Pinatubo

Last year's champion 2-year-old Pinatubo (Ire) (Shamardal-Lava Flow {Ire}, by Dalakhani {Ire}) has been retired from racing and will stand next year at Darley's Dalham Hall Stud in Newmarket. Pinatubo was rated the best European 2-year-old in a quarter century last year off an unbeaten six-race campaign for owner/breeder Sheikh Mohammed and trainer Charlie Appleby that culminated with wins in the G1 Goffs Vincent O'Brien National S.-by nine lengths--and the G1 Darley Dewhurst S., and had earlier included scores in Royal Ascot's Listed Chesham S. and Glorious Goodwood's G2 Qatar...

Three of Godolphin's finest make up a stellar six-strong field for Sunday's G1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp, with the main focus on the operation's champion Pinatubo (Ire) (Shamardal). Back to a mile following his initial 3-year-old success in the seven-furlong G1 Prix Jean Prat at Deauville on July 12, last year's sensational G1 Goffs Vincent O'Brien National S. winner has yet to truly convince that he is as effective over this trip as he looked to be outstayed when third in the G1 2000 Guineas at Newmarket on June...

James Doyle will renew his partnership with Pinatubo (Ire) (Shamardal) in Sunday's G1 Prix du Moulin at ParisLongchamp, which frees up William Buick to ride Ghaiyyath (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) in next Saturday's G1 Irish Champion S. should the 5-year-old take up that assignment. As an elite sportsman, Doyle will need to quarantine for eight days upon returning to the UK from France and provide two negative COVID-19 tests. Ireland's quarantine rules were adjusted on Thursday to allow jockeys to travel to the country to ride at Group 1 meetings, paving...

G1 St James's Palace S. and G1 Prix Jacques le Marois victor Palace Pier (GB) (Kingman {GB}) will bid to keep his unbeaten record intact in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. on Champions Day at Ascot on Oct. 17. Trainer John Gosden, who will be bidding for a fifth win in the race, said, "Palace Pier will go straight to Ascot for the Queen Elizabeth II S. He took his race at Deauville [the Marois] well, and he's been in good order since. I don't think the ground there...

Last year's champion 2-year-old Pinatubo (Ire) (Shamardal) got back to winning ways when dropped down to seven furlongs last out in the G1 Prix Jean Prat at Deauville on July 12, and Godolphin's 3-year-old will get the chance to once again prove himself over a mile in the G1 Prix du Moulin at ParisLongchamp on Sept. 6, trainer Charlie Appleby confirmed on Nick Luck's Daily Podcast. "Pinatubo had a nice little break after the Prix Jean Prat and the plan is to head for the Prix du Moulin," Appleby said....

A sea of blue dominated winner's enclosures in Britain and France this week, largely owing to the successful season currently being enjoyed by Sheikh Mohammed's Godolphin operation and Sheikh Hamdan's Shadwell team. The brothers occupy the top two slots in the owners' table in Britain, and Godolphin is also currently the leading owner in France. While Sheikh Mohammed has a significant number of horses in Chantilly with Andre Fabre, who oversaw the successful return of France's champion 2-year-old of last year, Earthlight (Ire) (Shamardal), in the Listed Prix Kistena, it...

Enjoying days in the sun during the last decade with Lethal Force (Ire) and Harry Angel (Ire), it did not take long for Clive Cox to unearth another star sprinter and the former's son Golden Horde (Ire) looks to emulate his achievement in winning the G1 Darley July Cup at Newmarket on Saturday. Dynamic when winning the G1 Commonwealth Cup on similar ground at Royal Ascot on June 19, last year's G2 Richmond S. winner and G1 Middle Park S. runner-up gets six pounds weight-for-age from the older brigade and...

From a $6,000 yearling to millionaires' row, the line-up for the first British Classic of the season features some smart homebreds along with sales graduates for almost every pocket. Al Suhail (GB) Dubawi (Ire) - Shirocco Star (GB) (Shirocco {Ger}) Last seen finishing runner-up over course and distance to fellow Guineas contender Military March in the G3 Autumn S. last October, this Meon Valley Stud-bred colt was a 1.1 million gns purchase at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale. His dam was runner-up in both the Oaks and...

Saturday is another big day in the life of Charlie Appleby, but the captain of Moulton Paddocks is approaching the G1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas with an infectious enthusiasm as the imperturbable Pinatubo (Ire) (Shamardal) makes the short journey to the other side of Newmarket for his first 3-year-old examination. Last year's imperious G1 Vincent O'Brien National S. and G1 Dewhurst S. winner knows nothing of the heavy weight of expectation on him and his pilot William Buick and is mentally well-equipped to handle any surrounding nervous energy. Having made it...

Victor Ludorum. With such a name should we ever have doubted him? Fifteen years after his late sire Shamardal blazed to glory in the Poule d'Essai des Poulains for the first half of his own Classic double, Victor Ludorum (Ire) set up a double of a different kind at Deauville on Monday, passing the Godolphin baton to his fellow colour-bearer and last year's champion juvenile Pinatubo (Ire) to attempt to complete a posthumous Classic double for Shamardal within a week. Should the much lauded Pinatubo resurface in the manner which...

Ahead of the return of racing in Britain and Ireland, former Irish champion jockey and TDN columnist Pat Smullen has shared his thoughts with us on an action-packed June and beyond, which you can read here or listen to via the audio link in this story. One of the most anticipated returns to the racecourse in Europe this season will be that of Pinatubo (Ire) (Shamardal), whose unbeaten campaign in 2019 saw him crowned European champion 2-year-old with a rating of 128, the highest awarded to a juvenile in 25...

Ahead of the resumption of racing in Britain and Ireland, Pat Smullen shares his thoughts on what lies ahead in an action-packed June.