King Of Steel

King Of Steel (Wootton Bassett {GB}) is set for a spell on the sidelines having been found to be lame after his routine exercise in Newmarket on Tuesday morning. Trained by Roger Varian, King Of Steel enjoyed a productive three-year-old campaign in 2023 when his victories included the G2 King Edward VII S. at Royal Ascot and the G1 Champion S. at the same course. He also filled the runner-up spot behind Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) in the G1 Derby at Epsom. His connections had held high hopes...

Group 1 winner Bucanero Fuerte (GB) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) is unlikely to contest the G1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas and instead be pointed for the May 1 G3 Ascot Commonwealth Cup Trial S., according to trainer Adrian Murray. Murray said of the Amo Racing colourbearer, "Bucanero goes to Ascot, he's in the six-furlong race. It's highly unlikely he will go for the Guineas. "We're going to campaign him as a sprinter, his brother [Wooded (Ire)] won a Group 1 over five furlongs and he shows us an awful lot of speed....

Fifty-eight entries for the Betfred Oaks on May 31 have been revealed, led by last season's champion juvenile filly Opera Singer (Justify). The G1 Prix Marcel Boussac winner remains the market leader despite the recent announcement by her trainer Aidan O'Brien that she may miss the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket following a minor setback in training.  Her stable-mate Ylang Ylang (GB) (Frankel {GB}) is also among the 13 fillies to have been entered from Ballydoyle. Irish trainers Noel Meade, Jim Bolger and Dermot Weld have one entry apiece while Paddy...

The G1 Prince of Wales's S. at Royal Ascot has been put forward as the main objective for King Of Steel (Wootton Bassett {GB}) by his trainer Roger Varian.  Last year's G1 Champion S. hero thrived at the Berkshire venue during his three-year-old campaign, with both of his victories coming at the track. He followed up his brave second to Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) in the Derby by winning the G2 King Edward VII S. at the royal meeting and, although having to settle for third in the...

ARCADIA, USA -- We may be biased over here in the European edition, but for the turfistes out there, the race of this weekend is the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Turf. Primarily there's the scintillating prospect of a rematch between the first two home in the Derby, Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and King Of Steel (Wootton Bassett {GB}), who between them have picked off the Irish Derby, Irish Champion S., King Edward VII S., and Champion S. since Epsom.  To that duo we can add the top-rated horse...

ARCADIA, USA--Against the most stunning backdrop in world racing, just as the pre-dawn sky started to pinken with promise, a metaphorical dark cloud was cast across Santa Anita racetrack. Practical Move (Practical Joke), a leading contender for the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, collapsed and died of an apparent heart attack on his way back in from exercise in front of onlookers on the apron. The screens arrived eventually, but not soon enough to remind those present of the occasionally desperate nature of the sport we love, and how such a...

Amo Racing's G1 Champion S. victor King Of Steel (Wootton Bassett {GB}) has been given the go ahead to travel and contest the Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita next weekend. According to Amo's Kia Joorabchian, the massive grey is likely for the GI Breeders' Cup Turf, of which the Champion S. was a "Win and You're In" on QIPCO British Champions Day. "We've been monitoring him all week, I've spoken to Roger [Varian] almost every day and I went to see him this week," Joorabchian told Nick Luck's Daily Podcast...

Playing chess with nature. That's what Jean-Luc Lagardère called it, and the analogy has always resonated with Alberto Figueiredo. How, for instance, do we account for the sheer size of King Of Steel (Wootton Bassett {GB}), who sealed his place among the elite sophomores of Europe with his Group 1 success at Ascot last Saturday? You don't particularly see that bulk in the sire; and, tragically, it wasn't in the dam either. In her case, the disparity proved fatal. "She was a good, medium-sized mare but he was so big...

The GI Breeders' Cup Turf on Nov. 4 remains under consideration for Amo Racing's G1 QIPCO Champion S. winner  King Of Steel (Wootton Bassett {GB}). "He appears to have come out of the race physically in good shape, but he would have had a hard race yesterday and we can't ignore that. We just have to see how he is over the next week," said the colt's trainer Roger Varian.  "I know Kia is very keen on the Breeders' Cup anyway, in general, and if he could get a good...

ASCOT, UK--It's that time of year, with retirements of the top horses coming thick and fast, but the really good news from Champions Day is that Big Rock (Ire) and King Of Steel will both be back to wow us again next year.  And wow they did, along with that other predictable star of the show, Frankie Dettori. It is a course that he has been lighting up ever since his magnificent seven of 1996 and at which he is now commemorated in bronze, the statue of Dettori having been...

Ascot is really where it all began for Frankie Dettori and after Saturday's opening salvo of QIPCO Champions Day it looked to have already given that farewell gift, but there was one final blessing to be bestowed on its favourite son as Amo Racing's King Of Steel (Wootton Bassett {GB}--Eldacar {GB}, by Verglas {Ire}) prevailed in the G1 QIPCO Champion S., a "Win and You're In" for the GI Breeders' Cup Turf. As deep into the feature 10-furlong contest as the final 100 yards, the glorious sign-off looked unlikely to...

As if conjuring the renowned Babet as a personal Tempest for his [probable] European goodbye, racing's true Duke of Milan rides back into his beloved Ascot on Saturday as the eye of the storm for a suitably dramatic instalment of the Qipco Champions Day. While this fixture has fast become a resounding success, despite its mid-October nook being that bit too far into the wet season to deliver a fair playing field, it always needs at least one dynamo per year to power it into the headlines. Officials are lucky...