2000 Guineas | Horse Racing Free Tips

Potential Royal Runner in Guineas on Coronation Day

The royal colours, which will now be carried by horses under the joint ownership of His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen Consort, could be seen in Classic action on the day of the King's Coronation.

The John and Thady Gosden-trained Slipofthepen (GB), a son of Night Of Thunder (Ire) who was bred by the late Queen, has been given an entry for the G1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas. Out of the 95-rated Free Verse (GB) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}), the colt is a fifth-generation homebred and won his sole start with ease at Kempton in November and also holds an entry for the Derby.

Furthering her links to the turf, The Queen Consort is due to visit the National Horseracing Museum in Newmarket on Mar. 9.

The first two British Classics of the season, the QIPCO-sponsored 2000 and 1000 Guineas on May 6 and 7, have attracted 62 and 64 entries, respectively.

The quintet of Group/Grade 1 winners Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), Al Riffa (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), Chaldean (GB), Little Big Bear (Ire) and Victoria Road (Ire) (Saxon Warrior {Jpn}) heads a strong cast for the colts' Classic. Little Big Bear, a son of No Nay Never, was beaten only once in a five-start juvenile campaign culmination in his victory in the G1 Keeenland Phoenix S., and he is currently holding favouritism to give his trainer Aidan O'Brien a potential 11th victory in the race. Of the British-trained entries, Chaldean is currently third favourite to emulate his sire Frankel (GB) by winning the 2000 Guineas.

Those with an interest in sporting art will be pleased to see an entry for the equine Alfred Munnings (Ire), a Dubawi (Ire) half-brother to the Oaks winner Snowfall (Jpn). The great painter Munnings was himself a regular visitor to Newmarket Heath and spent much time down at the start observing and sketching horses as they were called in to line up. The old rubbing house he used as a makeshift studio is still in existence on the gallops behind the Rowley Mile.

The retirement of the G1 Fillies' Mile winner Commissioning (GB) (Kingman {GB}) means that there is one notable omission from the entries for the 1000 Guineas, with the betting market currently co-headed by Coolmore's Meditate (Ire) (No Nay Never) and the Aga Khan's Tahiyra (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}). Another from the O'Brien stable, Statuette, is third in the list to give her young sire Justify a first Classic winner.

The post Potential Royal Runner in Guineas on Coronation Day appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Coolmore Fees: No Nay Never Up To 175k and Blackbeard To Start At 25k

Off the back of a star-studded season, No Nay Never will stand for €175,000 in 2023, which represents a €50,000 rise, while his dual Group 1-winning son Blackbeard (Ire) will join him on the Coolmore roster next year at a price of €25,000.

No Nay Never has had an exceptional year. Older filly Alcohol Free (Ire) landed the G1 July Cup at Newmarket, but it has been his Coolmore-owned and Aidan O'Brien-trained juveniles that have set tongues wagging this term.

Like his father, Blackbeard landed the G1 Prix Morny in Deauville before doubling his tally at the highest level in the G1 Middle Park S. at Newmarket.

While he was prematurely retired due to a training injury, Group 1 scorers Little Big Bear (Ire) and Meditate (Ire) sit at the head of the ante-post markets for the 2,000 and 1,000 Guineas respectively.

Coolmore's director of sales, David O'Loughlin said, “No Nay Never has had an unbelievable year. The quality of the mares he got off the back of his success has really been shining through and, to have three individual Group 1-winning two-year-olds in the one year, he has caught the attention of a lot of people.

“It has been another big week for him with Meditate winning the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf and she is now a leading fancy for the 1,000 Guineas. Little Big Bear is favourite for the 2,000 Guineas, so No Nay Never has a big chance for the first two Classics of the season. That means a lot for us because we are trying to win the Classics.”

Sioux Nation hails from the same sire line being a son of Scat Daddy, and enjoyed a terrific debut season at stud at Coolmore with 43 winners. He will have his fee increased from €10,000 to 17,500 next year. Blackbeard is being backed to make a similar splash in his debut season by O'Loughlin.

He said, “To get a horse like Blackbeard on the roster is hugely exciting as well. Breeders love fast horses and he proved himself of the highest quality this season and was reminiscent of his father when winning the G1 Prix Morny is some style before following up in the G1 Middle Park S. at Newmarket. That was the icing on the cake of another big season.

“Blackbeard is very like his father-the same colour, shape and he has the movement. Everything a breeder wants, he has. He's also out of a very fast mare who Eddie Lynam trained [Muirin (Ire) (Born To Sea {Ire})] so I think a lot of people will be keen to use him.”

O'Loughlin added, “Commercially, what is driving the market is international appeal. When the international market zones in on a particular sire line, it puts a lot of value on that, much more than the domestic market can. No Nay Never is a good example of that as he has international appeal.

“Take Justify as another example, he has had two Group winners in Europe and three stakes winners in America. It's obvious that he is working both sides of the Atlantic-he has the dirt horses and horses who can do it in Europe as well. For breeders, it will help when they use Arizona, Blackbeard and Sioux Nation because they all hail from that exceptional Scat Daddy line. It's all the one line.”

