#British Classics

Graham Dench runs the rule over the three-year-olds currently taking high rank in calculations for the Cazoo-sponsored Derby, Europe's most prestigious Classic at Epsom on Saturday June 3, 2023. GB: Like it or not, there is an ever increasing trend for winners of the Derby to come from just a handful of what might be termed'super stables', and if…

May 3 (UPI) -- Just hours before Medina Spirit wired the Kentucky Derby, Poetic Flair won a nip-and-tuck victory in the first of the British Classics, highlighting a big weekend of international horse racing action. That Qipco 2000 Guineas showdown keyed a meeting at Newmarket that also included an upset in the Qipco 1000 Guineas, an impressive…

Family man: Frankie with wife Catherine son Leo and daughter Ella at the premiere of The Chronicles Of Narnia in December 2005 Star jockey Frankie Dettori today apologised for'letting down my wife and children' after being banned from racing for six months for drug taking. The 41-year-old Italian tested positive for a banned substance, thought to…

Donnacha O'Brien: aiming at a Group 1 with his first runner in Britain Starting at the top leaves you with an awful long way to fall but Donnacha O'Brien has never looked afraid of heights. Having the favourite for a Group 1 race as your first British runner might faze many trainers, particularly if they were only months into their new career and…

Racing has got back underway after being postponed on Friday and Saturday following the passing of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday. With full cards postponed across the country, fans flocked back to Chepstow and Doncaster in droves to pay tribute to the Queen ahead of an exciting day's racing. The St Leger is the pick of a nine-race card at…

Charlie Appleby couldn't be happier with Native Trail and Coroebus, the two star colts who bid to give him a first success in the £500000 Qipco 2000 Guineas. Native Trail, unbeaten in five starts, including the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes, is the Godolphin standard bearer, but few would be surprised if Coroebus made him work mighty hard. Appleby said:…

WE have witnessed history being made by Rachael Blackmore over the jumps. Now it's over to you, Hollie Doyle. The Flat ace will bid to become the first woman to ride a British Classic winner in the Oaks. It's a feat her husband Tom Marquand believes would be "one of the biggest things a female jockey has achieved". And in Nashwa, the second…

Quinoa Tifah wins her career debut Thursday at Gulfstream Park. Photo by Lauren King, courtesy of Gulfstream Park April 17 (UPI) -- There's quality in lieu of quantity in this weekend's horse racing action with two "Grade A Prime" events at Oaklawn Park in Arkansas and the belated start of 2-year-old action in Florida. In Japan, 3-year-olds are the…

With the start of the Derby Festival at Epsom Downs Racecourse almost upon us, anticipation is beginning to build ahead of another two British Classics. This year's renewal of the Derby and Oaks co-aligns with the Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations, and it will be the first time since 2019 that the race will have a full crowd in attendance due…

The Cheltenham Festival accounted for 25 of the top 40 betting races with Ladbrokes Coral It is the week that dwarfs all others in jump racing and, according to the turnover leaderboard for 2018 revealed by Ladbrokes and Coral, the Cheltenham Festival is growing ever-more dominant in the minds of betting shop customers too. In the first list of top…

HORSES go on the trail of greatness in the Classics and there haven't been many I have smacked my lips over more than today's 2000 Guineas at Newmarket. It looks an absolute belter. Of the five British Classics - also made up by the 1000 Guineas, Derby, Oaks and St Leger - the Qipco-sponsored 2000 Guineas is perhaps the one that most excites…

We look at facts and figures surrounding the Grand National and one of the nation's biggest horse racing fans - the Queen. 1 Queen Elizabeth II has been riding since she was 4 years old, when her father King George VI gave her a Shetland pony named Peggy. 2 The Queen Mother was an avid National Hunt Racing fan, Princess Anne and her daughter Zara…

AIDAN O'BRIEN reckons next year's Epsom Derby favourite is the most exciting horse his stable has EVER had. Auguste Rodin came in for high praise from the Irish maestro after a mightily impressive win in the Vertem Futurity on Saturday. That three-and-a-half length success came despite fears he wouldn't run given the ground conditions. A decision…

It is day two of the Dubai Future Champions Festival at Newmarket, which features the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes. We have selections for all six Placepot races, including the leading two-year-old contest at 3.00pm. Newmarket Tote Placepot predictions - Saturday picks The Tote is the home of the Placepot and new customers can place their first £5 bet…

Dermot Weld has been around the track enough times to know never to get too high or too low about his stable's latest'good thing'. But even at this time of his career, the 74-year-old master of Rosewell House hardly bothers to contain his enthusiasm for his superstar filly, Homeless Songs. The three-year-old Irish 1000 Guineas winner will be back…