Newbury

Nicky Henderson has been awarded the Willie Stephenson Memorial Trophy, which commemorates the person or person whom the Goffs UK Board feel have made the biggest contribution to the success of the company during that year. The award was presented at Newbury this past Saturday. Training out of Seven Barrows Stables, the multiple champion trainer has had many talented horses pass through his care, not least Goffs UK alumni Constitution Hill (Blue Bresil) and Jonbon (Walk In The Park), who have won 18 Grade 1 races between them. Said Goffs...

Minella Racing's Minella Academy (Sea The Moon) was knocked down for £370,000 during the Goffs Coral Gold Cup Sale at Newbury on Saturday. Sold as lot 6 to Harold Kirk and Willie Mullins, the three-year-old won his hurdle debut at Cork by eight lengths earlier this month. His granddam, Last Second (Alzao), won the G2 Sun Chariot Stakes, G2 Nassau Stakes and G3 Park Stakes and was second in the G1 Coronation Stakes. At stud, she left 10 winners from 15 foals, among them multiple top-level winner and French Classic...

Debut hurdle winner Minella Academy (lot 6) has been added to the catalogue for the Goffs Coral Gold Cup Sale at Newbury Racecourse on Saturday. The Goffs Coral Gold Cup Sale will be held in the winners' enclosure immediately after the last race at 3:35 p.m. By Sea The Moon, the three-year-old won an academy hurdle at Cork on Sunday by eight lengths for John Nallen. His addition brings the number of three-year-old horses-in-training to two, which will sell alongside 18 point-to-point horses. There are several debut point-to-point winners set...

The Goffs UK Coral Gold Cup Sale will be staged immediately after the racing at Newbury ends on its flagship National Hunt meeting, the Coral Gold Cup, on Saturday, November 29. This year marks the third consecutive year of the sale. It will be held in the winner's enclosure at Newbury and is a select point-to-point sale. The 2023 edition featured the £320,000 sale of Kindly Prince (Mr Dinos). In 2024, 14 of the 16 horses offered sold for £1,510,500. An average price of £107,893 and median price of £85,000...

Unbelievably, there was a more expensive yearling purchase than My Ophelia (Wootton Bassett) in Saturday's mile novice at Newbury but it was Tony Bloom and Ian McAleavy's 1.7million gns Tattersalls October Book 1 sensation who emerged as the TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard. While the William Haggas-trained half-sister to the top-flight performers My Prospero (Iffraaj), My Oberon (Dubawi) and My Astra (Lope De Vega) played second fiddle to Alpinista's sister Alpinara (Frankel) at that auction, she was the one making headlines on the track as she rewarded even-money favouritism...

Saturday, Doncaster, post time: 14:05, THE WILLIAM HILL FUTURITY TROPHY-G1, £200,000, 2yo, c/f, 8fT Field: Action (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), Benvenuto Cellini (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), Hawk Mountain (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), Oxagon (Fr) (Frankel {GB}), Rochfortbridge (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}). TDN Analysis: A small field, but some quandaries with the line-up not yet confirmed. Heavy ground could see one of the big two Ballydoyle hopes taken out and it is not a given that the Champions Juvenile winner Benvenuto Cellini and the Beresford winner Hawk Mountain will take each other on, as...

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-bred horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Saturday's Observations features a seven-figure yearling from Tattersalls Book 1. 2.34 Newbury, Novice, 2yo, f, 8fT ALPINARA (GB) (Frankel {GB}) makes her eagerly-anticipated debut for Amo Racing and Sir Mark Prescott, having cost the operation 2.5million gns at last year's Tattersalls October Book 1. True goldmine material, the full-sister...

Juddmonte's Shipbourne (Frankel) arrived at Newbury on Friday with a buzz surrounding him and duly went through his maiden as connections would have hoped. Sent off the 10-11 favourite for the 6 1/2-furlong test, the son of Special Duty (Hennessy) followed the pace with ease under Colin Keane and took command inside the two. Sent clear from there, the homebred registered a 4 1/4-length success from Not That Guy (Cotai Glory). "He's a lovely big horse with the size and scope to match his pedigree, but he doesn't realise he's a...

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-bred horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Friday's Observations features an exciting newcomer from the Karl Burke stable. 2.43 Doncaster, Mdn, 2yo, f, 7f 6yT HARPER VIOLET (IRE) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) is an exciting debutante for Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum and the Karl Burke stable, being the fourth foal out of the Prix Jean...

William Buick had missed out on a future Classic prospect at Newmarket on Saturday, but his Newbury visit ultimately paid off as Words Of Truth (Lope De Vega) captured Saturday's feature G2 Dubai Duty Free Mill Reef Stakes run in honour of Geoff Lewis. Coming off wins at Ascot and Newmarket, Godolphin's 7-2 shot looked well-beaten heading to the final furlong as the impressive debut winner Into The Sky (Starman) cut loose but stayed on best to collar that rival close home and prevail by a length. "He's gone from...

Saturday, Newbury, post time: 15:15, THE DUBAI DUTY FREE MILL REEF STAKES (IN HONOUR OF GEOFF LEWIS)-G2, £130,000, 2yo, 6fT Field: Flying Comet (GB) (Havana Grey {GB}), Gold Queen Kindly (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), Into The Sky (Ire) (Starman {GB}), Rock On Thunder (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), Rydale Frosty (GB) (Havana Grey {GB}), Sands Of Spain (Ire) (Sands Of Mali {Fr}), Watcha Snoop (Ire) (Coulsty {Ire}), Words Of Truth (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}). TDN Analysis: Newbury has a tendency, for whatever reason, to play host to wide-margin...

This year's renewal of the G2 Mill Reef Stakes will be run in honour of the late Geoff Lewis, whose association with the great Mill Reef was the highlight of the Welshman's hugely successful career in the saddle. Lewis, who died last month at the age of 89, partnered Mill Reef to win 12 of his 14 career starts, notably landing the Derby, Eclipse, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in an outstanding three-year-old campaign in 1971. He later embarked on a training...