Cheltenham

High-class dual-purpose performer Vauban (Fr) (Galiway {GB}), who landed the Triumph Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in 2022 for trainer Willie Mullins, is close to making his debut for Australian trainers Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott.  Vauban has been well-held in his two attempts at winning the Melbourne Cup for Mullins and owner Rich Ricci. The seven-year-old was snapped up by the Waterhouse and Bott combination for a reported $2 million after he finished 11th--beaten just over five lengths--behind Knight's Choice (Aus) (Extreme Choice {Aus}) in the Melbourne Cup in...

CHELTENHAM, UK -- It is a rare thing for a trainer almost to apologise for winning a race, particularly the biggest race of his career, but observers of Jeremy Scott over the years would perhaps have expected nothing less. A man of exemplary manners, he would struggle to take pleasure in triumph in the face of other people's disasters, and there was drama and dismay aplenty in the G1 Unibet Champion Hurdle, won by Scott with the plucky little mare Golden Ace (GB) (Golden Horn {GB}). "It probably wasn't the...

On the morning of Jonbon's ninth Grade 1 win in the Clarence House Chase at Ascot last Saturday, the recently-retired Aidan Coleman, who partnered Nicky Henderson's chaser to four of those top-level triumphs, opened up about the mental turmoil that comes with being forced out of the saddle through injury. Coleman speaks openly and honestly about coming to terms with being yesterday's man and how he is searching deep within himself to fill the void. Contextualisation alone is not enough to weather this storm but it does give Aidan Coleman...

Joseph O'Brien has provided an upbeat bulletin on Al Riffa (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), Apples And Bananas (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) and Trustyourinstinct (Ire) (Churchill {Ire}), all of whom are on course for targets in Saudi Arabia and Qatar respectively following a key workout at Dundalk last Friday.  Dual Group 1 scorer Al Riffa, who is set to take part in the Neom Turf Cup at the Saudi Cup meeting next month, heads the travelling squad for the trainer who has masterminded Melbourne Cup and Breeders' Cup successes. Al Riffa...

For the past two weeks, we have been telling you how some of racing's biggest names fell in love with the sport. Now it's our turn. Here are some of the stories behind the bylines you see every day in the TDN. Chris McGrath We all know how pedigrees can confound us. We spend more than we can afford on the best page we can, and end up trying to salvage something in a maiden claimer. And then the horse you put an immediate line through, when you first go...

A total of 32 lots feature in the initial catalogue for the Tattersalls Cheltenham November Sale, which is due to take place on Friday, November 15, after racing on the first day of Cheltenham's November Meeting. All lots catalogued are winners or have finished second in Irish point-to-points. They include 15 four-year-old winners, 10 of whom won on debut, and four five-year-old winners. Leading point-to-point consignors are also strongly represented, including Colin Bowe's Milestone Stables and the Doyle family's Monbeg Stables. Further entries will be taken for the Cheltenham November...

Much-loved racing journalist Alastair Down has died, the Racing Post reported on Friday. He was 68 and recently attended the Showcase Meeting at his beloved Cheltenham for a ceremony to mark the renaming of the press room in his honour. Speaking in an interview with ITV Racing on the day of the ceremony, Down said of that tribute, "It's a cliched way to put it, but it's very moving. By the end of the day I may have had a cup of coffee and a glass of champagne, and I...

If you really do reap what you sow, then Gavin Cromwell is set for a bumper harvest. A cool €1 million has been injected into the trainer's County Meath stable in the past year alone and the green shoots have already been sighted with the runners who were readied on the trainer's new five-furlong hill gallop burning up the track of late. Important winners they were, too. Diego Ventura (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) has been snapped up by Wathnan Racing after scoring on debut at Naas while Gowran Park winner An...

Nicky Henderson and Henry de Bromhead have spoken out against the rumoured changes to the National Hunt programme in Britain that would see Grade 1 winners not being qualified to run in the Mares' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.  Dual Champion Hurdle winner Honeysuckle signed off on her glittering career for de Bromhead by notching a 13th Grade 1 and a second Mares' Hurdle success in what many people describe as one of the greatest moments in Cheltenham Festival history back in 2023.  Henderson has trained a galaxy of star...

Peter Molony, racing manager to Kenny Alexander, says he cannot split the powerful owner's Jade De Grugy (Fr), Kargese (Fr) and previous Cheltenham Festival scorer Telmesomethinggirl (Ire) when it comes to picking the operation's best chance of a winner at Prestbury Park next week.  The Rathmore Stud boss also provided a passionate riposte to some of the criticism being levelled at the mares' races at the Cheltenham Festival by stating that their horse of a lifetime Honeysuckle (GB) may never have seen a racetrack had it not been for the...

Legendary jumps jockey Davy Russell says he hasn't thought about emulating Nina Carberry's achievements in flying the flag for racing by winning Ireland's version of Dancing With The Stars and revealed that riding in the Grand National or the Gold Cup does not compare to the nerves that come with competing on the show.  Russell, who bowed out from the saddle in December 2022 before briefly returning to race-riding for his long-time ally Gordon Elliott after Jack Kennedy broke his leg the following January, has heaped praise on his dancing...

Last year was a big one for John McConnell. He fulfilled a lifelong ambition when Seddon won a race at the Cheltenham festival. That bargain buy went on to win at the Punchestown festival before bringing the trainer to the American Grand National at Far Hills.  Fennor Cross was another horse to fly the flag for the stable with great distinction. Again, a cheaply-bought recruit, Fennor Cross won races at the Punchestown and Aintree festivals.  However, in what came as a bitter blow to all associated with the horse, Fennor...