Andrew Balding

Completing an early Saturday afternoon treble for the Andrew Balding stable, Juddmonte's Blue Bolt (Blue Point) made a winning start to a potentially fruitful campaign in Goodwood's Listed Conqueror Fillies' Stakes. Last seen finishing runner-up to the unstoppable Fallen Angel in Newmarket's Sun Chariot in October, the Listed Sandown Distaff winner had to fight for Colin Keane with the long-absent Kon Tiki (Night Of Thunder) in determined mood but managed to thrust in front close home for a 3/4-of-a-length success. The returning Poule d'Essai des Pouliches second Shes Perfect (Sioux...

Andrew Balding will bid to chart a familiar path to Classic glory as connections of Gewan (Night Of Thunder) outlined plans for the Dewhurst Stakes winner to take in the Greenham Stakes prior to a tilt at the 2,000 Guineas - meanwhile, 4.8 million gns purchase Barnavara (Calyx) is nearing her debut Down Under for the same Ace Stud-backed ownership group. It was in the Greenham Stakes where Balding unleashed subsequent 2,000 Guineas winner Chaldean in 2023. However, disaster struck in the early-season Group 3 when Frankie Dettori was unshipped...

Since the death of Ian Balding, we have been reflecting on treasured memories not only of the highly respected trainer but also of one of Kingsclere's greatest patrons, Paul Mellon. It was fitting, therefore, that Andrew Balding should have won at Newcastle last Friday with Level Look, who was bred by Emma Balding at Kingsclere Stud and is raced by the Kingsclere Racing Club, whose horses keep the famous black and gold Mellon silks alive. On a much grander scale, another fitting recent result was that of the General Sires'...

Ian Balding, who has died at the age of 87, made an indelible impression on the turf, not only as the trainer of some wonderful horses including Mill Reef, but also as mentor to many young people who subsequently graduated to success in the sport. Most notable is his son Andrew, who succeeded him at the helm of Kingsclere in 2002 and who has subsequently ensured that Kingsclere remains synonymous with both success and class. Ian Balding and his elder brother Toby were born in the USA where their father...

Benvenuto Cellini (Frankel) is one of nine Aidan O'Brien-trained colts to stand his ground for the G1 William Hill Futurity Trophy Stakes at Doncaster on Saturday. The impressive Killarney winner went on to take the G2 Champions Juvenile Stakes. Other entrants hailing from Ballydoyle include G3 Zetland Stakes hero Pierre Bonnard (Camelot), the group-placed Action (Frankel), the stakes-placed Frescobaldi (No Nay Never), G2 Beresford Stakes winner Hawk Mountain (Wootton Bassett), New Zealand (Frankel), G3 Killavullan Stakes victor Dorset (Wootton Bassett), Piazza San Marco (St Mark's Basilica), and G3 Eyrefield Stakes...

Prince Faisal's Eydon hasn't been the easiest horse to train over the years, but the perseverance of his connections paid off in spades at San Siro Racecourse on Sunday when the six-year-old gained his biggest success to date in the G2 Gran Premio del Jockey Club - S.I.R.E. Trofeo Pio Bruni. Sparingly raced since finishing fourth in the G1 2,000 Guineas won by Coroebus (Dubawi), the son of Olden Times showed that he retains plenty of ability when winning May's G3 Aston Park Stakes at Newbury, before another training setback...

Juddmonte's star distaffer Kalpana (Study Of Man), trapped wide and never really a factor in this month's G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, bounced back to her best in imperious fashion and outsmarted her rivals for back-to-back renewals of Saturday's G1 Qipco British Champions Fillies & Mares at Ascot. "It was a great performance and she's been very consistent all year," said winning rider Colin Keane. "Things didn't go to plan in France and fair play to Andrew [Balding] and the team for making the call to bring her back...

Night Of Thunder colt Gewan ignited another Classic dream for his owner Yuesheng Zhang, who has already won the Irish Oaks with Magical Lagoon (Galileo) and came close to 2,000 Guineas glory with Lucky Vega (Lope De Vega), who is now a stallion under his dual-hemisphere Yulong operation. Zhang already has a significant racing and breeding operation in Australia, where his runners include the multiple Group 1 winner Via Sistina (Fastnet Rock) - bought from Tattersalls for 2.7 million gns two years ago - and where he has an 11-strong...

Left out of most equations following his fourth in the Champagne, Yuesheng Zhang's Gewan (Night Of Thunder) bounced back in style on unseasonably quick ground to cause a 25-1 upset in Saturday's G1 Darley Dewhurst Stakes. Always in the front line under James Doyle, the Andrew Balding-trained grey who had earlier won the Acomb at York drifted over to the stand's rail but maintained his momentum to deny Ballydoyle's well-backed 7-4 favourite Gstaad (Starspangledbanner) by 3/4 of a length. Godolphin's Distant Storm (Night Of Thunder) was 1 1/2 lengths away in...

Justifying his G1 Futurity Trophy entry at Bath on Tuesday, Juddmonte's Item (Frankel) went through the gears to go two-for-two for the Andrew Balding stable ahead of next month's feature. Sent off the 4-6 favourite for the mile novice, the homebred who had scored at Kempton on debut earlier this month made all to readily record a 3 1/2-length success from the other previous winner Blue Courvoisier (Sea The Stars). "This isn't an easy course for a big horse like that, but the key was to educate him today and he felt...

Coming off a third in the Hungerford, Marvelman (Invincible Spirit) turned Saturday's G2 Park Stakes at Doncaster into a procession to provide more big-race success for the Andrew Balding stable in 2025. Always travelling easily on the rain-deadened ground under Oisin Murphy, the 13-2 shot took command two out en route to a 3 3/4-length success from King's Gamble (Kingman). "He's really found his spark of late and was impressive today," Balding said of the three-year-old, whose latest effort behind More Thunder at Newbury was already a marked step up...

Next April will bring with it the 30-year anniversary of a notable birth at Iverk House Stud, that of the bay colt by Fairy King who would later deliver the holy grail for a breeder by winning the Derby at Epsom under the name of Oath. To pull it off from a small farm in Piltown, County Kilkenny, which has rarely been home to more than eight active mares at any one time, was quite the feat by Max Morris and his late wife Isabel. Certainly, Max has never been...