Nashwa (GB)

Big Rock (Fr) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}) is one of the star names among 21 entries for the £400,000 G1 Al Shaqab Lockinge S. at Newbury on Saturday, May 18. Trained by Christopher Head, Big Rock ended his three-year-old campaign with an emphatic six-length win in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. at Ascot in October, finally making the breakthrough at the top level following a hat-trick of runner-up finishes. He could be joined at Newbury by Andre Fabre's Tribalist (GB) (Farhh {GB}), who won the G3 Prix Edmond Blanc...

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...

Storm Babet has decided the final shape of the fields for Saturday's Qipco Champions Day fixture, with the softening ground ruling Inspiral (GB) (Frankel {GB}) out of the G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. and making up Aidan O'Brien's mind as to where to point Paddington (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}). That four-times group 1 winner takes up his engagement in the QEII, leaving a total of nine to take part in the G1 Qipco Champion S. Heading the list for the 10-furlong highlight is last year's winner Bay Bridge (GB) (New Bay...

Multiple Group 1 winner Nashwa (GB) (Frankel {GB}) will run in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. at Ascot on QIPCO British Champions Day, owner Blue Diamond Stud announced via X (Twitter) on Wednesday evening. "Confirmed: Nashwa will run in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot on Saturday," Imad Al Sagar's operation tweeted. Al Sagar's homebred won both the G1 Prix de Diane and G1 Nassau S. as a 3-year-old for John and Thady Gosden. She added her third Group 1 in the Falmouth S. this July, and has...

Imad Al Sagar's Blue Diamond Stud silks will be carried by his star filly Nashwa (GB) (Frankel {GB}) for another year, but the multiple Group 1 winner will skip the Breeders' Cup in favour of competing at QIPCO British Champions Day later this month, The Sun reported on Thursday. Both the one-mile G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. or the 1 1/4-mile G1 QIPCO Champion S. are under consideration for the 4-year-old at Ascot on Oct. 21. Trained by John and Thady Gosden, the regular mount of Hollie Doyle was third...

The Coolmore partners' Auguste Rodin (Ire) has joined the top 10 of the Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings on the back of a victory in the G1 Irish Champion S. and raised his rating to 124. Japanese superstar Equinox (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) is still on top of the rankings at 129, one pound better than G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. victor Hukum (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) and G1 International S. hero Mostahdaf (Ire) (Frankel {GB}). Also a winner of the G1 Derby and G1 Irish...

Proving once again that he belongs at the top of the tree, Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}--Rhododendron {Ire}, by Galileo {Ire}) laid it all out on Saturday to prevail in a gruelling edition of Leopardstown's G1 Royal Bahrain Irish Champion S. As he had in the Derby, when churning out historical sectionals at the business end, the 11-4 favourite was able to handle a demanding test carved out by last year's hero Luxembourg (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) and pour it on late as the closers inevitably came into the picture....

He has become something of an enigma, but Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) has the x-factor most dream of despite his sharp falls from grace and has the ball in his court ahead of Saturday's G1 Royal Bahrain Irish Champion S. Adept on Epsom's lively surface either side of unequal struggles through the rain-dampened sod at Newmarket and Ascot, Ballydoyle's beau ideal has the aid of the current heatwave at a Leopardstown track that he has already mastered when on the rise as a juvenile. Whatever the reason for...

The much-anticipated third encounter between Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and King Of Steel (Wootton Bassett {GB}) will take place in Saturday's G1 Royal Bahrain Irish Champion S. at Leopardstown, as the Derby one-two featured among the nine heavyweights on Thursday. Ryan Moore is on Auguste Rodin in the 10-furlong feature of the Irish Champions Festival, with the Ballydoyle first string looking to bounce back from a below-par showing in Ascot's King George in which Amo Racing's King Of Steel was third. Auguste Rodin is in two, next door...

Just 35 minutes after Ryan Moore had given a copybook off-the-pace ride in the G2 Great Voltigeur, Frankie Dettori provided a masterclass of his own with a pillar-to-post exhibition aboard Shadwell's Mostahdaf (GB) (Frankel {GB}--Handassa {GB}, by Dubawi {Ire}) in a stellar renewal of York's G1 Juddmonte International as the Knavesmire crowd was treated to high-end examples of elite horsemanship on the opening day of the Ebor Festival. The G1 Prince Of Wales's S. victor was sharply into stride and soon held a three-length buffer, with Paddington (GB) (Siyouni {Fr})...

   When a horse like Paddington (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}) comes along, the challenge is to find a new narrative as big-race win follows big-race win. There is no up-and-down to colour the story, no bouncing back from adversity, no heroic turnaround from setback. It is a clear case of superiority winning out each time, as it feels to watch Man City's relentless march through football's major tournaments on the other side of the Pennines. Sometimes, the truth is the horse does the talking and it is clear that we are...

Paddington (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}) heads a field of four for the G1 Juddmonte International S. at York with Aidan O'Brien's star three-year-old bidding for a fifth success at the highest level. His chief threat is Shadwell's G1 Prince Of Wales's S. hero Mostahdaf (Ire) (Frankel {GB}). The John and Thady Gosden-trained colt will be accompanied by stablemate Nashwa (GB) (Frankel {GB}), who bids to rebound off a third-placed effort in the G1 Nassau S at Goodwood. King Power Racing's Derby fifth The Foxes (Ire) (Churchill {Ire}) will have his first...