Native Trail

Native Trail (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), Godolphin's Cartier champion 2-year-old colt, has earned further plaudits by topping the European 2-year-old classification, which was revealed on Wednesday. The unbeaten G1 National S. and G1 Dewhurst S. winner achieved a mark of 122, seven pounds clear of the next best juveniles. Bred by Jose Delmotte's Haras d'Haspel, Native Trail passed through the sales ring three times before reaching the racecourse. A €50,000 Arqana December Foal when bought by Sam Sangster, he was pinhooked for 67,000gns at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October...

The European breeze-up sector prides itself as a source of quality, a notion that held particular weight in 2021 as graduates Native Trail (Fr) (Oasis Dream {GB}) and Perfect Power (Ire) (Ardad {Ire}) signed off their juvenile campaigns with victories in the G1 Dewhurst S. and G1 Middle Park S. Added to that, various graduates are currently more than holding their own at stud. This isn't a new development--older representatives such as Society Rock (Ire) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}) and Paco Boy (Ire) (Desert Style {Ire}) each sired Group 1...

Every owner starting out in racing will have big dreams. That said, when José Delmotte first took a share in a racehorse more than 25 years ago, he may not have allowed his mind to wander as far as one day being the breeder of Europe's champion 2-year-old.  But that is where the Frenchman now finds himself. That one share led to a horse in training, followed by a few more, then some broodmares, the purchase of a farm in France's Orne region, and now that famous graduate of his...

With Britain's flat season championships coming to a close on Saturday, Godolphin earned its 14th champion owner title with more than £5-million in win and place prizemoney accumulated since May 1. Adayar (GB) (Frankel {GB}) and Hurricane Lane (GB) (Frankel {GB}) have been Godolphin's leading lights this season, while Native Trail (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) sealed divisional honours last weekend with a win in the G1 Dewhurst S. Godolphin closed the season on a high with a win by Creative Force (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) in the G1 British Champions Sprint...

Whether Newmarket's "Future Champions Day" lives up to its name is reliant on a trio of tests on Saturday, with a heavy emphasis on the feature G1 Darley Dewhurst S. to uphold the fixture's reputation as the launch site for excellence. In Godolphin's Native Trail (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), the seven-furlong 2-year-old jewel of the British season's crown has the prime candidate for the coronation much as the operation's Pinatubo (Ire) (Shamardal) was in 2019. If his G2 Superlative S. success at the July Festival here failed to set anything...

Best horse in the world. Check. Top-rated miler. Check. The only two horses to win three Group 1 races in three different countries in 2021. Check. Highest-rated turf horse in America. Check. Most exciting juvenile in Europe. Check. When a sale can boast all of these as its graduates in a single season then it's not doing badly at all, but then the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale--and Book 1 in particular--has long been a world leader, both for its results and for its pull of potential buyers from across the...

It's a childish game but I've long amused myself by seeing how many song titles can be weaved into headlines and this weekend's results provided an open goal for a Neil Young classic, not once but twice.  Two hurricanes blew across Town Moor on Saturday at the opposite ends of the distance spectrum. Hurricane Ivor (Ire) (Ivawood {GB}) is an admirable sprinter who has bounced back from a blistering debut for Fabrice Chappet and subsequent illness that ruled him out of much of his juvenile season. He has been creeping...