Steve Parkin

Clipper Logistics to Hold National Hunt Dispersal at Doncaster

The Goffs Spring HIT/PTP Sale, set to be held May 22-23 at Doncaster, will feature a dispersal of five National Hunt horses owned by Steve Parkin's Clipper Logistics, the operation that has enjoyed Grade 1 success over jumps with the likes of Morning Assembly (Ire) (Shantou) and Draconien (Fr) (Linda's Lad {GB}). The five horses include the Henry de Bromhead-trained Mossy Fen Park (Ire) (Walk In The Park {Ire}), who was last seen filling the runner-up spot in a Grade 2 novice hurdle at Fairyhouse, finishing three places ahead of...

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Sands Of Mali to Remain at Ballyhane Stud

It has been confirmed that Sands Of Mali (Fr) will remain at Ballyhane Stud, where he has stood since his retirement in 2021. This is contrary to a statement released on Tuesday by Steve Parkin's Dullingham Park. The Group 1-winning sprinter has his first runners this season. His former stud-mates at Ballyhane, Asymmetric (Ire) and Space Traveller (GB), have moved to Micheal Orlandi's Starfield Stud in Co Westmeath. A statement released by Ballyhane Stud on Friday morning cited "a breakdown in the business relationship between Clipper principal Steve Parkin and...

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Dark Angel's Night Raider Another TDN Rising Star

Steve Parkin's Clipper Logistics have live Guineas contenders of both sexes in 2024 as the Karl Burke-trained Night Raider (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}--Dorraar {Ire}, by Shamardal) produced a sensational display to obtain TDN Rising Star status at Southwell on Wednesday evening. Off the mark in style by nine lengths this track and seven-furlong trip on debut in December, the 1-4 favourite tanked his way to the front under Danny Tudhope from the outset. Chased entering the straight by his only serious rival, last year's G3 Acomb S. fifth Cogitate (Ire)...

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Enthusiasm In The Air as Dullingham Park Embarks on First Season

"The grey colours, there's a big plan behind all that. Eventually my daughter will take over. I'm doing this for my family when I'm no longer here." Those were the words of owner-breeder Steve Parkin in a TDN interview penned in September last year, revealing all about his ambition to stand stallions at Dullingham Park Stud, plus the succession plan which he hopes will guarantee the long-term future of a racing and bloodstock empire he's spent the last two decades building. Five months on and the wheels are now firmly...

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Shaquille's Fee Set at £15,000; Soldier's Call Moves to Dullingham Park

As the line-up continues to take shape at Steve Parkin's new stallion operation at Dullingham Park near Newmarket, it has been announced that the G2 Flying Childers winner Soldier's Call (GB) will move from Ireland to join this season's top-rated sprinter Shaquille (GB) on the roster.  In his debut season, Shaquille will stand for £15,000, while Soldier's Call's fee for 2024 will be £8,500. He stood at €7,500 this season and covered 190 mares. One of this year's leading first-season sires, Soldier's Call began his career at Joe Foley's Ballyhane...

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Europe's Top Sprinter Shaquille a First for Dullingham Park

The dual Group 1 winner Shaquille (GB) (Charm Spirit {Ire}) is the first stallion to retire to Steve Parkin's Dullingham Park near Newmarket.  The top-rated sprinter in Europe this year, Shaquille was trained by Julie Camacho to win the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot before defeating his elders in the July Cup at Newmarket. The 3-year-old was co-bred by his owner Martin Hughes, who paid tribute to the retiring star, saying, "It was an honour to be associated with such a brilliant horse. To breed him and to race him...

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'My Love Of This Industry Is For The Horse': Stallions the Next Step for Parkin

It is fair to say that Steve Parkin has reimagined the man-with-a-van concept.  He was that once, until he turned the van that he drove himself into a fleet of lorries, and his business extended from warehouses and distribution to supporting some of Britain's biggest retailers in meeting their increasing online demands. Clipper Logistics has become a well-known name beyond the business pages, particularly among those who follow horse racing. Thirty years after the company was founded, Parkin sold Clipper to GXO Logistics in May 2022.  "How does a little...

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Seven Days: Ireland's Perfect Pick-Me-Up

The Devil's Dyke stretches in pretty much a straight line for more than seven miles through parts of Cambridgeshire and Suffolk. The best part, according to this scribbler anyway, is the section roughly a mile and half long which cleaves Newmarket's July Course from the Rowley Mile, with a break in the dyke allowing the two courses to join briefly just beyond the ten-furlong mark on the latter. A Dutch author, Iman Jacob Wilkens, once claimed that Cambridge's Gog Magog Hills was the true location of the City of Troy,...

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Dullingham Park To Sponsor Group 2 At Leopardstown During Irish Champions Festival

Dullingham Park is the new sponsor of the G2 Clipper Mile on the first day of the Irish Champions Festival at Leopardstown on Sept. 9, Leopardstown Racecourse announced on Thursday. One of Newmarket's oldest establishments, Dullingham Park has recently been renovated and expanded as part of owner Steve Parkin's Clipper Group. The one-mile race was upgraded to Group 2 status in 2014, and has been won in the past by Parkin's Space Traveller (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}), who now stands at stud at Ballyhane Stud in Ireland. Ollie Fowlston, Managing...

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'The Pressure Is Now Officially Off': Joe Foley Lauds Breakthrough Win For Branton Court Stud

The all-grey silks of Steve Parkin's Clipper Logistics have become an increasingly familiar feature at racecourses over the last two decades, and the prolific owner recently added another string to his bow in becoming a breeder. His Yorkshire-based Branton Court Stud notched a major milestone on Wednesday when Dramatised (Ire) (Showcasing {GB}) scorched home in the G2 Queen Mary S. to provide Parkin with a first homebred group winner. "We started in racing 20 years ago and, through Joe Foley, I started a breeding operation," said Parkin. "[Dramatised] has come...

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Queen Mary Glory For Showcasing's Dramatised

Making it two-for-two for the TDN Rising Stars in Royal Ascot's juvenile prizes, Clipper Logistics' Dramatised (Ire) (Showcasing {GB}--Katie's Diamond {Fr}, by Turtle Bowl {Ire}) put up an impressive display in a fast time in Wednesday's G2 Queen Mary S. under an in-form Danny Tudhope. Handed the monicker after her dynamic four-length debut win at Newmarket Apr. 29, the filly that Karl Burke regards as the fastest he has had through his hands was backed into 5-2 favouritism and raced near the front line towards the stand's side early. Committed...

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The Weekly Wrap: Time For British Racing To Heed Warnings

If we can view Europe's largest training centre of Newmarket as a microcosm of the wider racing world, then events in the last week give a pretty concerning snapshot of the future of the sport. On the positive front, there was a first winner for the town's newest trainer, Terry Kent, who, at 53, is also one of the longest-serving members of its workforce, having previously been a jockey and worked for trainers Michael Jarvis, Julie Cecil, Saeed Bin Suroor and Roger Varian. Another recent recruit to the training ranks,...

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