Foot injury likely to scupper colt’s chances of running in Arc but plans in place to keep Epsom hero in training next season The chance that Desert Crown, who maintained his unbeaten record in the Derby at Epsom in June, will race again in his Classic season appeared to recede further on Friday when Bruce Raymond, racing manager for Saeed Suhail, the colt’s owner, admitted that Sir Michael Stoute is already running out of time to get Desert Crown ready for a race in October.Speaking at Goodwood, Raymond said: “I would say he’s doubtful [for the rest of the season]. There’s nothing major wrong with him [and] we’ll try to get him there, but it’s not the injury, it’s the...
Sight of another jockey on Stradivarius will be a tough one for Frankie Dettori to stomach on opening day of the meetingThere was very disappointing news on Monday when Coroebus, the 2,000 Guineas and St James’s Palace Stakes winner, was ruled out of his much-anticipated clash with Baaeed, the best miler since Frankel, in the Sussex Stakes at Glorious Goodwood on Wednesday.Godolphin, Coroebus’s owner, said on Twitter that the three-year-old had been “lame in his box this morning and after examination, was found to have an abscess in his left hind pastern. This is being treated and he will now target the Group One Prix Jacques le Marois [at Deauville in August].” Continue reading...
Although disqualification for excessive whip use is now on the table, its enforcement is likely to be vanishingly rareDavid Jones, the chair of the British Horseracing Authority’s whip consultation steering group, was keen to stress on Tuesday that its 20 recommendations on one of the most vexed issues in the sport should be seen as “a package” of measures, and one that all of its members – including those opposed to use of the whip for encouragement – could support.None the less, two proposed changes in particular inevitably leapt off the page when the group’s report was published on Tuesday: disqualification of horses when riders commit an “egregious” breach of the rules, and a ban on using the whip in...
Five of the six runners in the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown have at least one Group One win but Alenquer can rise to the topFive of the six runners in a fascinating renewal of the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown Park on Saturday have at least one Group One win in the form book already, and it is a big boost for the first all-aged Group One of the season that Vadeni, the French Derby winner, was supplemented to the field earlier this week.Christophe Soumillon kicked off the celebrations some way out at Chantilly and a mixture of proven form at the trip and his scope for improvement means Vadeni looks a better bet than Native Trail, the Irish 2,000 Guineas winner and...
A worst return at the Royal meeting since 2013 drew criticism from John Gosden and playful talk of a changing of the guard The Queen did not attend Royal Ascot last week, for the first time since her coronation 70 years ago, but 273,465 spectators did and though they had to make do without the track’s owner leading the daily procession, most will have headed home with overwhelmingly positive memories of the first Royal meeting with a proper crowd since 2019.The weather played a blinder, of course, with only the final hour or so on Saturday seeing any need for spectators to retreat from the lawns and take shelter in the stand. The track was also immaculate, with safe, watered...