Rock of Gibraltar (Ire)

Leaving his G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. rivals strung out down Ascot's straight mile, Yeguada Centurion's Big Rock (Fr) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}--Hardiyna {Ire}, by Sea The Stars {Ire}) produced a masterclass from the front under Aurelien Lemaitre in one of the great displays throughout the history of this prestigious affair. Quickly out on his own, the Christopher Head-trained 3-year-old who had not won since looking a force in the mud in the G3 Prix la Force and G3 Prix de Guiche this spring was always way beyond the reaches...

Big Rock (Fr) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}) has exited the G1 Prix du Moulin in good order and will aim for the G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. on QIPCO British Champions Day, according to trainer Christopher Head. Successful in a listed race in March, the Yeguada Centurion homebred added the G3 Prix la Force and G3 Prix de Guiche in successive months. He has finished second in his last three races, all at Group 1 level--the Prix du Jockey Club, the Prix Jacques le Marois, and the Prix du Moulin,...

Chantilly offers its riposte to Epsom's Derby jamboree on Sunday as the 183rd edition of the G1 Qatar Prix du Jockey Club welcomes France's new star of the middle-distance division, Big Rock (Fr) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}). Initially slow to develop into the barnstorming character he has become, Yeguada Centurion's homebred would be an emotive winner for Christopher Head in the week that his beloved grandmother Ghislaine passed away. Introduced this year by Head in this track's Prix du Chene des Trois Freres handicap on the Polytrack in February, Big...

It still seems hard to imagine, given how long he has been omnipresent in British racing, but Friday's G1 Betfred Oaks will mark the penultimate Epsom Classic experience in the saddle for Frankie Dettori. It may also prove his best chance of going out in a blaze of glory, as Soul Sister (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) looks the more likely of his Friday and Saturday mounts to conjure that soon-to-be-missed flying dismount. Carrying the "Sariska" silks of Lady Bamford, the homebred left no one in any doubt that she is a...

If there was any doubt who was the Cock Of The North among the French 3-year-old middle-distance colts heading into Tuesday's G3 Prix de Guiche, Yeguada Centurion's Big Rock (Fr) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}--Hardiyna {Ire}, by Sea The Stars {Ire}) provided the emphatic answer with a dominant display at a rain-soaked Chantilly. Compared to Frankel (GB) by the commentary team of Racing Galop afterwards, the homebred first foal out of the owner-breeder's €72,000 Goffs November purchase from The Aga Khan's draft was more Old Vic (GB) as he sliced through...

Yeguada Centurion's 3-year-old colt Big Rock (Fr) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}--Hardiyna {Ire}, by Sea The Stars {Ire}), who failed to nose ahead in each of his first three outings, graduated in a Feb. 2 handicap at Chantilly and repeated the dose back there in last month's Mar. 3 Listed Prix Maurice Caillault. Sent forward for a sterner test in Sunday's G3 Prix La Force at ParisLongchamp, he dented a host of lofty reputations with a game performance in the nine-furlong French Derby trial to register a career high. Big Rock...

Team Calas' 3-year-old colt Rock Boy (Fr) (Rock of Gibraltar {Ire}), unbeaten in juvenile starts over a mile at Vichy and nine furlongs at Marseille-Borely last year, maintained his perfect record in Thursday's G3 Prix Djebel at Deauville and went by all six rivals inside the final quarter mile for a career high in the seven-furlong 2000 Guineas trial. Patiently ridden and settled at the tail of the field through halfway, the 15-2 chance inched closer when encouraged forward passing the two pole and kept on strongly under a drive...

Rated no better than a 33-1 shot prior to Sunday's Listed 10-furlong Listed Irish Stallion Farms EBF Salsabil S. at Navan, Catherine Kinane's Rocky Sky (Ire) (Rock of Gibraltar {Ire}) turned that logic on its head with a scintillating display to score by 4 1/4 lengths and provide Ross O'Sullivan with a first black-type win in this sphere. Last seen finishing runner-up in the Listed Patton S. over a mile on Dundalk's Polytrack Mar. 5, the dark bay tanked her way to the front after the first two furlongs under...

There was unwanted drama during Tuesday's Listed Holden Plant Rental Trial S. at Leopardstown as Ballydoyle's 6-5 favourite Year of the Tiger (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) suffered an injury in the home straight. Jim Bolger's unbeaten Ten Year Ticket (Ire) (Rock of Gibraltar {Ire}) got up late at 8-1 to deny Aidan O'Brien's other runner King of Athens (War Front) by a neck. Also coming on strong at the end of his Curragh maiden in October when successful at 33-1, the chestnut who was bred at owner Nicky Teehan's Bluegate Stud...