Fallen Angel

QIPCO British Champions Day at Ascot on Saturday is set to feature four of the top ten horses in the world, with Ombudsman (Night Of Thunder), Field Of Gold (Kingman), Delacroix (Dubawi) and Calandagan (Gleneagles) headlining the confirmations for the five Group 1 races made on Monday. The £1.3m QIPCO Champion Stakes looks like being one of the races of the year, with the world's top-rated horse, Ombudsman, leading 15 confirmations for the 10-furlong contest. The Godolphin-owned four-year-old's ongoing rivalry with Coolmore's Delacroix will be settled at Ascot on Saturday...

Is there an adequate Japanese proverb that conveys the nation's unflinching endeavour to win the G1 Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe? Perhaps "Ishi no ue ni mo san nen", to sit patiently on a cold stone for three years which relates to the power of perseverance, or "Nana korobi ya oki", to fall seven times and get up eight, or "Mateba kairo no hiyori ari". The latter points to waiting out the unpredictable to choose the right route and ultimately prevail. Since the country's first real go in 1999...

Saturday, Doncaster, post time: 15:40, THE BETFRED ST LEGER S.-G1, £700,000, 3yo, Open, 14f 115y Field: Carmers (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), Furthur (Ire) (Waldgeist {GB}), Lambourn (Ire) (Australia {GB}), Rahiebb (GB) (Frankel {GB}), Scandinavia (Justify), Stay True (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), Tarriance (GB) (Frankel {GB}). TDN Verdict: Judged on the evidence of the first day's racing here, staying power is going to be a must and Scandinavia certainly has that. From one of Coolmore's finest Classic families, he has surged to promise in the last two months and mastered last year's...

Justify does Triple Crowns, that we already know, but few would have expected he would be on the verge of another so early in his second career. Responsible for the winners of this season's 2,000 Guineas and last year's Derby, he has dead aim on the St Leger on Saturday courtesy of Scandinavia as he bids to complete a remarkable turf trinity to augment his own groundbreaking one on the dirt. Scandinavia didn't start his career in the manner of Ruling Court or City Of Troy, but then not many...

Tom Marquand has been confirmed as the partner of Goodwood Cup hero and ante-post favourite Scandinavia (Justify), who is set to head a field of seven in Saturday's G1 Betfred St Leger. With Ryan Moore on the sidelines and Wayne Lordan suspended, Sean Levey will partner dual Derby hero Lambourn (Australia) and Mickael Barzalona picks up the ride aboard Great Voltigeur fourth Stay True (Galileo). In addition to the Ballydoyle trio, Ireland is represented by Queen's Vase victor and Great Voltigeur runner-up Carmers (Wootton Bassett), who will be partnered by...

Ryusei Sakai is savouring a second tilt at the G1 Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown on Saturday, with last year's third Shin Emperor (Siyouni) featuring among 12 horses standing their ground after Tuesday's confirmation stage. Japanese raider Shin Emperor, trained by Yoshito Yahagi, delighted connections in an early workout on Tuesday, with Sakai saying afterwards, "He worked this morning on the Curragh Racecourse with his partner horse and he felt very well, very comfortable. I was very happy with the gallop. He is a more mature and stronger horse...

We're off. Well, sort of. In a manner reminiscent of the sputtering start to the Flat turf season, Seven Days returns this week but is immediately taking a short break before promising to be back in time for the Lincoln and the Brocklesby. So, for those of you still in a post-Cheltenham/St Patrick's Day slump, here's a little look back on the week that was. We'll mention Cheltenham only briefly here to reiterate the point that we may well see the 100/1 Triumph Hurdle winner Poniros (GB) back in action...

It may not have been obvious at the time but with the benefit of almost 20 years' hindsight it is now clear that the retirement to stud in 2006 of both Dubawi (Ire) and Shamardal was a pivotal moment for the Darley operation, and indeed the European stallion scene. There is now no shortage of their male-line descendants at stud and, in Blue Point (Ire) and Too Darn Hot (GB) in particular, their legacy looks assured within the Darley ranks.  The pair ended last year as first and second in...

There can have been no ignoring the explosive entrance of the Emir of Qatar's Wathnan Racing to the European racing scene in particular over the last 18 months. The 2023 Royal Ascot winners Courage Mon Ami (GB) (Frankel {GB}) and Gregory (GB) (Golden Horn {GB}) gave advance warning as to what was to unfold in the ensuing period, with their victories respectively in the G1 Gold Cup and G2 Queen's Vase coming on their first starts in the Wathnan silks after being bought privately from their owner-breeders, Anthony Oppenheimer and...

Too Darn Hot (GB) will not shuttle to Darley Australia for the 2024 season, the outfit confirmed on Monday morning.  Already a Classic-producing sire, thanks to the exploits of 1,000 Guineas heroine Fallen Angel and German 1,000 Guineas scorer Darnation, Too Darn Hot is enjoying a memorable year. He has also sired Group 1 winner Broadsiding in Australia and is the leading first-season sire Down Under.  A statement posted on Darley in Australia on X read,  "#TooDarnHot will not shuttle to Darley Australia's Kelvinside base for the 2024 season." It...

Karl Burke says that he is confident Irish 1,000 Guineas heroine Fallen Angel (GB) (Too Darn Hot {GB}) will prove a tough nut to crack when she bids to follow up in the Coronation S. at Royal Ascot. Fallen Angel will face a stern test at Royal Ascot, with Roger Varian's 1,000 Guineas winner Elmalka (GB) (Kingman {GB}) and Aidan O'Brien's Opera Singer (Justify) both in opposition. Burke told Sky Sports Racing, "She's in great form, came back from Ireland in good order, she did a nice piece of work...

If you are a racing tragic, and I'd like to think that most TDN readers fall into this celebrated bracket, it is impossible to have a day off at the moment. Trials, Classics, they come thick and fast in these heady weeks of spring. We've waited winterlong, starved of any meaningful action, and now it's hard not to feel a little queasy at the veritable feast of racing which is set before us, course after course after course. There's barely even room for the Cartmel Sticky Toffee Pudding Maiden Hurdle. ...