Tuesday, 3 May 2022
Ryan Moore
Friday, 22 April 2022
Galileo
Nowadays, Galileo, by Sadler’s Wells out of Urban Sea, is best known as a champion sire. Indeed, in 2017, he was named leading sire in Great Britain and Ireland for the ninth time in ten years, with 12 Group 1 winners, including Classic winners Churchill and Winter, and just under £12 million in prize money. Since 2012, he has stood exclusively at Coolmore Stud, Co. Tipperary, for a “private” fee, which is reputed to be in excess of €400,000.
Sunday, 10 April 2022
Eclipse Stakes
Several horses have won the Coral-Eclipse twice, the most recent of them being Halling, trained by Saeed bin Suroor, who recorded back-to-back victories in 1995 and 1996. Lester Piggott remains the leading jockey in the history of the race, with seven wins between 1951 and 1957. Early twentieth century trainer Alec Taylor, Jr. and Sir Michael Stoute are jointly the leading trainers, with six wins apiece.
In recent seasons, the Coral-Eclipse has been won by such luminaries of the sport as Sea The Stars (2009), Golden Horn (2015), Enable (2019) and Ghaiyyath (2020). It is no coincidence that all four of the aforementioned quartet were named Cartier Horse of the Year in their respective years. Indeed, the Coral-Eclipse has always attracted the crème de la crème of middle-distance talent. The roll of honour includes Ballymoss, Mill Reef, Brigadier Gerard, Dancing Brave and Nashwan, to name but a handful.
Friday, 18 February 2022
Geoffrey Freer Stakes
Inaugurated, as the Oxfordshire Stakes, in 1949 by Geoffrey Freer, who was Clerk of the Course at Newbury Racecourse at the time, the Geoffrey Freer Stakes was renamed in honour of Freer following his death, in 1969. Run over an advertised distance of 1 mile 5½ furlongs and open to horses aged three years and upwards, the Geoffrey Freer Stakes is staged annually in August.
Nowadays, the Geoffrey Freer Stakes is a Group 3 contest, having been downgraded from Group 2 status in 2006. However, it has typically proved a strong race for the grade, with several recent winners – Mount Athos (2012), Royal Empire (2013) and Seismos (2014) – going on to contest the Melbourne Cup at Flemington, Australia, albeit without distinction, later the same season.
Just one horse, Mubtaker, trained by Marcus Tregoning, has won the Geoffrey Free Stakes three times; he recorded his unprecedented hat-trick in 2002, 2003 and 2004 to become the most successful horse in the history of the race. Other notable winners include Ardross, trained by Henry Cecil, who recorded back-to-back victories under Lester Piggott in 1981 and 1982, Drum Taps, trained by Lord Huntingdon, in 1991 and Silver Patriarch, trained by John Dunlop, in 1999. Lester Piggott, Pat Eddery and Frankie Dettori are jointly the leading jockeys in the history of the Geoffrey Freer Stakes with four wins apiece. Sir Noel Murless remains the leading trainer, with five wins between 1949 and 1973.
Wednesday, 16 February 2022
Paul Hanagan
Over the next four years, the apprentice jockey saw his promise turn into results, improving each season and gaining the title of Champion Apprentice in 2002. He did this by riding a highly impressive 87 winners, the 2nd most since the end of WWII, which included a win on Vintage Premium in the John Smith’s Cup.
After this great achievement, Hanagan took a brief sabbatical and stated that he need a break after all his efforts. He did return the next year, but he never again hit the heights of the 2010 and 2011 seasons. To this day, he attributes much of his success to Richard Fahey who he spent 14 years with and he will forever be included in the pantheon of great flat jockeys.
Wednesday, 12 January 2022
Ebor Handicap
Flint Jack, who recorded back-to-back victories in the Ebor Handicap in 1922 and 1923, remains the only horse to win the race more than once. The legendary Lester Piggott remains the leading jockey in the history of the Ebor Handicap, with five winners between 1958 and 1983. His quintet included Gladness, who also won the Gold Cup at Ascot and the Goodwood Cup in 1958, and Jupiter Island, who subsequently became the first British-trained winner of the Japan Cup, in 1983. Other notable winners of the Ebor Handicap include Sea Pigeon (1979), who went on the win the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival twice, in 1980 and 1981, and Sergeant (2005), who completed a notable treble by winning the Northumberland Plate, Ebor Handicap and Cesarewitch Handicap in the same season.