Ollie Sangster

Completing an unprecedented Classic quadruple on the first weekend in May, Desert Flower left Team Godolphin in dreamland with her G1 1,000 Guineas triumph on Sunday. Keeping it simple on the even-money favourite, William Buick was always in control of the main group racing far side away from the three fillies sticking near the stands. It was from that trio that the unbeaten TDN Rising Star's main threat emerged in Siyouni's Flight, but Desert Flower was in no mood to spoil the transatlantic party for the Boys In Blue and...

Hugo Palmer did not disguise his pleasure following a Rowley Mile racecourse gallop for his 2,000 Guineas contender Seagulls Eleven (Ire), whose sire Galileo Gold (GB) was the trainer's first Classic winner in the same race nine years ago.  Declaring himself "thrilled" after a debrief with Seagulls Eleven's rider Oisin Murphy, Palmer said, "One of the things that's new in my life, having moved [from Newmarket], is that I've had to get used to the fact that we've only got one gallop. Young horses, when you start working them, will...

Rising star of the training ranks Ollie Sangster says he is eyeing a tilt at the 1,000 Guineas with Simmering (GB) (Too Darn Hot {GB}) and revealed that his chances of bagging a breakthrough success at the highest level this season have been bolstered by the return of 2023 Fillies' Mile runner-up Shuwari (Ire) (New Bay {GB}). Simmering came to the boil with a Group 2 success in the Prix du Calvados at Deauville before confirming herself a genuine top-notcher when chasing home Lake Victoria (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) in the...

Nicola Currie has put her encouraging run of form down to a three-month winter sabbatical but admitted to having almost called it a day after managing a meagre six winners from 126 rides last year.  Since returning to the saddle in February, Currie has already partnered five winners from 26 rides and is operating at an impressive 19 per cent strike rate. It's a long way from the massive 81 winners the Scottish-born rider achieved in 2018 but the 31-year-old explained how the combination of stepping away from the sport...

What is in store for the bloodstock industry in 2025? From a shoo-in for the first-season sires' championship, market predictions, a word or two on Amo Racing and much more, TDN Europe's Brian Sheerin has come up with 10 predictions for the new year. Yearling Sale Momentum Can Continue Into The Breeze-Up Market It can be hard enough to predict how strong or weak trade will be on the eve of a sale, not to mention three or four months out, but there are a few good reasons to believe...

Relishing the step up to seven furlongs on Saturday, Al Shaqab's G3 Princess Margaret Stakes winner Simmering (GB) (Too Darn Hot {GB}--Cashla Bay {GB}, by Fastnet Rock {Aus}) mastered her peers with a degree of comfort in Deauville's G2 Prix du Calvados to suggest she can enter elite territory sooner rather than later. Always travelling easily under Dylan Browne McMonagle tracking the pace, the Ollie Sangster-trained 7-5 favourite cruised to the front two out and once committed soon after gave generous response to inflict a three-length defeat on the previously...

Compensating for her agonising reversal in the Royal meeting's G3 Albany Stakes, Al Shaqab Racing's acquisition Simmering (GB) (Too Darn Hot {GB}--Cashla Bay {GB}, by Fastnet Rock {Aus}) got up late to break her maiden in style in Saturday's G3 Princess Margaret Stakes back at Ascot. Third on debut at York behind the high-class Arabie (GB) (Dandy Man {Ire}) prior to her standard-setting Albany performance behind Fairy Godmother (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), the 11-8 favourite was held up early by Ryan Moore who had already ridden the opening race's...

Ollie Sangster snagged last year's renewal of Sandown's Listed European Bloodstock News EBF Star Stakes with subsequent G1 Fillies' Mile runner-up Shuwari (Ire) (New Bay {GB}) and collected back-to-back renewals of the seven-furlong contest with recent Haydock winner Celestial Orbit (GB) (No Nay Never--Rose Bonheur {GB}, by Danehill Dancer {Ire}). Settled off the tempo in seventh until easing closer in the home straight, the 9-1 chance moved to within striking distance with a quarter-mile remaining and was beyond recall once quickening to the fore approaching the final furlong, keeping on...

Listed winner Shuwari (Ire) (New Bay {GB}) has sustained a setback that rules her out of the G1 QIPCO 1000 Guineas, trainer Ollie Sangster announced on Thursday. Second in the G2 Rockfel S. in September and the G1 Fillies' Mile a month later, the chestnut had reportedly strengthened up over the winter. "She's had a setback and there will be no Guineas," said Sangster of the filly, who is owned by his mother Lucy and the Ballylinch Partnership. "She was training great and had wintered well. She had grown and...

Anyone who bets on racing will know too well the perils that come with predicting the outcome of a sporting event. But what if we take it a couple of steps further and, for a bit of fun, try and gaze into the crystal ball and see what could be in store for 2024? From Frankie Dettori returning to the saddle in Europe to Wathnan Racing continuing its march in Britain, here are 10 predictions-some fun and some serious-for the new year.  Dettori's Groundhog Day To Continue Into 2024 We've...

Unable to live with Carla's Way (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus) when outmanoeuvred and outspeeded in the G2 Rockfel S. at Newmarket last month, Shuwari (Ire) (New Bay {GB}) and Ylang Ylang (GB) (Frankel {GB}) face an entirely different test on Friday as they compete in the track's feature G1 Fillies' Mile. In all likelihood, fast ground over seven furlongs suited neither filly and now that the rain has come the kind of bias that proved ideal for Carla's Way's style will have disappeared. We know that Shuwari is made of the...

It's Goodwood, it's Galway, but this week's column comes to you from Glorious Golspie, 170 miles north of Britain's most northerly racecourse, and roughly the same distance across Scotland from the country's most recent retiree from the training ranks. Keith Dalgleish has packed up his stable at Carluke and moved to Oban in the western Highlands to pursue, at his own choosing, a life outside racing. A successful jockey in his days working for fellow Scot Mark Johnston, and later Scotland's most prolific trainer, Dalgleish will be missed both north...