Shadow Of Light

The Lion In Winter has been supplemented for Sunday's G1 Prix Jean Prat at Deauville, which could have a field of up to 10 runners.  The most recent win for Coolmore's son of Sea The Stars came over the same distance of seven furlongs (1400m) in last year's G3 Acomb Stakes at York, a race in which subsequent 2,000 Guineas winner Ruling Court (Justify) finished third. Also added to the field at Thursday's confirmation stage was Apollo Fountain (No Nay Never). Trained by Andre Fabre, he won the Listed Prix...

Hong Kong's star sprinter Ka Ying Rising (Shamexpress) has moved up the Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings to sit in a joint second at 126, after the latest round of rankings were released on Thursday. Now a winner of 12-straight after his victory in the G1 Chairman's Sprint Prize, he shares that mark with fellow Hong Kong wunderkind Romantic Warrior (Acclamation). Japan's Forever Young (Real Steel) remains the leader at 127. After the first Classics of the season, G1 2000 Guineas hero Ruling Court (Justify) is among the top 10...

Flying the flag for Justify in Saturday's G1 Betfred 2,000 Guineas Stakes at Newmarket, Ruling Court proved William Buick's judgement to be spot-on as he provided Charlie Appleby with a third renewal in four years. Selected by Godolphin's number one over the 2-year-old champion Shadow Of Light, the 9-2 second favourite travelled notably strongly held up towards the stand's side and when delivered to overhaul his stablemate inside the final furlong gave generously to see out the mile the better of the pair. It was the 15-8 favourite Field Of...

It was the perceived wisdom of 2024 that the 2-year-old fillies were a level above the colts and as Newmarket's two mile Classics loom this weekend, we get a first measurement of whether that has carried over. On the face of it, the line-ups for the Betfred-sponsored 2,000 and 1,000 Guineas suggest that the fillies' monument is the one most anticipated among Suffolk's hardcore. There's a good old Godolphin-Ballydoyle stand-off between two unbeaten peer leaders and TDN Rising Stars in Desert Flower and Lake Victoria to come on Sunday and while it...

Classic trials may be about as fashionable as corduroy these days but I still love both, so it has been a riveting few weeks considering which of the three-year-olds may be about to take a big step forwards or may already have shown their best. People love racing for different reasons but attempting to know the unknowable is a major draw, and those puzzles are there for all involved in different facets of the game, from breeders to owners, trainers or punters. Whether through formal trials, racecourse gallops, or stable...

NEWMARKET, UK -- Beyond the action on the racecourse at Newmarket this week, there are plenty of pointers to the first two Classics of the season to be found in the mornings and Charlie Appleby took to the Rowley Mile early on Wednesday with a team which included his two best juveniles of last year. Desert Flower (Ire), the unbeaten G1 Fillies' Mile winner, was by far the most visually impressive of the Godolphin workers as she powered through the dip and up the hill under William Buick. Her efforts...

Dual Group 1 winner and leading 2,000 Guineas hope Shadow Of Light (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) has been crowned the European Champion Two-Year-Old of 2024 with a rating of 120.  The Middle Park and Dewhurst Stakes winner joins fellow Charlie Appleby-trained colts Pinatubo (Ire) and Native Trail (GB) on the Champion Two-Year-Old roll of honour.  "I would imagine he'll go straight into a Guineas," Appleby said at the European Two-Year-Old Classification Press Conference on Tuesday. "I don't really want to test him over the mile beforehand. Firstly, timing-wise and...

The four-time Group 1 winner City Of Troy (Justify) has been named Cartier Horse of the Year at the 34th Cartier Racing Awards in London on Wednesday evening. Trained by Aidan O'Brien for the Coolmore partners Sue Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith, who received four awards on the night, City Of Troy was last year's Cartier Two-Year-Old Colt. No horse other than Frankel (GB) has won both those titles in successive years. Winner of the Derby, Coral-Eclipse and Juddmonte International this year, City Of Troy takes the Cartier Horse...