Shadwell

Group 1-winning jockey Dane O'Neill has announced his retirement from the saddle. The 48-year-old's decision has been hastened by injuries sustained in a race fall last July at Wolverhampton, from which he has still not fully recovered.  During a career spanning three decades, O'Neill took his first rides in 1992, working for Richard Hannon Sr and later as stable jockey for Henry Candy. In 2012 he was appointed second jockey to Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum's Shadwell operation.  In Sheikh Hamdan's colours he won the inaugural Commonwealth Cup on Muhaarar (GB),...

Mostahdaf (Ire), the joint top-rated horse in Europe in 2023, has had his first five mares tested in foal, Shadwell announced on Friday. Trained by John and Thady Gosden, Mostahdaf retired with an impressive strike-rate having won 10 of his 17 career starts, including back-to-back Group 1 victories last year when he struck in the Prince Of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot and Juddmonte International at York. He is standing his first season at Beech House Stud in Newmarket in 2024 at a fee of £15,000. Stephen Collins, Shadwell's European...

7th-Fair Grounds, $57,000, Msw, 2-9, 3yo, f, 1 1/16mT, 1:45.97, fm, 3 1/2 lengths. TARNEEMA (f, 3, Kitten's Joy--Mooghareadh, by Malibu Moon) rallied from the clouds after a poor beginning but came up 4 1/4 lengths short of a pair of next-out winners in her debut over course and distance Dec. 31, an effort for which she received a 70 Beyer Speed Figure. Favored at even-money under Florent Geroux, the Shadwell homebred had a mildly better start and found herself mid pack while able to save ground against the fence....

For a horse who won the G2 Gimcrack S. as a juvenile before torching the sprinting scene with a sequence of four straight Group 1 victories the following year, Muhaarar (GB) has been a surprisingly slow burner in his second career as a stallion, certainly compared to the fast start that was expected of him when he was retired to stand his first season at Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum's Nunnery Stud in 2016. It seemed like all the ingredients were there for Muhaarar to make an immediate and significant impact,...

   Juddmonte stallions Frankel (GB) and Kingman (GB) have been announced as the big winners in the Thoroughbred Breeders' Association (TBA)'s annual Flat statistical-based awards. The awards take into account British and Irish statistics for British-based stallions for 2023. Frankel took the BBA Silver Cigar Box for the second time in three years as Britain's leading sire by total earnings in 2023 with £7,143,651. Frankel, who was crowned champion sire in Britain and Ireland, sired 11 individual Group 1 winners in 2023, with his notable runners on home soil including...

Top industry judges David Cox, Derek Veitch Mark Dreeling and Paschal Kellaghan have put on record their support for Derrinstown Stud-based stallion Minzaal (Ire) off the back of the arrival of his first foals. Minzaal's foals have come in for high praise from their breeders, including Rosetown Bloodstock's filly [pictured] out of the winning Exceed And Excel (Aus) mare, Loquace (Ire), a granddaughter of champion two-year-old, Pas De Reponse.  "I'm very happy with her," reported David Cox of Baroda Stud, where the mare and foal are boarding. "She's a very...

Eighty-five years and a number of equine generations ago, Nearco (Ity) embarked on his stallion career at Beech House Stud. The year was 1939 and, understandably given the age, a bomb shelter was constructed by order of the stud's owner Martin Benson to protect its most prized resident. Benson had bought the unbeaten Nearco, winner of the Grand Prix de Paris and Derby Italiano, from his breeders Federico Tesio and Mario Incisa della Rochetta for a then-record £60,000 (the equivalent of just over £5 million today). To note that the...

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-pedigreed 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 Night Of Thunder (Ire) half-brother to a pair of Group 1 winners. 12.15 Lingfield, £6,600, Nov, 2yo, 7f 1y (AWT) Shadwell's hitherto unraced WALEEFY (IRE) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) is a homebred son of Listed Prix de Liancourt victrix Aghareed (Kingmambo) and thus a half-brother...

In this continuing series, we take a look ahead at US-bred and/or conceived runners entered for the upcoming weekend at the tracks on the Japan Racing Association circuit, with a focus on pedigree and/or performance in the sales ring. Here are the horses of interest for Saturday running at Hanshin and Nakayama Racecourses: Saturday, December 9, 2023 6th-HSN, ¥13,720,000 ($96k), Newcomers, 2yo, 1800m SEXY BOUQUET (f, 2, Liam's Map--Shurakaa, by Tapit) cost $180,000 as a Keeneland September yearling and is out of a daughter of 2007 GI Breeders' Cup Filly...

NEWMARKET, UK -- There are no hotel rooms left in Newmarket. Visitors to Tattersalls are not only spread far and wide across Suffolk and Cambridgeshire but have come from far and wide too. The largest ever contingent from Japan is expected at Park Paddocks this week, and with most of the stallion farms in the region displaying signs saying 'open house' it's the perfect time for international breeders also to consider using a local stallion to cover a new purchase before export. The locals are pretty good after all. Frankel...

Super Sunday for bloodstock enthusiasts is fast approaching, with stallion farms in Newmarket set to open their doors for breeders on the quiet day between the end of the foal sale and the start of the mares sale at Tattersalls. In addition to those based in Newmarket, there will be a few visiting stallions in town throughout the week, and the viewing is by no means restricted to Sunday, as the guide below shows. Dullingham Park The brand new stallion yard at Dullingham Park is now home to the dual...

There will be a change of scene for Shadwell's British-based stallions, who will move from Nunnery Stud to be located at the historic Beech House Stud in Newmarket for the 2024 breeding season. As previously announced, the dual Group 1 winner Mostahdaf (Ire) joins the roster for next year and will be introduced at a fee of £15,000. The son of Frankel (GB) is rated joint-second in the world rankings with Arc winner Ace Impact (Fr) on a mark of 128, just a pound lower than  Equinox (Jpn). Shadwell's star...