Ecurie des Charmes

Alessandro and Giuseppe Botti trainee Gala Real (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) notched an 11-length tally when shedding maiden status at Lyon-Parilly last November and continued on the upgrade with a 'TDN Rising Star' performance in Friday's Prix Durban at Saint-Cloud. The 73-10 chance, who had previously finished last of seven runners in her July 16 debut over seven furlongs at Chantilly, employed patient tactics from flagfall in this 10 1/2-furlong distaffers' test and settled off the tempo in sixth for the most part. Inching closer on the home turn, the daughter...

Ecurie des Charmes and Ballylinch Stud's hitherto unraced Gran Sabana (Ire) (Kingman {GB}) went largely unconsidered as a 20-1 chance for Friday's Prix de Toutevoie, a one-mile newcomers' test for juvenile fillies, at Chantilly and made a mockery of her long odds with a devastating burst to attain 'TDN Rising Stardom' on debut. The eventual winner was patiently ridden through halfway and raced off the tempo in rear until turning for home. Rowed along to close approaching the quarter-mile marker, she displayed an impressive turn of foot to move into...

Dolphins swimming in the Venetian canals may have been pandemic fake news, but that the world will have benefited environmentally is one of the few upsides to the coronavirus crisis. What is not fake news is that many heads and livers will have been feeling better on Sunday morning than would otherwise be the case following the annual ITBA Awards, but that is the only benefit to missing out on what is always one of the social highlights of the racing year. Attendance at this event is not for the...

LEXINGTON, KY--The European-trained runners may have been shut out on opening day of the Breeders' Cup at Keeneland, but there would have been plenty of smiling faces in Ireland, France and England on Friday evening as 'TDN Rising Star' Aunt Pearl (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) kept her perfect record intact with a powerful front-running score in the GI Juvenile Fillies Turf under Frenchman Florent Geroux for trainer Brad Cox. Aidan O'Brien's Mother Earth (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) made up significant ground late to grab second, mowing down the Ringfort Stud-bred...