Delacroix (Ire)

Saturday's G1 Qipco Champion Stakes featured the winners of all the big 10-furlong prizes in 2025, but in the end it went to the horse who had still to win over the trip. While Calandagan (Gleneagles) was in danger of being pigeon-holed as a mile-and-a-half performer following his wins in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud and King George this summer, The Aga Khan Studs homebred went through Ascot's test with ease under Mickael Barzalona. Swooping wide approaching the final furlong, the 15-8 second favourite powered to the line to beat...

Saturday's G1 Qipco Champion Stakes will feature all the big guns, with Ombudsman (Night Of Thunder), Delacroix (Dubawi), Calandagan (Gleneagles) and Economics (Night Of Thunder) set for a memorable showdown. There will be 11 in the line-up for the feature, where the draw has not been kind to Ombudsman and Economics in nine and 10 respectively but has been to the race's most intriguing runner Almaqam (Lope De Vega) in stall one. There will be 16 lining up for the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, with Juddmonte and the Gosdens'...

Capping another red-letter day for Coolmore and Team Ballydoyle and a memorable one for Christophe Soumillon, Delacroix (Dubawi) justified favouritism in style in Leopardstown's G1 Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes. He also punched his ticket to the GI Breeders' Cup Turf at Del Mar on November 1. Sent off the well-supported 2-1 market-leader, the Eclipse hero sat a way off the strong pace before delivering a jaw-dropping killer kick between the three and the two as if he had just jumped in. In command before his chief rival Anmaat (Awtaad)...

For a long while in Wednesday's G1 Juddmonte International Stakes, it looked as if we would have another pacemaker summer shock but ultimately the class of Godolphin's Prince of Wales's Stakes winner Ombudsman (Night Of Thunder) told once again and common sense prevailed on the Knavesmire. Blessed with the best acceleration of the sextet, the Gosdens' 7-4 favourite was the first to claw back the operation's rabbit Birr Castle (Cloth Of Stars), who was proverbially in another district under Rab Havlin turning for home, and register a 3 1/2-length defeat of...

Coolmore's G1 Eclipse hero Delacroix (Dubawi) will renew rivalry with Godolphin's Sandown runner-up Ombudsman (Night Of Thunder) and is one of six runners booked for Wednesday's G1 Juddmonte International Stakes at York after three of nine overnight contenders were scratched from the extended 10-furlong contest at Monday morning's declaration stage. The former will attempt to provide Aidan O'Brien with a record-extending eighth renewal from stall three, while Ombudsman bids to regain the winning thread from stall five. Godolphin is also represented by the Andre Fabre-trained £85,000 supplementary entry Birr Castle...

Off his late heroics in the GI Whitney Stakes at Saratoga Race Course Aug. 2, Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) once again cracked the LONGINES World's Best Racehorse Rankings. Owned by Peter Brant, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, Westerberg and Brook Smith, last year's Eclipse Champion 3-year-old rolled from the back of the pack as is his style to take the Whitney by a length. The Chad Brown trainee is now rated 120 on the 2025 list. Topping the chart at 127 is still a three-way tie between Field...

In the race that Ryan Moore is coming to call his own, Coolmore's number one delivered his Ballydoyle pick Delacroix to deny Ombudsman (Night Of Thunder) in the dying strides of a dramatic G1 Coral-Eclipse on Saturday. Having ditched a Classic winner for the dream Dubawi-Tepin creation who had been undone by Epsom last month, the rider had already caused a stir and he needed all of his guile to rescue a seemingly lost cause to reel in the 6-4 favourite close home. "It was a steadily-run race for that...

When it comes to Sandown's G1 Coral-Eclipse, there has been a shift of power to the Classic generation in recent times with seven of the last ten going their way. Saturday's renewal will either see a fifth consecutive success for the 3-year-olds or a break in the sequence and the onus is on Ombudsman to reestablish the reputation of the older horses. Godolphin's son of Night Of Thunder is the key protagonist on his emphatic Prince of Wales's Stakes success last month and to date has no blemish on his...

After the draw had been made for Saturday's G1 Betfred Derby in Epsom's Picture House on Wednesday, Team Godolphin were relieved that one box had been ticked regarding their G1 2,000 Guineas hero Ruling Court. Set to exit from a favourable stall in seven, the son of Justify now has only to navigate the race's notorious twists and turns and bottlenecks and stay the mile and a half. "We have always felt that the 2,000 Guineas is one of the best trials for the Derby and Ruling Court has trained...

Just minutes after stablemate Henri Matisse (Wootton Bassett) secured G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains glory in France, Aidan O'Brien nominee and TDN Rising Star Delacroix (Dubawi) laid his Classic credentials on the line in Leopardstown's G3 Cashel Palace Hotel Derby Trial Stakes and passed with flying colours, registering a 2 3/4-length triumph in the 10-furlong test. Last seen annexing March's G3 Ballysax Stakes over the Foxrock venue's same mile-and-a-quarter strip, the 1-3 favourite accepted a tow from stablemate Rock Of Cashel (Wootton Bassett) and raced second after breaking on the...

Juddmonte's impressive G3 Craven Stakes hero Field Of Gold (Ire) (Kingman {GB}) has earned a rating of 121p for that performance and now anchors Timeform's 3-year-old ratings. The grey, on ratings, is now favoured for the upcoming G1 2000 Guineas. Godolphin's Shadow Of Light (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), a winner of the G1 Dewhurst Stakes and Timeform's champion juvenile, is rated 120. Previously, Field Of Gold held a rating of 110p after winning the G3 Solario Stakes at two. He beat G2 Royal Lodge Stakes hero Wimbledon Hawkeye (GB)...

Ballydoyle's Delacroix (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) was fully expected to mark his seasonal debut with a win in Sunday's G3 P. W. McGrath Memorial Ballysax Stakes at Leopardstown and the 4-7 favourite did not disappoint. Always comfortable on the front under Ryan Moore, last year's G3 Autumn Stakes winner and G1 Futurity Trophy runner-up kicked decisively two out to settle matters. At the line, the leading Derby prospect had 2 1/4 lengths to spare over stablemate Lambourn (Ire) (Australia {GB}), with Tiberius Thunder (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) 1 1/4 lengths...