Reach For The Moon

It was the late Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother who was the major supporter of National Hunt racing within Britain's Royal Family, but King Charles III and Queen Camilla could be represented at the Cheltenham Festival with both Reach For The Moon (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) and Steal A March (GB) (Mount Nelson {GB}) under consideration for the March showcase. Reach For The Moon, now five, won the G3 Solario S. at two as well as finishing runner-up in the G2 Champagne S., and was at one stage considered...

One-time Derby favourite Reach For The Moon (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) will return to action at Saint-Cloud on Saturday. Connections of the John and Thady Gosden-trained colt opted to sidestep the Derby after he picked up a mid-season setback. Instead, Reach For The Moon was aimed at Royal Ascot, where he was beaten as a 2-5 favourite behind Claymore (Fr) (New Bay {GB}) in the Hampton Court S. Now owned by the King, he is back in action over a mile in Paris for the Group 3 Prix Perth,...

There has been no shortage of talking points at Royal Ascot this week but, perhaps the most controversial incident of them all came in the opening race on Thursday, when Paul Hanagan received a 10-day careless riding ban for veering halfway across the track en route to victory in the G2 Norfolk S. aboard The Ridler (GB) (Brazen Beau {Aus}). From that controversy to another forgettable afternoon's work for Frankie Dettori, out of luck aboard Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) in the G1 Gold Cup and The Queen's 2-5...

   Emily Upjohn (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), who was narrowly out of luck in the G1 Cazoo Oaks, could bid for G2 Ribblesdale S. glory at Royal Ascot next week, according to her joint-trainer John Gosden. A clear-cut winner of the G3 Musidora S. in her Epsom prep, John and Thady Gosden's 'TDN Rising Star' endured a luckless Classic run, losing a handful of lengths at the start when stumbling coming out of the stalls before being beaten just a short head by Tuesday (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) at the...

In the concluding part of the series reflecting on the Queen's long attachment to thoroughbred racing and breeding, John Berry considers the prospect of a royal Derby runner in the year of the Platinum Jubilee The most significant addition to the royal roster of trainers came in the autumn of 1966, when some of that year's yearlings were sent to the West Ilsley stable of Major Dick Hern. This was the start of a wonderful partnership, which in time saw Hern become as synonymous with the royal string as formerly...

There are banners along the High Street of my home town of Newmarket saying 'Welcome back to racing'. Though we've been fortunate in England to have been able to allow crowds gradually to return to racecourses earlier than some other countries, it has only really been in the last few weeks that it has felt like the proper pre-pandemic experience. And where better to have the people back in force than at York, widely regarded by many to be the best racecourse in the country? Any amount of time spent...

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 a blueblooded homebred of The Queen's. 1.00 Newbury, Novice, £10,000, 2yo, 7fT NOBEL (IRE) (Lope de Vega {Ire}), who cost 825,000gns at the Tattersalls October Book 1 Sale, represents the Qatar Racing-Andrew Balding Classic-winning partnership as he makes his debut. A half-brother to the G3 Leopardstown...