Like Sioux Nation, Coolmore's Saxon Warrior (Jpn) made a big impression with his first crop of runners. As well as having the highly-touted Auguste Rodin (Ire) to look forward to this season, Saxon Warrior came up trumps with Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf winner Victoria Road (Ire), one of 21 international winners in his first season.

O'Loughlin said, “Saxon Warrior had an exceptional year. Again, he's a horse with international appeal being a son of Deep Impact (Jpn), who was the best horse to stand in Japan. Auguste Rodin is a very special horse and Victoria Road crowned a remarkable year with his victory in the Breeders Cup Juvenile Turf.

“It's remarkable because Saxon Warrior wasn't the most precocious of horses and, for him to be getting all of these top-class two-year-olds is a big statement. He has some very good two-year-olds and who's to say that Greenland (Ire) won't be the best of them all. I know that a lot of people think he is a high-class horse to look forward to next year. Some big breeders have latched on to him after his debut season and I even sold a nomination to him out here in Keeneland the other day. They think the horse is great value at €35,000.”

Wootton Bassett will stand for €150,000, St Mark's Basilica's 2023 fee is €65,000, and Camelot (GB) is at €60,000. Churchill (Ire), the sire of dual Group 1 winner Vadeni (Fr), has had his fee increased to €30,000, Starspangledbanner (Aus) will stand for €50,000, Australia (GB) and Sottsass (Fr) for €25,000 and Ten Sovereigns (Ire) and Gleneagles (Ire) for €17,500.

Footstepsinthesand, Circus Maximus, Calyx and US Navy Flag are set at €10,000, Arizona (Ire) is €5,000 and Gustav Klimt (Ire) will be available at €4,000.

The post Coolmore Fees: No Nay Never Up To 175k and Blackbeard To Start At 25k appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

‘Tough, Genuine and Consistent’: Rock Of Gibraltar Dies at 23

Former world champion 3-year-old Rock of Gibraltar (Ire) (Danehill–Offshore Boom {GB}, by Be My Guest) has died from heart failure at Castlehyde Stud in Ireland at the age of 23.

The son of Danehill was bred by the late Joe Crowley with his daughter Annemarie and son-in-law Aidan O'Brien. He was sent into training with the latter at Ballydoyle as a juvenile in 2001, later racing for the partnership of Sir Alex Ferguson and Susan Magnier.

Rock Of Gibraltar's sensational racing career, which saw him land seven consecutive Group 1 races in 11 months, began in the April of his 2-year-old season when he broke his maiden over five furlongs in the hands of Mick Kinane at the Curragh. Kinane, Ballydoyle's stable jockey at that time, would be aboard for 12 of the colt's 13 starts, his one omission being when suspended for the 2000 Guineas. Rock Of Gibraltar, ridden that day at Newmarket by Johnny Murtagh, raced on the far side of the track, beating stablemate and race favourite Hawk Wing by a neck to land the first of his two Classic victories, with Kinane back in the saddle for his follow-up at the Curragh.

Kinane remembers his partnership with Rock Of Gibraltar as “the most fun I had riding any racehorse”.

He told TDN on Monday, “He was an exceptional racehorse. He loved racing, and he was the only horse I ever rode who would have a buck and kick and a squeal going down to the start. He had an unbelievable turn of pace. He was a fantastic miler, a brilliant 2-year-old and a brilliant 3-year-old.”

In hindsight, Rock Of Gibraltar's 2000 Guineas starting price of 9-1 seems extraordinarily generous. By the time he lined up for his seasonal debut on the Rowley Mile on May 4, 2002, he was already a dual Group 1 winner, having annexed the Grand Criterium and Dewhurst S. to conclude a juvenile campaign in which he won five of his seven races, including the G2 Gimcrack S. and G3 Railway S.

At three, he became the fifth horse in history to land the 2,000 Guineas double in Britain and Ireland, and then went on to add the St James's Palace S., Sussex S., and Prix du Moulin to his outstanding record, becoming the first horse to win seven consecutive Group 1 races in the northern hemisphere, beating a record previously held for 30 years by the great Mill Reef. In his final start, Rock Of Gibraltar was second to Domedriver (Ire), beaten less than a length in the GI Breeders' Cup Mile at Arlington.

Horse of the Year in 2002, Rock Of Gibraltar embarked on his stud career at Coolmore the following season, effectively replacing Mozart, another top son of Danehill who had died the previous May after only one season at stud. 'The Rock' remained in Ireland for all bar one of the subsequent years, when he stood at the Shizunai Stallion Station in Japan in 2007. His 16 Group 1 winners include the top sprinter Society Rock (Ire), Eclipse S. winner and former useful sire Mount Nelson (GB), and the Irish 1,000 Guineas winner Samitar (Ire). In recent seasons Rock Of Gibraltar has featured as the broodmare sire of subsequent winners of the 2,000 Guineas, Kameko and Poetic Flare (Ire).

