Simon Marsh

Next week, the first yearlings by Darley's dual champion Too Darn Hot (GB) will be offered for sale at the Arqana August Yearling Sale. Expectations were always going to be high for Too Darn Hot--a son of sire of sires Dubawi (Ire), out of the triple Group 1-winning mare Dar Re Mi (GB) (Singspiel {Ire}), from the deep family of the prodigious sire Darshaan (GB). An undefeated champion at two who repeated as champion at three, he also achieved the best foal sales average of 2021. But uniquely, it will...

There is much to be negative about with British racing but occasionally we should acknowledge and celebrate success. During this terrible year of Covid, racing's rulers should be celebrated for what they have achieved and what has been saved. Our great sport was back behind closed doors and handled the health implications effectively. The stud season took place with mares covered and the business uninterrupted. The icing on the cake must surely be the remarkable resilience of the Tattersalls sales which ran in Newmarket on their original dates. To the...

While all about us nothing is quite as it should be, some pleasing normality can be found on stud farms, where the foaling and covering season has continued largely uninterrupted. At Lord and Lady Lloyd Webber's Watership Down Stud, an eagerly awaited delivery was made this week when Dar Re Mi (GB) (Singspiel {Ire}) produced a colt by her regular partner Dubawi (Ire). The ninth foal for the treble Group 1 winner is her seventh by Darley's coveted sire. The youngster is, of course, a full-brother to Too Darn Hot...