Sir Michael Stoute

Derby hero Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) has been withdrawn from Wednesday's G1 Juddmonte International after injuring himself during a workout on Sunday morning, according to owner Saeed Suhail's racing manager Bruce Raymond. "[He] pulled up lame after breezing this morning; [he's] being assessed at [the] equine hospital, [his] career [is] in balance," Raymond told racing broadcaster Nick Luck on Sunday. A winner at first asking at two, the Sir Michael Stoute trainee swept the G2 Dante S. over the Knavesmire last May and won the Derby by 2 1/2...

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. Saturday's Insights features the third foal of MG1SW Winter, who already claims a TDN Rising Star to her docket as a broodmare. 13.45 The Curragh, Debutantes, €17,000, 2yo, 7fT LONDON CITY (Justify) is the third foal out of the G1 1000 Guineas, G1 Irish 1000 Guineas, G1 Coronation S....

Dual Group 1 winner Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}), who won the Derby and King George in 2022, emerged from his Wednesday gallop in good order and is on target for the G1 Juddmonte International on Aug. 2. "Desert Crown worked this morning, he worked nicely and everybody was happy with him," said Bruce Raymond, racing manager to owner Saeed Suhail. "He's not a great worker, as has been stated before, but everyone was very happy with him this morning and everything went as well as expected." The Sir Michael...

Just ten days remain for racing fans to choose which of five nominated stayers--Ardross (GB) (Run the Gantlet), Le Moss (Ire) (Le Levanstell {GB}), Persian Punch (Ire) (Persian Heights {GB}), Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), and Yeats (Ire) (Sadler's Wells)--will join recent QIPCO British Champions Series Hall of Fame inductees Sir Michael Stoute and Sea The Stars (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}). The horses on the list were selected by the Hall of Fame's eight-member judging panel comprised of experts from across the horse racing industry. It is now up...

Emily Upjohn (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), who ran a strong second to Paddington (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}) in the G1 Eclipse S. earlier this month, has emerged from the race in good order and will continue preparing for the G1 King George VI And Queen Elizabeth S. on July 29, co-trainer John Gosden confirmed on Thursday. The G1 British Champions Fillies And Mares S. winner, who won the G1 Coronation Cup at Epsom on her seasonal bow, was giving her rival seven pounds on the day. Gosden, who trains with...

Thursday's Listed Sir Henry Cecil S. at Newmarket looked every bit as strong as the card's group races and so it proved as Juddmonte's G3 Tattersalls S.-winning TDN Rising Star Nostrum (GB) (Kingman {GB}--Mirror Lake {GB}, by Dubai Destination) put his season on track with a performance that confirmed him as another elite runner for the Sir Michael Stoute stable. Last seen finishing third in the G1 Dewhurst S. on the Rowley Mile, the 11-10 favourite took Ryan Moore straight to the lead and one by one broke the hearts...

At a time when so many people seem to be allowing a duty of vigilance to crumble into morbid defeatism, it seems a little unfair that our sport should be going through such a hard time even as we approach the 50th anniversary of the most luminous tour de force in the story of the modern breed. Of course, as some powerful evocations of the time have lately reminded us, Secretariat arrived as a sunbeam into a wider world darkened by Vietnam and civic unrest. And nor should we deceive...

Champion Kalanisi (Ire) (Doyoun {Ire}--Kalamba {Ire}, by Green Dancer) passed away earlier this week at the Flood family's Boardsmill Stud, the stud announced on Friday. He was 27. Bred by His Highness the Aga Khan's Studs in Ireland and trained by first Luca Cumani and then Sir Michael Stoute, he was crowned the 2000 American Champion Grass Horse after a season which saw him take the G2 Queen Anne S., run second in the G1 Eclipse S. and G1 International S. both to Giant's Causeway (Storm Cat), before returning to...

If there were one race you could have bet that TDN Rising Star and unbeaten Derby hero of 2022 Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) would make his comeback in it would have been the G3 Brigadier Gerard S. which carries Sir Michael Stoute's stamp more than any other in the British Pattern. One of his record-setting dozen successes in the key Sandown staging post was the yard's penultimate Blue Riband hero Workforce (GB) (King's Best), so with all the stars aligning the stage is set for the return of Saeed...

NEWMARKET, UK--Oh, to be in England now that April's there. So wrote Robert Browning in 1845, though it is unconfirmed that this had anything to do with Classic trials. An unusually wet and cold April did little to lift the spirits this year, so we shall fast-forward to another line of his lovely poem. And after April, when May follows. May is becoming more marvellous by the day. There's York, of course, and who doesn't love York? It is a racecourse which comes close to perfection, from its location in...

Sir Michael Stoute and Sea The Stars (Ire) were officially welcomed into the QIPCO British Champions Hall of Fame on Sunday, and the trainer was on hand at the National Horse Racing Museum in Newmarket, where a new exhibition space was unveiled specifically for Hall of Fame members. The duo are the first members of the Class of 2023 to be announced, and the medal presentation took place in a new dedicated room in the museum's Thompson Gallery. The 10-time champion trainer has over 4,000 winners to his name, and...

The Niarchos Family's Passenger (Ulysses {Ire}) has been supplemented to the G2 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Dante S. at York on May 18. His addition brings the potential field to 14 runners. Trained by Sir Michael Stoute, the Wood Ditton Maiden S. winner will follow the path of last year's G1 Derby winner Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}), who won the Dante en route to Classic honours at Epsom. Connections paid £14,000 to supplement Passenger, who was scratched from the Listed Dee S. at Chester earlier this week due to...