Love

Turkey Day Insights: Pricey Arrogate Filly Gets Going at Churchill

12th-CD, $120k, Msw, 2yo, f, 5 1/2f, post time: 4:43 p.m. Rigney Racing acquired LEGADEMA (Arrogate) for $590,000 at the 2022 Keeneland September, the fourth most-expensive of her late sire's 61 final-crop youngsters sold (66 ring) last year and the second-priciest of his fillies. Rigney gave $600,000 for a daughter of Peggy May (Lemon Drop Kid) at the same sale. A half-sister to SP Cursor (Quality Road), Legadema is out of a winning half-sister to former 'TDN Rising Star' and Grade I winner Tara's Tango (Unbridled's Song)--the dam of GSW...

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Snowfall, Love On Course For Arc

Trainer Aidan O'Brien said plans remain in place for Snowfall (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and Love (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), the last two winners of the G1 Oaks, to line up in the Oct. 3 G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe despite both fillies being eclipsed in their preps. Snowfall won the Oaks, the G1 Irish Oaks and the G1 Yorkshire Oaks before making up ground too late to be second in the G1 Prix Vermeille on Sept. 12. "She came out of the Vermeille very well--we're very happy with her,"...

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Can Love Conquer All?

Customarily, when a Ballydoyle VIP attracts the kind of support that Love (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) has in the lead-up to Saturday's G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Qipco S. at Ascot, it is more than a subtle pointer to the eventual outcome. Whether the filly who so readily dispatched of her peers in last year's G1 1000 Guineas, G1 Epsom Oaks and G1 Yorkshire Oaks has this inspiringly-crafted renewal "locked down" depends not only on the strength of the opposition but also on the volatile weather. A renowned "daisy-cutter"...

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Eclipse Target For St Mark's Basilica

Dual French Classic winner St Mark's Basilica (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) looks unlikely to have a rematch this summer with Poetic Flare (Ire) (Dawn Approach {Ire}), with St Mark's Basilica set to target 10-furlong features like the July 3 G1 Eclipse S., Aug. 18 G1 Juddmonte International and Sept. 11 G1 Irish Champion S. The Coolmore partners' St Mark's Basilica has gone unbeaten in three runs since taking last year's G1 Dewhurst S., adding the G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains over a mile on May 16 and stepping up to 10.5...

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The Weekly Wrap: Happy and Glorious

On each day of Royal Ascot, there was at least one result truly to savour, if not more. Moreover, the meeting in its entirety felt at last like a return to some sort of normality. Even the British weather played its typically quirky part: boiling one day, rain of biblical proportions the next. One regrettable absence was the buzz of the crowd. The maximum number of 12,000 attendees per day is of course low by usual standards. With the late announcement that even this number would be permitted, not to...

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Gold Cup Possibility For Love

Champion 3-year-old filly Love (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) could make her anticipated 4-year-old debut in the G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup at The Curragh on May 23, according to trainer Aidan O'Brien. Love enjoyed a perfect--albeit abbreviated--campaign last year, winning the G1 1000 Guineas, G1 Oaks and G1 Yorkshire Oaks. She was removed from consideration for the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in October on account of deteriorating ground just prior to O'Brien's entire fleet being scratched due to a feed contamination. "We're looking at the Tattersalls Gold Cup with Love,"...

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Love Targeting Mooresbridge

Last year's champion 3-year-old filly and dual Classic winner Love (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) is among the entries for Saturday's G3 Alleged S. at The Curragh, but trainer Aidan O'Brien has indicated that the chestnut is likely to wait for the G2 Mooresbridge S. at the same venue on May 3. Love's stablemate Broome (Ire) (Australia {GB}), a multiple Group 3-winning 5-year-old, is likely to deputize in the Alleged. "Broome is likely to run in the Alleged at The Curragh on Saturday," O'Brien said. "He's already had a run, and Love...

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Racing Review of the Year: Part I

The Classic Generation At the start of June, with France and Germany having already crept cautiously back into play after the COVID full-stop, Britain joined in with the beginning of a flourish of catch-up fare. In under a week of racing, we had a new star to gaze at, and time experts were in awe of Bjorn Nielsen's English King (Fr) (Camelot {GB}). While he looked super-slick in the Listed Lingfield Derby Trial, he was to be given the justifiably dreaded number one draw at Epsom and gave up any...

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Ghaiyyath Crowned Cartier Horse Of The Year

Godolphin's four-time Group 1 winner Ghaiyyath (Ire) has scooped the top honours at the 30th annual Cartier Awards. The five-year-old son of Dubawi is the third Cartier Horse of the Year for Sheikh Mohammed's Godolphin operation following Daylami (Ire) in 1999 and Fantastic Light in 2001. Trained by Charlie Appleby, Ghaiyyath also claimed the Cartier Older Horse category ahead of Addeybb (Ire), Enable (GB) and Magical (Ire). There was further success for the Maktoum family when Palace Pier (GB) (Kingman {GB}), owned by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum and...

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Love Likely Done For The Year

This season's dual Classic-winning filly Love (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) is likely to bypass the Breeders' Cup and is probably done for the year, trainer Aidan O'Brien said on Tuesday. Love was scratched from her last intended target, the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, when the ground came up soft. "I don't think Love will go to the Breeders' Cup," O'Brien said. "At the moment we're thinking that she's had a busy enough time and we trained her hard for the Arc. Obviously that was her big target in the...

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Breeders' Cup New Aim For Love

After removing Love (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) from the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe during Thursday's final forfeit stage due to the deteriorating ground, trainer Aidan O'Brien confirmed Europe's leading 3-year-old filly will target the Breeders' Cup at Keeneland on Nov. 7 and is expected to stay in training at four. "We had to make the decision today because there was no other stage after this," O'Brien explained of the Arc call. "If Ryan [Moore] was declared to ride her he then couldn't ride anything else [if Love was later...

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TDN International Editor Kelsey Riley Talks Arc On Writers' Room

In addition to all the Stateside action this weekend--the final leg of the Triple Crown, Fall Stars Weekend at Keeneland and 11 Breeders' Cup "Win and You're In" events--the biggest race of the year in Europe will also be run with Sunday's G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp in Paris. Wednesday on the TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland, TDN International Editor Kelsey Riley joined the crew as the Green Group Guest of the Week to talk about the much-anticipated showdown between Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) and...

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