Native Trail

NEWMARKET, UK--On Tuesday, Charlie Appleby gave us one Classic winner in action on the Rowley Mile, and by Wednesday that had doubled in number as his older-horse brigade continue the countdown to their seasonal debuts. With Hurricane Lane (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) having pleased the trainer on Tuesday, last season's Irish 2,000 Guineas winner Native Trail (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) and the 2021 Derby winner Adayar (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) stepped out on the turf which is drying all the time in the windy conditions. "I'm very happy with both of them...

It's that time of year again, the Tattersalls Craven Breeze Up Sale--where whispers of Royal Ascot horses and potential breeze-up sensations fills the air.  There's scarcely anything more exciting than the eve of a major sale and they don't come much bigger than the Craven.  This is where Classic winners Native Trail (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) and Cachet (Ire) (Aclaim {Ire}) were found and the roll of honour does not stop there. Everything is up for grabs at Tattersalls over the next two days and few people know this better...

The Tattersalls Craven Breeze-up Sale is flying high with two Classic winners to its credit in 2022 and the catalogue for this year's season-opener for juvenile sales in Europe has just been released, featuring 202 horses. Both Native Trail (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) and Cachet (Ire) (Aclaim {Ire}) had strutted their stuff alongside the Rowley Mile when being offered for sale in 2021. The former, bought by Godolphin for 210,000gns, returned there to win the G1 Darley Dewhurst S. en route to being crowned European champion 2-year-old, and found only...

NEWMARKET, UK--Dawn hasn't even broken on Thursday morning at Godolphin's Moulton Paddocks and trainer Charlie Appleby is discussing with his lieutenants Marie Murphy and Chris Connett which rugs to pack for his team of seven horses travelling to the Breeders' Cup at Keeneland. "That's 14 crates we're up to now," he says, rolling his eyes and smiling. "Wasn't like that back in the day." Appleby is a lifer when it comes to racing, from his days as a youngster working for Jackie Retter and Susan Piggott, to his role as...

One of the most exciting horses in France, Vadeni (Fr) (Churchill {Ire}) is set to take his chance in the G1 Coral-Eclipse at Sandown on Saturday, and connections are expecting a massive performance.  Vadeni, trained by Jean-Claude Rouget, was supplemented at a cost of £50,000 for the race on Monday. A hugely impressive winner of the G1 Qatar Prix du Jockey Club at Chantilly when last seen, the French raider is a general 2-1 favourite to follow up on that success at Sandown.   Georges Rimaud, the Aga Khan's racing manager,...

It was certainly a busy week of action on both sides of the Atlantic. Here's a sample of what went on, and what should be on your radar. Headline Maker... With Early Voting's Classic win at Pimlico Saturday, the colt became Gun Runner's fifth Grade I winner. It's a remarkable stat for any stallion, especially one so early in his stud career. It looks likely the Three Chimneys stallion will vie with the mighty Into Mischief for the honor of being America's most expensive sire over the next few years....

Sheila Lavery is eyeing a tilt at Royal Ascot for New Energy (Ire) (New Bay {GB}), who out-ran his odds of 40-1 to chase home Native Trail  (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) in the Irish 2,000 Guineas on Saturday.  New Energy, a £65,000 purchase by Lavery and bloodstock agent Ted Durcan from Ballylinch Stud at the Tattersalls Ireland Goresbridge Breeze-up Sale last year, is on course to run in the St James's Palace S. at the royal meeting.  "He's come out of the race really well and our next target will...

The European champion 2-year-old of 2021, Native Trail (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), is clearly the class act of the field as he bids to go one better than his runner-up finish in the G1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas. Should he do so, he would give his trainer an unprecedented third European Guineas victory with three different horses in the same season. Also represented is last year's winning owner/breeder/trainer combination of Jim and Jackie Bolger, while, at 420,000gns, Amo Racing's Malex (GB) (Kodiac {GB}) was the most expensive of the field to...

Adayar (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) will not return to the scene of his greatest triumph for the G1 Coronation Cup after a bout of coughing held up his preparation for his intended comeback at Epsom on June 3. Last year's Derby and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. winner will head instead to Royal Ascot. "Adayar was an intended runner some months ago but he just met with a minor setback in that he was coughing so I eased off him for a week," said Charlie Appleby via a video...

Dual Derby-winning trainer Charlie Appleby came close to winning last year's QIPCO 2000 Guineas when Master Of The Seas (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) was narrowly beaten by Poetic Flare (Ire) (Dawn Approach {Ire}), and his Godolphin stable appears to hold two aces for the opening Classic of the British season. G3 Craven S. winner Native Trail (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) and Coroebus (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) are currently first and second favourites for the 2000 Guineas ahead of the Aidan O'Brien-trained Luxembourg (Ire) (Camelot {GB}). "William [Buick] sat on Native Trail on...

Following Monday's confirmation stage, Godolphin's Native Trail (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) appears to be the one to beat among 19 colts in Saturday's G1 Qipco 2000 Guineas at Newmarket. Undefeated in five career starts, the recent G3 Craven S. winner is odds-on with some bookmakers to provide trainer Charlie Appleby with a first victory in the Rowley Mile Classic. Appleby will also be represented by Coroebus (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), who will be ridden by James Doyle. Native Trail and Coroebus are among the top two choices for Saturday's feature in...

The betting for the QIPCO 2,000 Guineas suggests that Godolphin has a very strong hand for Europe's early Classics, with Native Trail (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) a solid favourite and Coroebus (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) a clear second pick. However, such strength in depth brings its own complications. The European calendar boasts three principal Guineas races (chronologically, in Great Britain, France and Ireland) and the obvious aspiration when one has the two most likely candidates is to win all three.  It is a tough, albeit not impossible, assignment for one horse alone,...