Potential attendance from Sheikh Mohammed and The Queen may see Flat racedays receive global attentionThe Classic generation does not have the racing stage to itself for long, but the few weeks between the Guineas and Derby meetings, when the Newmarket Classics are followed by a fortnight of Epsom trials and the best three-year-olds rise to the top, are as good as it gets for many fans of the Flat.And this time around, it will not be just the sport’s devotees who sit up and take notice as the springtime cycle starts to turn once again. At Newmarket this weekend and at Epsom in early June in particular, there could be faces in the stands attracting far more attention – and...
Last year’s running at Sandown included the Derby winner and Friday’s contest is certainly packed with potential The strength of Sandown’s Classic Trial has varied wildly over the years but the 2021 renewal turned out to be, well, a classic, with Adayar, the subsequent Derby and King George winner, finishing half a length behind Alenquer while Yibir, the Breeders’ Cup Turf winner in November, was a neck away in third.The race will be knocking on the door of Group Two status if the first four home this year turn out to be as good as the class of 21, and there is certainly a wealth of potential in the seven-runner field. Continue reading...
French jockey Christophe Soumillon can guide the Guineas hope to victory again in the Classic trial at NewburyNothing will dislodge Native Trail from the top of the betting for the 2,000 Guineas after his successful return in Thursday’s Craven Stakes at Newmarket, but two dual Group One-winning juveniles – Angel Bleu and Perfect Power – line up the Greenham Stakes at Newbury on Saturday and Christophe Soumillon’s arrival to partner Perfect Power is an added attraction.Soumillon rode Perfect Power to victory in the Prix Morny and the Middle Park Stakes last season, the latter race being his first ride in Britain since the Royal meeting in 2019. It was classic Soumillon, as he emerged from behind a wall of horses...
Roger Varian sends the selection back for the All-Weather Championships at a track where he has recorded a hat-trick The decision to switch the All-Weather Championships card from Lingfield to Newcastle also means that Tyrrhenian Sea returns to the track where he reeled off a mid-winter hat-trick, and he is likely to start at odds-on for his in-form trainer, Roger Varian, in the Betway Easter Classic at the end of the card.The four-year-old looked like one of the unluckiest losers of the all-weather campaign when only fourth at odd-on at Kempton Park last month, and he is better judged on a very cosy win from an opening mark of 87 on his handicap debut in February. Continue reading...
Short-sighted, strategically inept choices can only increase the scrutiny of a self-appointed club with such power in the sportA couple of months after causing widespread astonishment and dismay in the sport by selling some of its most precious naming and image rights to the gaming giant Playtech, Nevin Truesdale, the Jockey Club’s chief executive, stuck his head above the parapet this weekend to defend the Playtech deal and discuss all things Jockey Club, in a fascinating interview with the Racing Post’s senior writer, Lee Mottershead.The Playtech deal, Truesdale said, had been “a little misunderstood”. The rapid-play gaming products that will be allowed to parasitise events like the Cheltenham Festival and Grand National are, he claimed, “very safe and they’ve been...