The one-mile event, worth £200,000, is the final Group 1 of the British Flat season and is set to be contested on Saturday, Oct. 28. A total of 66 entries remain, including Aidan O'Brien's unbeaten G1 National S. winner Henry Longfellow (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}).

“We are delighted to be able to support the 2023 Kameko Futurity Trophy, a race that consistently provides one of the highlights of the Flat season by whetting the appetite for the following year's Classics,” David Redvers, Qatar Racing's bloodstock and racing manager and owner of Tweenhills, said.

Recent Futurity Trophy winners Kameko (Kitten's Joy) and Magna Grecia (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) both went on to victories in the G1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas at Newmarket, and this year's G1 Betfred Derby, G1 Irish Derby and G1 Irish Champion winner Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) is the Futurity Trophy's reigning champion.

“Qatar Racing continue to be tremendous supporters of British Racing and we are delighted to secure their support of what is one of the highlights of the season at Doncaster,” David Leyden Dunbar, group director of Commercial Strategy and Partnerships at ARC, said. “Kameko will always have a special connection with the race as 2019's renewal, run at Newcastle Racecourse and won by Kameko, remains the only British Group 1 race to be run on an artificial surface. Our thanks go to them and the entire team at Qatar Racing for their support.”

For tickets to the Kameko Futurity, visit the Doncaster website.

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Christopher Head's star completed a rare treble at Chantilly when strolling to victory in the Prix de Diane earlier this month, adding to victories in the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches and last year's Marcel Boussac-a feat previously achieved by the likes of Zarkava (Ire) (Zamindar), Divine Proportions (Kingmambo) and Allez France (Sea Bird {Fr}).

Blue Rose Cen, who has won seven of her nine outings, was stepping up to an extended 10 furlongs for the first time at Chantilly and Head is eager to stick at that trip as the Churchill (Ire) filly takes on older rivals for the first time at Goodwood.

He told the Nick Luck Daily Podcast, “The main idea is to still keep up with the challenges. The owner has always been bold and daring in racing challenges and we have been talking about the next stage for Blue Rose Cen and he wants to go to the Nassau to do the same as Nashwa did with the Prix de Diane and Nassau double and we really have great faith in her with that programme.

“I don't think we have got to the limit of that filly yet. I still want to encounter the older fillies without getting into a new distance, so we'll keep with the distance we know she is best at right now and try to encounter a new panel of fillies to be able to know if she is capable of getting into the Vermeille and then we will pretty much know if she is an Arc or an Opera (horse).

“Even if she is not in the race, it is a possibility she can still be supplemented into the Arc. Leopoldo Fernández Pujals of Yeguada Centurion is a really a bold and daring individual, embracing challenges, so we're trying to do our best to get the horses to those kind of challenges, and that's why we're happy to go to the Nassau.”

Head also trains Big Rock (Fr) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}) for the same owner, but he failed in his Classic mission when beaten three-and-a-half lengths by Ace Impact (Ire) (Cracksman {GB}) in the Prix du Jockey Club.

That was his first attempt over further than nine furlongs and Head feels his future now lies over a mile.

He added: “He's pretty much a mile horse or a 1800-metre horse and we learned that in the Jockey Club. We will put him onto another path which is the Jacques Le Marois and probably the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes too.”

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At a groundbreaking general meeting of the Association of Irish Racecourses (AIR) held at the Keadeen Hotel in Newbridge, the five members of the United Irish Racecourses (UIR) voted against the five-year deal worth €47 million.

That means that the five tracks–Kilbeggan, Limerick, Roscommon, Sligo and Thurles–are now free to negotiate their own separate deal, presumably with Arena Racing Company, which could pave the way for Irish racing to return to Sky Sports Racing in 2024. 

The current deal, which is due to expire at the end of this year, is with Sports Information Services [SIS] and Racecourse Media Group, which sees all Irish racing broadcast on RTV. 

