamation {GB}) led from pillar to post when earning a first black-type score in September's Listed Prix du Pont du Jour at Craon, his final start for the Jean-Claude Rouget stable, and made his first appearance for Pascal Bary in Monday's G3 Prix Bertrand du Breuil Longines at Chantilly. The €100,000 Arqana October yearling faced a solid cast in the day's one-mile feature and repeated his frontrunning tactics to secure a career high in style. Breaking smartly from an outer box to lead under restraint from...

One thing that the French trainers seem to have in common at present is their opinion that racing will not resume in mid-April. Claude Beniada spoke to Pascal Bary and he was adamant that the wait for racing action will be a lot longer than that. CB: How have the recent measures affected your daily schedule? PB: "They haven't really. We can continue to train the horses and in that regard not much has changed. The staff is there, no one is missing, the tracks are very well maintained and...

The Niarchos Family sophomore's Albigna (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) and Alpine Star (Ire) (Sea The Moon {Ger}) returned from their winter break in good order and connections begin to look ahead toward Classic campaigns in 2020. Both fillies are trained by Jessica Harrington. Winner of the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac and the G3 Airlie Stud S. last fall, Albigna finished fourth in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Santa Anita. The daughter of Freedonia (GB) (Selkirk), who is the early favorite at 14-1 for the G1 1,000 Guineas at...

Natagora (Fr) (Divine Light {Jpn}-Reinamixa {Fr}, by Linamix {Fr}), winner of the 2008 G1 1000 Guineas for owner Stefan Friborg and trainer Pascal Bary, has died at Shadwell Stud aged 14, according to Racing Post. A €30,000 Arqana October yearling purchase by Patrick Barbe, Natagora was never worse than second in seven starts at two and posted five wins, including the G1 Cheveley Park S., G2 Prix Robert Papin and G3 Prix du Bois. She won the 1000 Guineas by a half-length under Christophe Lemaire and while she wouldn't visit...