The Independent - Racing RSS Feed

Fortune conquers adversity thanks to Charm

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Victory at Doncaster yesterday in the domestic Flat season's last feature handicap was probably scant consolation for the loss of a trip to the Breeders' Cup in Santa Anita. But despite having to settle for stark black branches and soggy leaves underfoot in south Yorkshire instead of a backdrop of palms and the San Gabriel mountains in California, Jimmy Fortune handed out a lesson in dignity to those in other sports who so readily flounce at the mere thought of being confined to the bench.

Dettori delivers Turf double on Pounced

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

The setting could scarcely be less like Newmarket, with the slender palms on the infield reaching up towards the hazy San Gabriel mountains. For John Gosden and Frankie Dettori, however, it felt just like home as Pounced got the European challenge off to a flying start at the Breeders' Cup last night.

Chris McGrath: Ponti a Classic pick to keep it real

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

It's not like in the films, you know. In the one they made about Seabiscuit, the grandstand here at Santa Anita – an art deco masterpiece – proved a perfect prop, conveniently preserved as it is. The one drawback was that the horse could duly be seen strolling past the statue of himself in the parade ring.

Fresh dawn for Biancone after storm of scandal

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Anyone who came here for the first time yesterday morning gained an unusually literal sense of the fact that every racecourse is a theatre of illusion. For even when the dawn mist had burnt away – so that the horses pumping round the home turn were suddenly streaked by hot sunshine, their shoulders running like molten silver – the San Gabriel Mountains were nowhere to be seen. The curdling miasmas of the Los Angeles basin had washed one of the Turf's great panoramas entirely away.

Baffert counting on Zensational finish

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Who you lookin' at? You know who you lookin' at. Same as everybody else. There he is, in the shades and silver hair. This is his turf.

Gosden follows his California dream

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Round here they know that some day the San Andreas Fault is going to wrench open "the next big one". On the state's racecourses, however, a massive tectonic rupture has already taken place. Last year, Santa Anita staged the first Breeders' Cup Classic on a synthetic surface – and the carnival's return this weekend has reopened the wounds made by a breakthrough British success.

The funniest racehorse names

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:31:34 GMT

This year's Melbourne Cup was won by a horse named Shocking, and judging by the performance, it was anything but.

Shocking wins the Melbourne Cup

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:20:57 GMT

It was third time lucky for jubilant Australian jockey Corey Brown today, after Shocking streaked away in the final stages to win the 149th Melbourne Cup.

Geraghty responds the right way

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

What a difference two days makes. On Saturday at Wetherby, Barry Geraghty plummeted to the lowest point of the roller coaster that is the sportsman's life when he took the wrong course when leading on the well-fancied My Petra, and had to pull up. Yesterday at Kempton, he swept back up into the spotlight for the right reasons, riding the 1,000th winner of his career on another inmate of the Nicky Henderson stable, Duc De Regniere.

O'Brien's Jan Vermeer in frame for Derby after masterly show

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Another day, another Ballydoyle colt gallops into a Classic market. Yesterday was the turn of Jan Vermeer, who gave Aidan O'Brien his third juvenile Group One prize in as many weekends with a comprehensive four-length success in the Critérium International at Saint-Cloud. The colt is now second-favourite for the Derby, behind stablemate St Nicholas Abbey, winner of the Racing Post Trophy.

Purple reigns for Williams

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

The sight of the Devil's Dyke limned by a pale autumn sun dipping in front of populated grandstands on the Rowley Mile for the final time this year has for centuries been a signal for a change in emphasis. And sure enough, as the last rites at Flat racing's headquarters were elegantly enacted before a timeless backdrop, hurly-burly jumping blew into the calendar with a finish of heads in the day's feature chase and two top jockeys in trouble.

Stan Hey: 6-5 Against

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Anyone turning up at an autumnal Wentworth this weekend expecting to see the World Match Play Championship will be disappointed. The venerable tournament has motored off to Spain with Volvo. Meanwhile, the next World Golf Championship event, once held at The Grove in Hertfordshire, is now in Shanghai, starting Thursday.

Sue Montgomery: Dettori raring to conquer world

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Jumping shares the spotlight with Flat racing on this afternoon's programme as the pulse of one branch of the sport quickens and the other slows, on the domestic front at least. This afternoon marks the last afternoon until next April that horses will stride out in anger at Newmarket and after one more weekend, the gradual baton change will be complete.

Dettori enjoys century duty

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:00:01 GMT

With his usual perfect timing and showmanship, Frankie Dettori made yesterday's anniversary afternoon at Lingfield something of an occasion. Twenty years ago, when the Surrey track earned its niche in the sport's history by staging Britain's first meeting on an all-weather surface, Dettori rode the last winner of the afternoon. Yesterday he repeated the feat with bright blue knobs on, for his finale success on Padmina notched a four-timer on the day and his 100th of the season.

