Sceptical

Rags to riches sprinter Sceptical (GB) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}-Jealous Again, by Trippi), a listed winner and twice Group 1-placed this season, died on Tuesday morning after suffering a fatal injury on the gallops. Trainer Denis Hogan tweeted, "We have been dealt a devastating cruel blow at Boherna this morning  with the loss of our superstar sprinter Sceptical. He was a horse of a lifetime and a game changer for my training career and everyone at Boherna." Bred by Godolphin out of the G2 Queen Mary S. winner Jealous Again,...

The 2020 season had all the ingredients to be a potentially ground-breaking one for trainer Denis Hogan before a COVID spanner was thrown in the works in the spring. With a semblance of normality back in day-to-day lives, Hogan's season is now starting to deliver what it originally promised it might with the trainer basking in the glow of having the two highest- rated sprinters in Ireland under his care at his Tipperary stables. "It's going brilliantly at the moment and we have a fantastic bunch of horses but it...

Sceptical (GB) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}) will bypass Tuesday's G1 King's Stand S. in favour of the G1 Diamond Jubilee on the final day of Royal Ascot. The winner of four of five career races, the Hilltop Racing representative posted a three-length tally most recently in the Listed Woodlands S. at Naas June 8. Trainer Denis Hogan tweeted: "After discussing with @RacingHilltop +jockeys, weighing up all options, we have decided in the best interest and welfare of the horse--and considering long season ahead--to skip the King's Stand in favour of...

Frankie Dettori has picked up the ride on emerging sprint sensation Sceptical (GB) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}) in the G1 King's Stand S. at Royal Ascot on June 16. The 4-year-old gelding was partnered by apprentice Joey Sheridan when winning Monday's Listed Woodlands S. at Naas, but seven-pound claimers cannot resume riding in Britain until June 22. "He came out of the race well and he was entered this morning for Royal Ascot," said trainer Denis Hogan. "There are 14 entries in the King's Stand. Obviously Joey won't be able...

There were days when we were drumming our fingers on our at-home desks or dining tables wondering what on earth to write about for tomorrow. But now that the shock of racing's shutdown has been completely erased by the return, finally, of racing in Ireland to complete a European full set, the panic is not what to write but how on earth to keep up with it all. No complaints here. The last few weeks since the French return in mid-May and Britain just over a week ago have provided...