Shaquille (GB)

Shaquille (GB), the top-rated sprinter in Europe in 2023, has had his first three mares scanned in foal, Dullingham Park announced on Thursday. Trained by Julie Camacho, Shaquille won seven of his nine career starts--notably landing the G1 Commonwealth Cup and G1 July Cup as a three-year-old--before retiring to Dullingham Park where he is standing his first season in 2024 at a fee of £15,000. "We are delighted at the start that Shaquille has made to his new career," said Dullingham Park's Ollie Fowlston. "He has 150 mares booked into...

"The grey colours, there's a big plan behind all that. Eventually my daughter will take over. I'm doing this for my family when I'm no longer here." Those were the words of owner-breeder Steve Parkin in a TDN interview penned in September last year, revealing all about his ambition to stand stallions at Dullingham Park Stud, plus the succession plan which he hopes will guarantee the long-term future of a racing and bloodstock empire he's spent the last two decades building. Five months on and the wheels are now firmly...

The questionnaire series continues with Group 1-winning trainer Julie Camacho in the spotlight. Proudest moment of 2023? Shaquille (GB) (Charm Spirit {Ire}) winning the Commonwealth Cup to give us our first Group 1 and our first Royal Ascot winner. What is your biggest ambition for the new year? To try and keep the yard on an upward curve. Give us one horse to follow and why? Our horse to follow is L'Ennemi (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}). We bought him at the Tattersalls Autumn Horses-In-Training Sale in October. He has a lovely...

There have been 27 individual World Pool Moment of the Day winners in the 2023 season--each winning groom receiving a £4,000 award--and an independent panel from the Hong Kong Jockey Club narrowed that list down to four finalists who will compete for a VIP trip for four to Hong Kong next year via a public vote. The finalists are Tomohiro Kusunoki, the groom of Japanese globetrotting superstar Equinox (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn); Paige Harrison, the groom of MG1SW Shaquille (GB) (Charm Spirit {Ire}); Raj Rasiah, groom of G1SW Quickthorn (GB)...

Storm Babet has decided the final shape of the fields for Saturday's Qipco Champions Day fixture, with the softening ground ruling Inspiral (GB) (Frankel {GB}) out of the G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. and making up Aidan O'Brien's mind as to where to point Paddington (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}). That four-times group 1 winner takes up his engagement in the QEII, leaving a total of nine to take part in the G1 Qipco Champion S. Heading the list for the 10-furlong highlight is last year's winner Bay Bridge (GB) (New Bay...

He has become something of an enigma, but Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) has the x-factor most dream of despite his sharp falls from grace and has the ball in his court ahead of Saturday's G1 Royal Bahrain Irish Champion S. Adept on Epsom's lively surface either side of unequal struggles through the rain-dampened sod at Newmarket and Ascot, Ballydoyle's beau ideal has the aid of the current heatwave at a Leopardstown track that he has already mastered when on the rise as a juvenile. Whatever the reason for...

The much-anticipated third encounter between Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and King Of Steel (Wootton Bassett {GB}) will take place in Saturday's G1 Royal Bahrain Irish Champion S. at Leopardstown, as the Derby one-two featured among the nine heavyweights on Thursday. Ryan Moore is on Auguste Rodin in the 10-furlong feature of the Irish Champions Festival, with the Ballydoyle first string looking to bounce back from a below-par showing in Ascot's King George in which Amo Racing's King Of Steel was third. Auguste Rodin is in two, next door...

The annual ARC Malton Open Day, featuring trainer Julie Camacho's dual Group 1-winning sprinter Shaquille (GB) (Charm Spirit {Ire}), has been set for Sept. 10. Part of the National Racehorse Week initiative, the Malton Open Day--organised by racing charity Racing Welfare--sees 11 trainers, including Camacho, open their yards to the public. In addition, a new partnership with York Racecourse for 2023 lets visitors continue their family day out at the racecourse's YorkMix Family Sunday Raceday. There will be regular appearances by popular children's character, Bluey, throughout the day, as well...

Shaquille (GB) (Charm Spirit {Ire}), a dual Group 1-winning sprinter in the colours of Hughes, Rawlings, and O'Shaughnessy, will shortly begin his fast work in preparation for the G1 Betfair Sprint Cup at Haydock on Sept. 9. Trained by Julie Camacho, the 3-year-old is eight-for-seven and claimed both the G1 Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot and the G1 July Cup S. in July. "Shaquille is in really good form," said Camacho's husband and assistant Steve Brown. "We purposely gave him a quiet couple of weeks after Newmarket which was always...

There have been many super-sprinters that have won Newmarket's G1 July Cup, but probably none that have managed to do as much wrong as Shaquille (GB) (Charm Spirit {Ire}-Magic {Ire}, by Galileo {Ire}) as he placed himself among the very best in Saturday's renewal. Up in the air as the stalls opened and slowly away again as he had been in Royal Ascot's G1 Commonwealth Cup, Julie Camacho and Steve Brown's freakishly-talented 3-year-old was quickly telling Rossa Ryan that he wanted to assume top dog status. Lesser mortals would have...

To do everything wrong and still win the G1 Commonwealth Cup comfortably, Shaquille (GB) (Charm Spirit {Ire}--Magic {Ire}, by Galileo {Ire}) must be among an elite brigade of sprinters to have come to Royal Ascot down the years. Although the pride of the Julie Camacho and Steve Brown stable had obvious credentials entering Friday's six-furlong feature, after blowing the start and losing several lengths all appeared lost. That was factoring against the abundance of talent Martin Hughes's homebred possesses and the calm of Oisin Murphy after he had asked for...

Royal Ascot Friday sees the Irish contingent to the fore as TDN Rising Stars Tahiyra (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}) and Little Big Bear (Ire) (No Nay Never) exercise iron grips on the feature G1 Coronation S. and G1 Commonwealth Cup respectively. While the former flashed her considerable talent just twice as a juvenile, Ballydoyle's champion of 2022 domineered his way through three important black-type tests before injury halted his momentum. Now the winner of the Irish 1000 Guineas, Tahiyra comfortably has the measure of chief rival Meditate (Ire) (No Nay Never)...