Grand National

Is it just me or should France be known as the bloodstock land of opportunity? This is the country that saw Wootton Bassett (GB) and Walk In The Park (Ire) pull themselves up by the bootstraps after entering the stud book at relatively modest sums. There are few serious racing nations that provide as much of a chance for a stallion to flourish than France does. Take Kauto Star (Fr), the greatest staying chaser of the modern era, as an example. He hailed from the largely unheralded Village Star (Fr)...

A large part of the fun that comes with following racing and the bloodstock game is predicting the future. Who will win the Derby? Who might top the Orby Sale? What freshman sires are here to stay and which ones will drift into the abyss? Well, we've looked deep into the TDN Europe crystal ball for 2023 to see if we can come up with the answers to the burning questions for the year ahead. Enjoy! January If you think he had a good Christmas, wait until you see how...

Gordon Elliott, Barry Geraghty and Charles Byrnes were among those to lead the tributes to Davy Russell, one of the finest National Hunt riders to ever pull on a pair of silks, who retired at the age of 43 after partnering Liberty Dance to victory in the Thurles feature on Sunday.  Russell will forever be remembered for partnering Elliott's Tiger Roll to successive Grand National triumphs in 2018 and 2019. Like those momentous days at Aintree, Russell signed off from the saddle with his customary wave aboard the Elliott-trained Liberty...

Once viewed as one of the classiest riding prospects in Ireland, Tom 'Socks' Madden pointed to the harsh realities of competing in his home nation as the driving force behind him taking the plunge and bidding to emulate Declan Bates and Johnny Allen by turning to Australia in an effort to rejuvenate his career in the saddle.  Just over a month after he upped sticks to Australia, Madden rode his first winner for new boss Lindsey Smith aboard Glitter 'N' Gold (Aus) (Choisir {Aus}), after which he credited fellow Irishman...

His roots may be deeply entrenched in National Hunt racing and just this spring he won the most famous jumps race of them all--the Grand National with Noble Yeats (Ire) (Yeats {Ire})--but Emmet Mullins has now netted himself yet another major payday--this time on the Flat with a filly that he bred, owned and trained to win a maiden at his local track before selling her for six figures.  Thebestisyettobe (Ire) (Elzaam {Aus}) became the second 2-year-old winner of Mullins's career when sluicing up in the opening seven-furlong maiden at...

The British Horseracing Authority has confirmed an outbreak of Equine Herpes Virus (EHV) at the yard of Grand National-winning trainer Dr Richard Newland in Worcestershire. Movement restrictions have been placed on the yard to limit any future spread while further sampling is under way to determine the exact strain, which has yet to be confirmed but is thought to be EHV-1. As of yet the BHA is not aware of any confirmed cases in any other yards but trainers and vets have been asked to be vigilant to clinical signs...

Hollie Doyle has described Nashwa (GB) (Frankel {GB}) as being "everything you want in a racehorse" ahead of her bid to become the first female rider to win a Classic when she partners John and Thady Goden's rapidly-improving filly in the Cazoo Oaks at Epsom on Friday.  Doyle is well used to breaking boundaries at this stage, with her tally of 152 winners in 2021 surpassing her own record of winners in a calendar year for a female jockey. She has also ridden two five-timers, became the first woman to...

The Far Hills Race Meeting Association has increased the purse of the American Grand National by $100,000, giving it a bump from $150,000 to $250,000 for the 2022 edition, which will be held Saturday, Oct. 15. The increase will make the race, which will be contested for the 101st time, the richest on this year's National Steeplechase Association (NSA) schedule. "This will really put an exclamation point on steeplechasing's biggest day and the overall season," said Far Hills Race Meeting chairman Guy Torsilieri. "On Oct. 15, all eyes will be...

Former jump jockey Jeremy Mahot will honor the late Liam Treadwell by participating in the cross-Alps bicycle race. Mahot, 39, rode more than 70 winners before retiring in 2016 and now acts as head lad at the Oxfordshire yard of Noel Williams. Treadwell, winner of the 2009 Grand National, suffered a head injury following a fall at Bangor in 2016. The Transalp Race spans 355 miles over (570 kilometres) seven days, including uphill ascents that total more than 18,000 altitude metres. Beginning on Sunday in Nauders in Austria and crossing...

Trainer Jessica Harrington has been banned from attending the races for two weeks and fined €3,500 after breaking COVID-19 protocols at Aintree's Grand National meeting, the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board announced on Monday. Harrington "acted in a manner which was prejudicial to the proper conduct or good reputation of horseracing" the IHRB hearing found and her ban will last until May 24. Harrington, who had both Magic of Light (Ire) (Flemensfirth) and Jett (Ire) (Flemensfirth) in the Grand National, did not stay in the 'Irish Bubble' set up for the...

My fellow Americans, I put it to you that the 2021 Liverpool Grand National was an epoch-making sporting event --like the sub-4-minute mile of Roger Bannister in 1954 or the first MLB game of Jackie Robinson in 1947. In the 1944 movie "National Velvet" a very young Elizabeth Taylor faints and slides off her beloved horse Pie after having crossed the finish line first in the Grand National--that mad race where 40 horses and riders are to jump 30 high fences over 4 1/2 miles. The after-the-finish fall is what...

Goffs has 68 confirmed entries for its Online March Sale on Mar. 24, including three horses with entries for the Randox Grand National on Apr. 10. The sale will be a timed auction, meaning there will be no auctioneer and bidding on each lot will close in accordance with the times noted on their catalogue pages. The three Grand National entries to be offered are the multiple graded winner Alpha Des Obeaux (Fr) (Saddler Maker {Ire}) (lot 47); the G1 Ryanair Chase winner Balko Des Flos (Fr) (Balko {Fr}) (lot...