Cecil chases Breeders' Cup win

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:00:01 GMT

The one omission in the glittering CV of Henry Cecil is a Breeders' Cup victory. But it should be pointed out that, in 25 years of the hugely valuable meeting, Britain's ten-time champion trainer has fielded only six runners, half of which won prize money. The first to blaze a trail from Warren Place was Indian Skimmer, who finished third in the Turf in 1988, the most recent Passage Of Time, third in the Filly & Mare Turf two years ago.

Stars and Zarkava a 'perfect match' make ideal match

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:00:01 GMT

It will be a match made in heaven. When Sea The Stars starts his career as a progenitor next year in Ireland, one of his first mates will be the filly who preceded him to glory in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, Zarkava. It was announced yesterday that this year's racing sensation will stand at the Aga Khan's flagship stallion station, Gilltown Stud in Co Kildare. And the Aga, the world's most successful breeder, lost no time in arranging what could be the perfect marriage for his own unbeaten superstar.

Abbey acclaimed a 'champion'

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Although it may to some seem calumny to reduce the artistic beauty of the thoroughbred to the science of a set of figures, ratings are the tried-and-tested method of assessing athletic ability. And yesterday heads joined hearts in the paean of praise heaped upon the burgeoning young talent that is the elegant St Nicholas Abbey. The runaway winner of the Racing Post Trophy will be named champion European juvenile by the international handicappers and the boffins at Timeform, who produce the annual bible, can name only three better two-year-olds since Celtic Swing set a modern standard 15 years ago.

St Nicholas Abbey's brilliance may be a mirage – or a miracle

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Some may view all the excitement not merely as premature, but as a downright affront. Barely a fortnight after the retirement of Sea The Stars, racing already seems to have discovered an heir. Twenty years had divided us from the last colt capable of winning both the 2,000 Guineas and the Derby, in Nashwan; but apparently St Nicholas Abbey only needs to stay sound to have his name carved under that of Sea The Stars on both trophies.

St Nicholas delivers Post with aplomb

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 23:00:01 GMT

As the runners for the Racing Post Trophy paraded before their defining moments here yesterday a rainbow appeared in the sky to the east, arcing with perfect clarity against a clearing charcoal sky. The timing was perfect; the winner St Nicholas Abbey emerged from the last Group One juvenile contest of the British and Irish season as clear winter favourite for both the 2,000 Guineas and Derby and surely a crock of gold awaits.

Chris McGrath: Abbey to offer winter sanctuary

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 23:00:01 GMT

Always leave the punters wanting more. That's what they say. Of course, the easiest way of doing that is to give them nothing in the first place. But if you were to take the adage at all earnestly, you would end the British Flat season at around 3.32pm today.

Queally forfeits Cup ride on Spirit

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 23:00:01 GMT

This has unmistakably been a breakthrough season for Tom Queally, but yesterday he slithered into the shattered glass. Just five days after winning his fourth Group One prize since June, on Twice Over in the Champion Stakes, Queally was unceremoniously "jocked off" Fleeting Spirit at the Breeders' Cup. The filly will instead be ridden at Santa Anita next month by Frankie Dettori.

Dunguib set for next hurdle

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:00:01 GMT

With all due respect to those who still have unfinished business on the Flat – notably in the final Group One race of the British season, the Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster on Saturday – none can feasibly claim to have been any more impressive, in galloping over level ground this year, than Dunguib.

Ahern in search for Elusive victory

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:00:01 GMT

Those who have tried to keep up with him in the hunting field identify Eddie Ahern as a talent for all seasons. But while he has the nerve and verve of a jump jockey, the neatness of his build and style instead qualify him as one of the top Flat riders of his generation. It would be fitting, anyhow, were the last elite prize of the British Flat season to be won by a man who would have been no less at home in the big steeplechases that will soon dominate the agenda.

St Nicholas pursues path to Stars

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 23:00:01 GMT

The giant shadow cast by Sea The Stars over his contemporaries and elders this year will, necessarily, envelop the younger generation as well. One such as he comes along only rarely and whatever takes the Racing Post Trophy, an accepted spotlighter of future Derby candidates, at Doncaster on Saturday may be acknowledged with only qualified praise.

Cecil repays Abdullah's loyalty with a champion performance

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 23:00:01 GMT

The weekend must be counted a good one for Khaled Abdullah, the self-effacing Saudi Arabian prince who styles himself merely Mr on British racecards, with two top-level victories seven hours and 3,500 miles apart. First up was progressive Twice Over, who took the Champion Stakes at Newmarket, followed by Champs Elysees in the Canadian International at Woodbine, Toronto.