Stradivarius

Frankie Dettori will not ride for John and Thady Gosden at Newmarket on Saturday, with the trainers calling on James Doyle and Robert Havlin, despite the fact that the legendary jockey rides for Ralph Backett on the same card. Dettori has ridden Sunray Major (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) in all bar one of his eight starts, but has been replaced by Doyle to ride the half-brother to Kingman (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) in the G3 House Of Cavani Menswear Criterion S. Havlin, so often relegated to the substitutes bench by Dettori...

Frankie Dettori was given a two-day riding ban by the stewards at Ascot on Friday, following an inquiry into his use of the whip on Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) in the Gold Cup. The stewards were unable to interview Dettori on Thursday, so the hearing was carried forward 24 hours. The officials ruled Dettori had used his whip above the permitted level in the closing stages of the race, one which prompted much discussion afterwards and left trainer John Gosden wondering out loud why Dettori had opted to...

There has been no shortage of talking points at Royal Ascot this week but, perhaps the most controversial incident of them all came in the opening race on Thursday, when Paul Hanagan received a 10-day careless riding ban for veering halfway across the track en route to victory in the G2 Norfolk S. aboard The Ridler (GB) (Brazen Beau {Aus}). From that controversy to another forgettable afternoon's work for Frankie Dettori, out of luck aboard Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) in the G1 Gold Cup and The Queen's 2-5...

Trueshan (Fr) (Planteur {Ire}) has been declared a non-runner in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot due to the unsuitably quick going. Alan King had warned the 6-year-old would bypass the fixture if the ground was too quick but left the gelding in the Group One contest in case of unexpected rain. However, no rain has fallen and with the going described as good to firm, Trueshan sidesteps the Thursday feature, as he did last year when the ground was also fast. The Aidan O'Brien-trained Kyprios (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) is...

He didn't crack the code to the Irish Lottery, have his colours carried by the record-breaking Grabel (GB) (Bold Owl {GB}), invest eye-watering sums in the stock market and battle with the bookmakers on an almost daily basis by being short of an opinion or two.  Now, Paddy Kehoe is preparing to back his latest theory that his pride and joy Princess Zoe (Ger) (Jukebox Jury {Ire}) can land the G1 Ascot Gold Cup on Thursday and, if correct, the 75-year-old businessman and renowned racehorse owner will net himself a...

Trueshan (Fr) (Planteur {Ire}), the long-time ante-post favourite for the G1 Ascot Gold Cup, has taken a walk in the betting for the Thursday showpiece after connections said he was unlikely to run at the royal meeting due to unsuitably quick ground.  A general 5-2 favourite for the race on Sunday morning, Trueshan could be backed at odds as big as 15-2 after the 6-year-old's trainer Alan King revealed that the quick ground was likely to scupper plans of running in the Gold Cup.  The ground at Ascot was described...

Can we have too much of a good thing? When it comes to racing in the spring the answer is almost certainly not, but the rapidity with which all the decent action takes place can make it difficult to take it all in. For example, in the last 11 days we have had three Derby favourites. First the horse who had held that honour all winter, Luxembourg (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), who was then replaced by his stable-mate Stone Age (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), all the rage after his Derby Trial victory...

Champion stayer and seven-time Group 1 winner Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) will race on next year at eight with a three-race campaign in mind. Bjorn Nielsen's popular chestnut homebred won the G1 Gold Cup at Royal Ascot in 2018, 2019 and 2020. Those first two wins were part of a 10-race win streak that also encompassed two of his four victories in the G1 Goodwood Cup. Stradivarius has also won the 2018 G2 Long Distance Cup in British Champions Day, three editions of the G2 Lonsdale Cup and...

If confirmation was needed that Ascot's QIPCO British Champions Day is what it says it is, a glance at the most recently-published Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings reveals all. Of the 11 Europeans occupying the top 20 in the list, five are in action on Saturday with four of the remaining either injured or retired at this point. Heading the A-list quintet at present are the inseparable G1 QIPCO Champion S.-bound Adayar (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) and Mishriff (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}), with the G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. favourite Palace...

As October comes around again, so does one of the prime weekends of the European racing calendar and while Saturday's action is in part warm-up for the main event on Sunday, it has standout competition in its own right headed by the G1 Kingdom of Bahrain Sun Chariot S. Newmarket's July Course was the scene of the first clash between the star miling fillies in the G1 Falmouth S. and now the Rowley Mile hosts the rematch between that July 9 feature's first and second Snow Lantern (GB) (Frankel {GB})...

Friday at Doncaster's St Leger festival means Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea the Stars {Ire}), and after John and Thady Gosden and Frankie Dettori's Group 2 double and a treble overall on Thursday the tide is rising for the esteemed combo as the G2 Doncaster Cup looms. Bjorn Nielsen's golden boy of the staying scene since 2018 needs no introduction and this special week on Town Moor is there for turf's icons such as him to enjoy widespread adulation. If there were any doubts as to the appetite of the 7-year-old, those...

There are banners along the High Street of my home town of Newmarket saying 'Welcome back to racing'. Though we've been fortunate in England to have been able to allow crowds gradually to return to racecourses earlier than some other countries, it has only really been in the last few weeks that it has felt like the proper pre-pandemic experience. And where better to have the people back in force than at York, widely regarded by many to be the best racecourse in the country? Any amount of time spent...