Rock Of Gibraltar was out of the Be My Guest mare Offshore Boom (GB), who had been bought from her breeder Moyglare Stud by Crowley and the O'Briens in 1997 for IR£11,000. One of her later foals, also by Danehill, was the G3 Derrinstown Stud 1,000 Guineas Trial runner-up Nell Gwyn (Ire).

A lengthy essay in Racehorses of 2002 perhaps summed up the late stallion's racing career of 10 wins from 13 starts best when stating, “It goes almost without saying that the hardy Timeform epithet 'tough, genuine and consistent' fits Rock Of Gibraltar to a T.”

In tribute to Rock Of Gibraltar, Paddy Fleming, stud manager at Castlehyde, said, “He was healthy and looking great right up to the end. He was a fantastic racehorse and a very good sire who will be missed by all the staff here.”

The post ‘Tough, Genuine and Consistent’: Rock Of Gibraltar Dies at 23 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Bolger Sends ‘Safe Hands’ Prendergast a Filly to Train

Two legends of Irish racing will join forces for the first time this season after Jim Bolger revealed that he has a 2-year-old filly by Holy Roman Emperor (Ire) in training with Kevin Prendergast.

Bolger gave €31,000 for the recently named Roman Moon (Ire) after Prendergast recommended the filly at the Goffs Orby Sale last September and she is set to break new ground by becoming his first runner with the Friarstown operator.

Roman Moon will carry the white and purple colours of Bolger's wife Jackie, once carried to major glories by Teofilo (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), New Approach (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and more recently Poetic Flare (Ire) (Dawn Approach {Ire}), when she hits the track this summer.

Speaking about the reasoning in sending the filly to the 89-year-old handler, Bolger told TDN Europe, “It was Kevin who suggested that we buy the filly and, when we did, we said that we would leave her with him knowing that she would be in safe hands.

“If I remember correctly, I was sitting beside Kevin when she walked into the ring and he told me that he was thinking of buying her on spec. Clare Manning [Bolger's granddaughter] also liked her and, when what she told me was confirmed by Kevin, I told her to go ahead and buy the filly.

“I decided there and then that, if Kevin was interested in training her for me, he could have her. She cost €35,000 so is qualified for all of those auction races and will carry Jackie's colours.”

Bolger added: “Kevin is very happy with her. You could say that Kevin is a victim of his age, and I suppose myself to a lesser extent, as not too many people want to send a man in his late 80s a racehorse. But, as far as Kevin is concerned, there are few better than him at his craft.”

Prendergast outlined his ambition to continue training “until the man upstairs calls it all to a halt” to the TDN Europe last week and Bolger's Roman Moon will form part of a 15-horse string.

Bolger's numbers are understood to be closer to 100 or more, the majority of which are owned by himself, with the wheels of his famous Coolcullen-based training establishment kept turning by the trainer's breeding arm of the operation.

It is a truly unique way of running things, with Bolger deriving just as much interest from breeding winners as he does in training them.

“One is dependent on the other but, as far as enjoyment is concerned, I suppose it would be 50-50. I have 80 broodmares and I would need 60-70 of those to go in foal every year in order to keep the wheel turning as I own 95% of the horses I train,” he explained.

“The majority of my mares will go to my own stallions but we use outside stallions as well. We could send up to 20 mares to outside stallions every year and the dam [Halla Na Saoire (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire})] of Mac Swiney (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}) has been covered by Mehmas (Ire). She also has a yearling by Make Believe (GB).”

Mac Swiney (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}), best known for getting the better of his stablemate Poetic Flare in a gripping Irish 2,000 Guineas last May, has been kept in training as a 4-year-old.

Just under 12 months on from that heroic display at the Curragh, Bolger recalls of how he wasn't best pleased to see his better-fancied Poetic Flare beaten but, any pain felt in the defeat soon disappeared when he realised he had the dam (Halla Na Saoire) standing out in the field.

“I was disappointed initially when Mac Swiney beat Poetic Flare in the Irish 2,000 Guineas last year but, when I realised that I had the dam of the winner standing out in a paddock, it made it a bit easier,” he said, before sharing details on some of stallions he supported this year.

“Along with Make Believe and Mehmas, we sent mares to Profitable (Ire), Blue Point (Ire) and Belardo (Ire). I sent 25 mares to Teofilo, about a dozen to New Approach and we supported Dawn Approach as well.”

Mac Swiney may be the best older horse Bolger has in training and is firmly on course to kick-start his 4-year-old campaign in the Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh later this month but the trainer has Classic aspirations for TDN Rising Star Wexford Native and Boundless Ocean.

He said, “Good ground will make a huge difference to Wexford Native (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) and if we get good ground in the Irish 2,000 Guineas, he could go there. His proper trip will end up being 10f or 1m4f–he could stay the Irish Derby trip.”

Bolger added, “Boundless Ocean (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) was too keen [when 13th in the 2,000 Guineas] at Newmarket but we think we've got him settled at home now and will pick a race for him soon. He could go for the Irish 2000 Guineas but I would be in no rush to run the two of them against each other.”

The post Bolger Sends ‘Safe Hands’ Prendergast a Filly to Train appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post