Pyledriver

A total of 43 horses representing Hong Kong, England, Ireland, France and Japan were entered for Sunday's HK$100 million Longines Hong Kong International Meeting at Sha Tin Racecourse, and the luck of the barrier draw--held Thursday morning in the parade ride at the track--was much in favour of the horses that are anticipated to be at the head of the markets in the four events. For a horse like reigning Hong Kong Horse of the Year Golden Sixty (Aus) (Medaglia d'Oro), who likes to get back and then put his...

16.05 Wolverhampton, Nov, £6,500, 2yo, 7f 36y (AWT) William Muir and Chris Grassick trainee STOCKPYLE (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) is an unraced half-brother to last term's G1 St Leger third and this year's G1 Coronation Cup-winning stablemate Pyledriver (GB) (Harbour Watch {Ire}). He encounters nine rivals including Godolphin's once-raced Silent Speech (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), who is a homebred half to three black-type performers headed by G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere-winning sire Ultra (Ire) (Manduro {Ger}), from the Charlie Appleby stable.

Loves Only You (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and a team of five from Ballydoyle headed by defending G1 Longines Hong Kong Vase hero Mogul (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) are among a list of 49 world-class gallopers that have been extended invitations to the 2021 Longines Hong Kong International Races to be staged Sunday, Dec. 12, at Sha Tin Racecourse. Some 22 of the invitees have already struck at Group 1/Grade I level. Following her history-making performance in the GI Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf at Del Mar Nov....

Pyledriver (GB) (Harbour Watch {Ire}) will bypass next week's G1 Juddmonte International at York. The colt, who also missed the G1 King George at Ascot, has been contending with a muscle problem which appeared after winning the June 4 G1 Coral Coronation Cup at Epsom. "We've run out of time, we were trying to get his groin right, [but] my physio said if I went and galloped I might put him back two weeks," said William Muir, who trains the colt in partnership with Chris Grassick. "You got to be...

To an extent, when Coolmore wins two of the weekend's premier Classics in Europe and Godolphin wins another, it feels like we are harking back to the glory days around the turn of the century, when the battle of the superpowers was epitomised by those back-to-back duels between Galileo (Ire) and Fantastic Light in the 'King George' and Irish Champion Stakes. Honours even. And it was honours even at Epsom, with the dazzling victory of Ballydoyle's Snowfall (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) in the Cazoo Oaks, followed by the satisfying success...

EPSOM, UK—It was an Oaks that delivered everything. An emphatic winner, bred in the purple, racing in the purple, representing a trio of the sport's most powerful owners for whom Epsom's famous winner's circle is almost a home from home.  It was also a record-breaking winning margin by a filly who reminded us just what a loss Deep Impact (Jpn) was, not just to Japan but to breeders worldwide, when he died at the age of 17 in 2019. Next month, a handful of his final small crop of yearlings...

The G1 Coronation Cup and G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. are among the targets that trainer William Muir has set out for Pyledriver (GB) (Harbour Watch {Ire}) for the first half of the year. The 4-year-old-who last year won the G2 King Edward VI S. at Royal Ascot and the G2 Great Voltigeur S. before finishing third in the G1 St Leger-will start out in the G2 Jockey Club S. at Newmarket before aiming for the Coronation, the G2 Hardwicke S. at Royal Ascot and the King...

The Classic Generation At the start of June, with France and Germany having already crept cautiously back into play after the COVID full-stop, Britain joined in with the beginning of a flourish of catch-up fare. In under a week of racing, we had a new star to gaze at, and time experts were in awe of Bjorn Nielsen's English King (Fr) (Camelot {GB}). While he looked super-slick in the Listed Lingfield Derby Trial, he was to be given the justifiably dreaded number one draw at Epsom and gave up any...

Pyledriver (GB) (Harbour Watch {Ire}) will turn back to a mile and a quarter for the Oct. 17 G1 Qipco Champion S. after finishing third in Saturday's G1 Pertemps St Leger. "He's come home safe and sound," said trainer William Muir on Sunday. "I wondered whether the race might have taken a bit out of him, but he's eaten everything and he's in great shape." Pyledriver won the G2 King Edward VII S. and the G2 Great Voltigeur S. earlier in the season. "I don't want to be dogmatic and...

G2 King Edward VII S. winner Pyledriver (GB) (Harbour Watch {Ire}) will run in next Wednesday's G2 Great Voltigeur S. at York rather than Sunday's G1 Preis von Europa in Germany as originally planned. "We were going to Germany on Sunday, but with the heat and all the disruption in Europe at the moment we thought we wanted to give him his best opportunity," trainer William Muir explained. "We're going to see how we get on in the Great Voltigeur--that's where we're going to go. We'd have had to travel...

There are countless ways in which the Coronavirus pandemic has had a negative impact on the world at large and our smaller racing world within, but every now and then a positive aspect will emerge. On Tuesday, the G2 King Edward VII S. became a Derby trial rather than a consolation race for Epsom. For the winner Pyledriver (GB) (Harbour Watch {Ire}), the adjustments to this season's racing programme have played into the hands of his connections when it comes to having a crack at the Derby, which is now...

In the midst of some predictable results on Royal Ascot's opener, there was the shock of a hammer blow to some big reputations as the 18-1 shot Pyledriver (GB) (Harbour Watch {Ire}) took the G2 King Edward VII S. without any hint of fluke. Largely disregarded despite flashing talent at two and when runner-up in the June 3 G3 Classic Trial at Kempton, Guy and Hugh Leach and Roger Devlin's bay was also low-profile in the race itself, anchored towards the rear early by Martin Dwyer along with the 10-11...