Europe

The United States's Jockey Club and Europe's Weatherbys have partnered to launch 'Racehorse Naming,' the organizations announced in a joint statement Tuesday. The website enables users to check the potential availability of a Thoroughbred name in Great Britain, Ireland, the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. According to the statement, 'Racehorse Naming' "streamlines the naming process for owners and breeders and will be especially useful for unnamed Thoroughbreds bred or purchased in one country and imported to another, which requires name approval by the exporting and importing authorities." "We're proud...

Friday, Ayr, post time: 14:33, THE BRITISH EBF STALLIONS HARRY ROSEBERY STAKES-Listed, £35,500, 2yo, 5fT Field: Boston Dan (Ire) (Ardad {Ire}), Chairmanfourtimes (Ire) (Nando Parrado {GB}), Rikki Tiki Tavi (Ire) (Bungle Inthejungle {GB}), Ipanema Queen (Ire) (Sands Of Mali {Fr}), Arduis Invicta (Ire) (Invincible Army {Ire}), Daneh Of Dandy (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}), Hanney Girl (GB) (Cable Bay {Ire}), Lebron Power (GB) (Starman {GB}), Our Cody (Ire) (Kodi Bear {Ire}), Pearl Fortune (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}), Shine On Me (GB) (Havana Grey {GB}), Spicy Marg (GB) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}), Temple Of Athena...

For this third part in our series on value sires in Europe, we are approaching the level where the word value perhaps becomes more meaningful in that we are dealing with stallions in the €10,000 to €19,999 fee bracket.  In this mid range, some sires are passing through, either on their way up as popularity and commercial demand soars, or dropping in fee during the sometimes notoriously difficult years in a stallion's career. Notably that often comes in the third and fourth seasons at stud when they are no longer...

Camelot (GB), sire of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Bluestocking (GB), is the champion sire in France for 2024 as well as being the leading stallion in Europe. He also had the third home in the Arc, Los Angeles (Ire), who earlier in the season had landed the Irish Derby. Bluestocking's top-level wins in 2024 included the Pretty Polly Stakes and Prix Vermeille, while Camelot's durable son Luxembourg (Ire), who has recently retired to Castle Hyde Stud, added a fourth Group 1 win to his tally in the...

For this second instalment of our value sires series we are looking at stallions standing in the €20,000 to €49,999 fee range.  Another year has gone by in which Nathaniel (Ire) has provided us with one of the stars of the season. This time it was the Irish Oaks winner You Got To Me (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}), who later played a starring role of a different kind when topping the Tattersalls December Mares Sale at 4.8 million gns. She'll be in the Amo Racing silks next year and surely already...

Stick or twist? That's the question faced by many breeders this year. Anecdotally, it appears that some will be pulling back and not covering certain mares, which is understandable after a tricky sales season, not to mention the constant reminders from racecourse managers regarding the "significant headwinds" faced by racing. Unlike America, the foal crop in Britain and Ireland has been gently on the rise in recent years, up to 13,438 in 2023, compared to 12,778 in 2020, though within that combined number for last year, the Irish crop rose...

Having started with the new stallions for 2024, we are continuing the series with those in the lower price tier beneath the fee of 10,000, whether in euros or sterling. For the benefit of this piece we are treating them as one and the same, despite the current exchange rate of £1 = €1.16. This is the territory inhabited by many small breeders, and in plenty of cases the margins between operating at a profit and a loss are very tight indeed.  I am reminded here of a particularly interesting...

For this final part of the series, we are looking at stallions who have retired to stud since 2021 and will thus have either first foals or yearlings at the sales this year or are about to cover their first book of mares. There is plenty to digest from three years' intake and of course prices can often drop after a stallion's first year at stud, so there could be some value to be found for breeders willing to roll the dice on a stallion about to embark on his...

Wesley Ward worked five of his Royal Ascot contenders over the Keeneland turf Friday led by GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint winner Golden Pal (Uncle Mo). He covered five panels in a bullet 1:02.80 (1/8) (video). Winner of the GII Shakertown S. last out Apr. 9, the bay is being pointed at the G1 King's Stand S. at the Royal meeting June 14. "I thought he had an unbelievable breeze today," Ward said. "The turf was soggy, and I love to breeze on a deep, soft turf. They come in...

A record number of broadcasters will showcase the $30.5-million Dubai World Cup night card on Mar. 26. Eight of the nine races are for Thoroughbreds, anchored by the $12-million G1 Dubai World Cup Sponsored By Emirates Airline, one of six Group 1s on the evening. The presenting team at Meydan includes Nick Luck, Britney Eurton, Rishi Persad, Michelle Yu, Tom Stanley, Angus McNae and Nick Lightfoot, plus commentator Alistair Cohen. Dubai Racing Club, with its appointed distribution and production company, Racecourse Media Group (RMG), and HBA Media, will broadcast to...

Godolphin's Benbatl (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), a Group 1 winner in Australia, Germany and Dubai, will not compete in either the Dubai World Cup Carnival or the Saudi Cup. The 7-year-old entire will instead make his next appearance in Europe according to his trainer Saeed bin Suroor. The bay signed off last year with a third in the G2 Joel S. at Newmarket on Sept. 25. "Benbatl will not run in Dubai or Saudi Arabia this year--we'll keep him for a European campaign and look to get him out in May,"...

The start of the Flat season may be more than two months away but there is already plenty of interest in the freshman sires of 2021, and Darley's Profitable (Ire) has been made 3/1 favourite by Fitzdares to take the championship. Ed Guiver, Head of Racing for Fitzdares, said, "We love pricing this market, which would be impossible to price were it not for the Weatherbys Stallion Book used alongside the Weatherbys Return of Mares. "It was hard to split the front four in the market but Profitable by the...