Italy

Darley stallion Space Blues sired his second stakes winner on Saturday, with the victory of Drago Blues in the Listed Premio Campobello-Memorial Paolo Ferrario in Milan. Space Blues already has G1 Phoenix Stakes hero Power Blue, as well as the group-placed Do Or Do Not and Bourbon Blues, and listed-placed Polly Shelby from his first crop. In midfield from the bell, the 67-25 chance inched toward the head of affairs on the turn. Wanda (Cracksman) had cut the corner into the homestretch, and it took the Giovanni Vittorio Vitale-owned colt...

Saturday, Newmarket, post time: 15:00, THE DARLEY DEWHURST STAKES-G1, £500,000, 2yo, c/f, 7fT Field: Alparslan (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}), Distant Storm (GB) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), Gewan (GB) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), Gstaad (GB) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}), Italy (GB) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), Oxagon (Fr) (Frankel {GB}), Pacific Avenue (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), Saba Desert (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), Zavateri (Ire) (Without Parole {GB}). TDN Analysis: The Vincent O'Brien National Stakes one-two-three Zavateri, Gstaad and Italy reunite with no obvious reason for any change in the order. Eve Johnson Houghton's "dude" has been outsmarting...

Unbeaten Dewhurst winners are common, but unbeaten Dewhurst winners who have already won a July Stakes, Vintage Stakes and National Stakes are extremely rare and Zavateri (Without Parole) looks to complete that formidable quartet in Saturday's Darley-sponsored Newmarket feature. The one that very much got away from the bloodstock cognoscenti at 35,000gns, the huge talent whose third dam is the brilliant Zarkava has taken everything thrown at him at the July Festival, Glorious Goodwood and Irish Champions Weekend in his impressive stride. "He's great, he's been working really, really well...

Friday, Newmarket, post time: 14:57, THE BET365 FILLIES' MILE-G1, £528,750, 2yo, f, 8fT Field: Amora Queen (Ger) (Waldgeist {GB}), Composing (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), Dance To The Music (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), Evolutionist (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), Legacy Link (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), Moments Of Joy (Justify), Moon Target (GB) (Cracksman {GB}), Precise (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}), Queen Of Hawaii (Ire) (Kingman {GB}), Sugar Island (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), Venetian Lace (Ire) (Masar {Ire}). TDN Analysis: Following her wins in the Prestige and Moyglare, Precise is queen bee here with the step up...

The first two from last month's G1 National Stakes at the Curragh, Zavateri (Without Parole) and Gstaad (Starspangledbanner), feature among 14 confirmations for Saturday's G1 Darley Dewhurst Stakes, along with Distant Storm, one of three potential runners for Charlie Appleby as he seeks a fourth win in the race since 2019. Last seen winning the G3 Tattersalls Stakes over Saturday's course and distance, Distant Storm heads the betting for the Dewhurst at a general 2/1, although his trainer will be keeping an eye on the weather in the coming days,...

A colt and a filly by Sioux Nation and Gleneagles, respectively, each brought €70,000 on Saturday to share topper duties during the SGA Yearling Sale in Milan. Sold as lot 15, the Gleneagles filly was snapped up by John Kalmanson from the Razza del Velino consignment. A half-sister to two stakes horses anchored by G2 Derby Italiano hero Keep On Fly (Rip Van Winkle), the chestnut is a full-sister to G2 Oaks d'Italia heroine Shavasana, who also prevailed in the G3 Premio Regina Elena (Italian 1000 Guineas). The trio are...

1/ST CONTENT, a provider of North and South American horse racing content, and the Italian Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry (MASAF) have joined forces ahead of the Breeders' Cup. The deal now opens gateway local pool betting on North American, South American and Turkish racing in Italy - and was soft-launched over last month's 100th edition of the Hambletonian at The Meadowlands, NJ. The agreement kicks off with the Breeders' Cup on October 31 and November 1. Other races that will be shown to Italian audiences include: the...

 On Saturday at Leopardstown, they will run the Matron Stakes as part of Irish Champion Day, one of the roughly one dozen Group races that Coolmore sponsors all over the world annually. We sat down at the Keeneland September Sale and spoke with Coolmore's Director of Sales David O'Loughlin about why giving back through race sponsorships and breeding incentive funds is important to the farm. TDN: Explain the scope of Coolmore's involvement in sponsoring races around the world. DO: At the moment, we're sponsoring races all over the world and...

The furore surrounding the changes to the Listed Windsor Castle Stakes shows no signs of abating, but for this year at least the six two-year-old races at Royal Ascot remain much as they've always been, which is beneficial for trends followers studying the data in an attempt to find winners next week. We lost one of the so-called bankers when Albert Einstein, last seen winning the G3 Marble Hill Stakes at the Curragh, was ruled out of the meeting due to a sprained joint, but his absence shouldn't detract too...

Agent Marco Bozzi snapped up a daughter of Sea The Stars (Ire) for €160,000 to top trade during the one-day SGA Yearling Sale in Milan, Italy on Saturday. He was the leading buyer by gross with seven purchased for €316,000. From Razza del Velino, lot 14 is out of the G3 Italian 1000 Guineas runner-up Cronsa (Ger) (Martino Alonso {Ire}). The filly is a half-sister to G3 Premio Dormello victress Sweet Gentle Kiss (Ire) (Henrythenavigator) and the stakes winner Sunset Key (Ire) (Tamayuz {GB}). Botti France picked up lot 7,...

A total of 117 yearlings will go under the hammer at the SGA Yearling Sale in Milan on Sept. 9. Past graduates of the sale include the undefeated G3 Premio Regina Elena Italian 1000 Guineas and G2 Oaks d'Italia heroine Shavasana (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}), who currently races in the colours of Katsumi Yoshida. The catalogue includes lot 9, a filly by Almanzor (Fr), who just sired Thursday's G3 Bahrain Trophy S. hero Castle Way (GB); as well as lot 22, a colt by Derby winner Australia (GB). Darley's Blue Point...

Italy's major races will see the most significant downgrades among European countries after the European Pattern Committee announced alterations to the 2023 Flat programme Wednesday, as a host of that country's major races are set to be demoted in status. There will be 827 black-type races run in Europe this year, compared to the 852 in 2022, while group races have been cut by 13 to 412 and listed races drop to 415 from 427. One of the most significant changes to the Irish programme comes in the case of...