It is understood that UIR received “an unsolicited offer” of €100,000 per fixture from Arc last year, but the five tracks now have to request HRI's media rights committee to negotiate another contract for them 

The new deal with SIS and RMG was given “preferred bidder” status last year by the Media Rights Committee, which consists of five executives from AIR and Horse Racing Ireland. 

However, the five tracks expressed their dissatisfaction with the deal back in January and formed UIR. The discontent stems from how the media rights are distributed by HRI and how the funding model favours the bigger tracks. 

Conor O'Neill, chairman of HRI's media rights committee, focused on the positives of the deal on Tuesday.

He said, “It's a fantastic deal and I'm delighted for the 21 racecourses who have signed up to secure it today. I would like to thank the board of AIR and our CEO Paul Hensey for their hard work and support. I would also like to especially thank our former CEO Paddy Walsh who has worked tirelessly on achieving the best possible deal for our members and the HRI media rights committee whose commitment has been extraordinary throughout the entire process.”

O'Neill added, “Although it's disappointing that it was not approved by all, today is a very positive day for the future of Irish racing, let's not take away from that. I look forward to continuing our partnership with SIS and RMG for the overwhelming majority of Irish racecourses, subject to the approval by the HRI board on Friday.”

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Running from Sept. 14-17 in the autumn, the four-day festival will feature the final UK colts' Classic of the year–the G1 Betfred St Leger–as well as the G2 Betfred May Hill S., G2 Doncaster Cup, G2 Champagne S., and G2 Park S. Doncaster was granted city status as part of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee celebrations in 2022 which will be commemorated with the renamed Betfred City of Doncaster H., run on the final day of the four-day meeting.

Betfred boss Fred Done, said, “To have the Betfred name attached to the St Leger Festival is not just a sponsorship but a privilege. I am proud to be associated with the world's oldest Classic which is obviously synonymous with great horses like Triple Crown winner Nijinsky, Dunfermline for The Queen and Oh So Sharp for Sir Henry Cecil.”

Arena Racing Company Chief Executive, Martin Cruddace, said, “We are absolutely delighted to welcome Betfred as the headline sponsors of the St Leger Festival and of the Betfred St Leger itself.

“Fred Done and his team have long been keen supporters of British racing, and the inclusion of this historic race meeting into their sponsorship portfolio is another indication of their commitment to the sport. The whole sport is extremely fortunate to benefit from working in partnership with Fred and his team and we very much look forward to a fantastic Betfred St Leger Festival in September.”

Betfred is also the new sponsor of the G1 Betfred Derby and G1 Betfred Oaks in June.

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Themed “Breaking Barriers”, the ARC will feature a three-day Business Programme, where the latest trends will be examined, as well as the most pressing issues and brightest opportunities facing the industry today. The full list of speakers can be found here.

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ARF Chairman Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, also CEO of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, will share his vision for the future of global racing and the opportunities and the barriers that line that path to that future. Other speakers include Masayuki Goto, Vice-Chairman of ARF and President and CEO of the Japan Racing Association, British Horseracing Authority CEO Julie Harrington, former Victorian Attorney-General and Racing Minister Martin Pakula, Chairman of the Australian Turf Club Peter McGauran, and Harvey Norman CEO and Magic Millions co-principal Katie Page-Harvey.

For more information about the business programme and the speakers list, please visit the Asian Racing Conference website.

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Four more Horses Of The Month prizes will be awarded–December, January, February, and March and April. For more information on the contest, please visit the ARC website.

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Di Arbuthnot, chair of the IFAR Steering Group, said, “For the past two years, our conference was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I am looking forward to being able meet again in person as we all work together to share success stories and best practices when it comes to equine welfare. The question of what happens to racehorses after they leave the track is a global one, and the importance of IFAR only continues to grow.”

For more information and how to register, please visit the ARC website.

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The Belgian native was riding Syros for Francis Graffard in the Group 3 Prix Thomas Bryon Jockey Club de Turquie when making contact with Ryan, who was aboard the Ralph Beckett-trained Captain Wierzba.

