Buckaroo

Fully 10,000 miles from their birthplace at Tweenhills Farm and Stud, Qatar Racing homebreds Buckaroo, Middle Earth and Valiant King now face the most important two-mile test of their lives on Tuesday, with a place in history assured should one of them reach its end as a Melbourne Cup winner. From the lush paddocks of Tweenhills to the manicured turf of Flemington, it's been quite the journey, both literally and figuratively. Between them the trio amassed 27 starts in Europe - Buckaroo and Valiant King with Joseph O'Brien, Middle Earth...

By Kit Gow/TTRAusNZ Last year James McDonald stood in the irons approaching the line in the G1 Cox Plate as his mount Via Sistina (Fastnet Rock) surged to an astonishing eighth-length victory. This year, the Moonee Valley crowd had their hearts in their mouths as the returning champion rounded the corner out wide, fighting to get past Nepotism (Brutal) and Treasurethe Moment (Alabama Express) to defend her crown. But it wouldn't be a fitting swansong for the Valley before its reconstruction without that height of drama. For fleeting seconds as...

Respect. It really is that simple. If we want to be involved with horses in sport we must treat those animals who give us either our pleasure or livelihood - or both - with decency and dignity. There are rogue elements, of course, but it is how the majority of people involved in horseracing feel and act, be they breeders, owners, trainers, jockeys or fans. Perhaps the most touching embodiment of this was witnessed during a recent visit to Sapporo racecourse in Japan, where there is a shrine alongside the...

While Saturday ushers in the new turf season in Britain, there are almost as many European horses nominated to run at Rosehill in Sydney that same day.  In the G1 Ranvet S., six of the seven runners were bred in either Britain, Ireland or France, and they include two seven-figure purchases made by Yulong Investments last December.  Group 1-winning mares Via Sistina (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}), who was bought for 2.7 million gns at Tattersalls, and Place Du Carrousel (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), a €4.025 million Arqana purchase, are...

The European champion 2-year-old of 2021, Native Trail (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), is clearly the class act of the field as he bids to go one better than his runner-up finish in the G1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas. Should he do so, he would give his trainer an unprecedented third European Guineas victory with three different horses in the same season. Also represented is last year's winning owner/breeder/trainer combination of Jim and Jackie Bolger, while, at 420,000gns, Amo Racing's Malex (GB) (Kodiac {GB}) was the most expensive of the field to...