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...
The trainer is not in accord with the BHA, which has appealed for ‘direct financial support’ to get the sport through the winterJohn Gosden saddled a winner here on Thursday and then spoke about the “grim outlook” for racing as it absorbs the news that its grandstands will remain empty for the next six months. “Of course you miss the crowds, and you start worrying about the future of a number of racecourses which may well have to go into receivership,” he said. “If it went on and on, I think it’s an inevitability that there will be major casualties.” Related: Talking Horses: mystery of cocaine horse set to remain unsolved Uttoxeter 12.30 Topofthecotswolds 1.00 Fusil Raffles 1.30 Our Rockstar2.00...
The Yorkshire Oaks may prove a tactical affair with only four runners lining up and two from the Aidan O’Brien yardJohn Gosden is concerned about a potentially tactical race after only four runners were declared for the Yorkshire Oaks on Thursday, expected to be the final race in Britain for his star mare Enable. The five-year-old is long odds-on with bookmakers to land the prize on her way to Paris in October, where she will attempt to become the first horse to win the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe for a third time.“The smaller the field, the stranger the race can often be,” said Gosden, who has provided one of Enable’s three rivals in Lah Ti Dar. The other two...
John Gosden says odds of 4-6 on his star shows that bookmakers ‘don’t want anyone backing’ her at the King GeorgeJohn Gosden has said that Enable faces “a tall order” in trying to win Saturday’s King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot, despite being a hot favourite in the betting. The trainer accused bookmakers of trying to protect themselves by offering unrealistically short odds about his mare, who is unbeaten since April 2017. Related: Andrea Atzeni hoping to lower Enable’s colours in King George Ayr 1.30 Dick Datchery 2.00 Tadaany 2.30 Dream House 3.05 Cameo Star 3.35 Duhallow Noelie (nb) 4.10 Betty Grable 4.45 Asian Angel 5.15 Burn Some Dust Continue reading...
Winners of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe have a lousy record when flying out for the Breeders’ Cup the next monthEnjoyable as it is to contemplate Enable’s participation in the Breeders’ Cup Turf, one consequence is that punters will have another of those really difficult decisions to make. Do you take short odds about a horse who, for all her quality, is trying to do something that has never been done before? Related: Champions Day: James Fanshawe hopes Tin Man can strike gold Nottingham 1.30 Deebee 2.00 Poetic Legacy 2.30 Dorah 3.05 Moon King 3.35 Existential 4.05 Elasia 4.40 Samovar 5.15 Savannah’s Show Continue reading...