Aidan O’Brien’s colt an intriguing supplementary entry for the prestigious race at Royal Ascot to face StradivariusAn unexpected obstacle appeared on Friday between Stradivarius and a record-equalling fourth win in the Ascot Gold Cup next week, when Aidan O’Brien added Serpentine, the easy winner of the 2020 Derby at Epsom last July, to the field for the Royal meeting’s feature event at the £30,000 supplementary stage.The Gold Cup was seen as an obvious target for a Derby winner in his four-year-old season throughout the 19th century, when turf legends including The Flying Dutchman (1850), the Triple Crown winner West Australian (1854) and Gladiateur (1866) were among the horses to complete the Epsom-Ascot double. Related: Talking Horses: 100-1 winner headlines not...
Racing’s safeguards are aimed at preventing repeats of past mistakes but fell over when faced with a new oneWe all make mistakes. The great thing is to not make the same one twice and I would be happy to bet that Aidan O’Brien will find some means of ensuring he is never again in the unhappy position of watching a race and realising his two runners are carrying each other’s jockeys. Related: Talking Horses: owner's fury over winning rival's breach of whip rules Tips by Chris Cook Continue reading...
Less moaning by racing fans about multiple entries from Ballydoyle in the top races is one likely result from LongchampIt would be stretching things more than a little to suggest that Enable was denied a third win in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe on Sunday because American beef farmers use a synthetic drug called zilpaterol to fatten their cattle for slaughter. And yes, “more than a little”, in this case, probably means “quite a lot”.But there is also no doubt that the scratching of Aidan O’Brien’s four declared runners in the Arc, following positive tests for zilpaterol after they ate contaminated feed, made a real difference to the way that Sunday’s race played out. Without Serpentine and Sovereign, one...
Enable is now hot favourite for Europe’s premier racing prize after the exit of Love and drawing a favourable low draw Enable is no bigger than 11-8 to record an unprecedented third victory in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe having drawn a favourable low stall in a final field of 15 on Thursday morning, less than an hour after Aidan O’Brien announced that Love, the big-race favourite for much of the last three months, will not make the trip to Paris on Sunday.The withdrawal of Love, the winner of the 1,000 Guineas and Oaks, after persistent rain at Longchamp in recent days was hugely disappointing for O’Brien but leaves John Gosden, Enable’s trainer, with the front two in the...
Donnacha to train, like father Aidan and brother Joseph I look forward to training a small group of horses next yearDonnacha OBrien, the multiple Group One-winning jockey, has announced his retirement from the saddle to embark on a training career.The 21-year-old was crowned champion jockey in Ireland this year, defending the title he first secured 12 months ago, and he bows out with 10 top-level wins to his name. OBriens final Group One success came aboard Magical in the Champion Stakes at Ascot in October. Related: Joseph and Donnacha OBrien halt an Irish Derby victory for OBrien Sr Ludlow 12.35 The Newest One 1.05 Loud As Lions 1.40 Waitonit 2.15 Master Work 2.45 Manor Park 3.20 Kingofthecotswolds 3.50 Artichoke Heart Continue...