In what looked a deliberate elbow, Soumillon edged Ryan out of the saddle and, while he denied any malice to the incident, apologies on At The Races afterwards by saying it was “not a nice act” and that he had made “a misjudgement”.

Syros went on to finish second but was disqualified by the French stewards who gave Soumillon his lengthy ban. The rider will be free to ride on Arc weekend at ParisLongchamp as the two-month ban does not come into effect until next week.

Very nasty. Rossa Ryan took a horrible fall mid-race after contact with Christophe Soumillon… pic.twitter.com/m0IqvCsC9F

— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) September 30, 2022

“I received a little bit of pressure from Rossa's mount on my outside trying to get a better position behind Ryan,” Soumillon said. “I was just behind Ryan at the time. And I put my elbow against him just to make him understand I wasn't going to the inside and unfortunately when I asked my horse to stay there and go a little bit to the right, I pushed him for one stride or two and he fell off.

“Straight away, I knew, I'd made a mistake. I'm terribly sad with what happened because I hate seeing stuff like this and when you are doing that it's even more terrible, so I want to apologise to everyone, not just only one person who owns the horse or trains the horse or even the jockey.”

He added: “I just saw him [Ryan] now and he's fine and the horse too so I'm happy for that, but for all the people loving racing it was not a nice act from my side and I am terribly sorry and I want to apologise for what I did today.

“I just received a big suspension from the France-Galop stewards. I'm going to be suspended for two months – 60 days of racing. So that's a very big thing. So unfortunately my end-of-season is now gone. But I accept the sentence for what I did, for the terrible mistake like I said.

“And for sure that sentence is an example to others then that's acceptable but for sure, I shouldn't do that. I didn't do it on purpose to make him fall off his horse. I was just trying to keep my position. But with the ground … I probably did with a little power. It was a misjudgment from my side.

“I wasn't trying to make him fall off his horse. Unfortunately he was side by side with me, his iron goes up and he goes over the horse. I don't really understand what happened in that moment because it's going really fast but it's a terrible thing for what I did. I know a lot of people are not going to excuse me, but I feel really bad at the moment for what happened.”

Ryan reported that he and his mount were fine after the incident. He said, “The horse is fine, I'm fine. That's the main thing. I'm 100 per cent.”

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Last year's Melbourne Cup winner travelled to Europe and joined Graffard earlier this year with the main aim of running in the French highlight.

However, she disappointed on her French debut in the Prix Jean Romanet-finishing last of seven-and, despite showing significant improvement to place third in the Prix Foy on her second start, the French handicapper dropped her rating to 113, placing her 22nd in the order of entry.

After French racing's ruling body announced that a maximum of 20 runners would be allowed to go to post, connections of Verry Elleegant had to decide whether to supplement her for the Arc on Wednesday morning at a cost of €120,000.

And while that sum would have been refunded had she failed to make the final field at the declaration stage on Thursday, the issue was further complicated by the fact declarations for her other weekend option-Saturday's Prix de Royallieu-also closed on Wednesday at 11.30am French time.

As French rules state horses cannot be declared for two races, connections have opted to go for the race in which she is guaranteed a start, leaving Graffard frustrated.

He said, “I'm very, very upset about the French authorities and French handicapper and my racing country in general.”

He added on the Nick Luck's Daily Podcast, “We try really hard as young trainers to try and promote our sport and try to make it competitive worldwide. We try to open our doors all the time and play the game, (but) France Galop try to make it difficult at every single stage.

“This filly has been a very good example of how unopen the French are. Every step has been difficult for her and for the owners and they have made our life very difficult right until the end.

“It's very upsetting and not good for the sport in general, I think. I'm very angry against my racing country and I have to apologise to all the Australian racing fans.”

Graffard is hoping Verry Elleegant can gain some sort of compensation on Saturday, adding, “The mare is in very good form and the season is not over for her.

“Of course we are disappointed as it would have been fun to go to the Arc, but I think good days will come out of this bad experience.”

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