Seven Days

The Glorious Goodwood euphoria didn't last long, did it? By Monday morning, the Jockey Club had announced its intention to join Ascot and Plumpton in discontinuing its membership of the Racecourse Association (RCA) at the end of this year. The Jockey Club's portfolio of 15 racecourses spans the length of England, from Carlisle down to Exeter, with the 'crown jewel' tracks of Epsom, Newmarket, Sandown, Cheltenham and Aintree in between. Once you add in the heft of Ascot, it's not simply a matter of there being more than a quarter...

Let's not think in terms of the best ever - we all have our personal favourites - or even the best  this season, not yet anyway. Let us instead relish the fact that across the next six weeks, as long as they all remain hale and hearty, we can look forward to seeing Calandagan take on his Japan Cup runner-up Masquerade Ball once more in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, followed by Bow Echo potentially clashing with Notable Speech in his first outing against his elders in...

If you were concerned about the O'Brien domination of the Irish Derby, led by Aidan and backed up by sons Joseph and Donnacha, then prepare yourself for more consternation in this Saturday's Coral-Eclipse Stakes. At Monday's confirmation stage only eight remained and one was added, leaving four from Ballydoyle - two of those, Hawk Mountain and Causeway, having also been supplemented for Sunday's Deutsches Derby - and one each from the younger O'Briens.  Only three potential Eclipse runners are trained in Britain: the four-year-olds Saddadd and Gethin, and five-year-old King's...

Back in the days of the old stand at Ascot, a favourite spot for race-watching was to climb up to the fifth floor above the press box for what felt like a bird's eye view of the action. From this vantage point in the first year of the new century, one of the most memorable Royal Ascot moments was imprinted on an impressionable mind as Dubai Millennium made all to win the Prince of Wales's Stakes, holding Group 1 status for the first time that year. It wasn't just the...

Golden boy of the week has to be Starspangledbanner (though Wayne Lordan and Karl Burke both deserve consideration for that title). To have had both Cartier champion two-year-olds last year was a big enough feather in his cap but for both Gstaad and Precise to progress into Classic winners in the space of 24 hours at the Curragh cements their sire's position among the elite. A more in-depth look at the Starspangledbanner story to date in TDN back in December put forward the suggestion that the best days were still...

Where to begin? Perhaps to say that, though this sport faces myriad challenges, the mere thrill of actually going racing is the perfect antidote to such pernicious worries.  And it wasn't just the blazing sunshine and searing performance of Bow Echo on the Rowley Mile that has renewed the faith. A week earlier a trip to Ripon - justifiably dubbed 'The Garden Racecourse' - on a similarly sunny Saturday bit for a more ordinary race day provided no less enjoyable an experience.  It is easy to become despondent with what...

Whether the Classic picture is any clearer this week than last is debatable but what the last seven days have brought us is some truly impressive performances to savour. And it is hard to pick just one, though it has to be said that Portcullis's Wood Ditton run was visually the most spectacular for all that you could see the colt learning with every stride he took, from being left at the start, to bounding through then clear of his rivals.  His maiden success for the King and Queen played...

In this corner of the bloodstock world we like to keep our glass half-full, if not topped up to the brim. With that in mind, it is sometimes preferable to look back, rather than forwards. A dive into history via the pages of the Bloodstock Breeders' Review is always entertaining, if not a regular reminder that the more things change the more they stay the same. Take, for example, Lord Rosebery's speech as TBA president in 1947 when he said, "I was perturbed at the Yearling Sales at Doncaster when...

There was much to absorb over the last weekend and, significantly for the tier of horseracing which prompts so much fan engagement, the two best horses in Europe both returned victorious in Dubai. Calandagan (Gleneagles) and Ombudsman (Night Of Thunder), first and second in last year's Qipco Champion Stakes and just two pounds apart in the 2025 Longines World Rankings, each put down an important marker for the season ahead, in the Dubai Sheema Classic and Dubai Turf respectively. And, yes, perhaps one can argue that there wasn't the usual...

As always, Ireland and France have been quicker off the mark when it comes to the Flat turf season, and Britain joins them this Saturday with the opening meeting at Doncaster, which always provides plenty of interest, not least through the Brocklesby Stakes. This year, fittingly, the first two-year-old race in Britain is run in memory of Bill Turner, whose name was a standing dish in the Brocklesby entries and who died last August at the age of 78. With six victories between 1996 and 2013, Turner holds the record...

Turbulente was a prophetic winner at Chantilly on Friday considering the events that would transpire less than 24 hours later across the Middle East. The Wertheimer-bred daughter of Australia from the family of a horse whose greatest exploits came in Australia - Americain (Dynaformer) - looks one to follow as the French Classic trials come around.  Super Saturday went ahead in Dubai amid early rounds of missile strikes and interceptions across the region as American and Israeli troops struck Iran and the inevitable retaliation ensued. Sheikh Mohammed demonstrated his own...

Plenty - maybe too much - has been said already on the subject of Constitution Hill and whether or not he will run in the Champion Hurdle in a fortnight's time. While we all have our opinions, it is most important now to respect the decision either way of the horse's owner Michael Buckley and trainer Nicky Henderson. What has become patently clear from their interviews on Friday and over the weekend is how much they feel the weight of responsibility when it comes to doing what is right for...