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Alcohol Free Eyeing Return in Fred Darling S.

Group 1 winner Alcohol Free (Ire) (No Nay Never) will return in the G3 Fred Darling S. at Newbury on Apr. 17 prior to taking her chance in the G1 English 1000 Guineas on May 2. A winner of the G1 Cheveley Park S. last term, the Andrew Balding trainee has wintered well, but is still in her winter coat.

“I'm delighted with her–the only problem is she's still wearing her winter collection at the moment,” Balding told Sky Sports Racing. “I'm just hoping the coat starts to shift–which it should do, with the weather we've got forecast over the next week.

“I'd hope to see a change in that, but she's been showing all her usual ability in her work. She's done two fast pieces of work, and I'm really pleased where we're at in terms of her fitness levels and well-being–apart from the coat being a bit woolly.”

“The plan was to run in the Fred Darling as a prep for the Guineas. I think it's important with her to hopefully have a run before going a mile–but if she's not ready in time we'll go straight to Newmarket.

“That has always been the plan, and she relaxes so well–certainly at home. It gives her a chance of getting a mile, but if we can get a race in as a prep to make sure she does settle that would be to her advantage.”

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Racing League Jockeys Revealed

Several big names have been added to the upcoming Racing League competition this summer. Frankie Dettori, Oisin Murphy, Jim Crowley and Hollie Doyle are all set to take part.

Dettori is part of the Newmarket team, along with fellow riders Jamie Spencer and Luke Morris, who are paired with trainers John Gosden, Sir Mark Prescott, Robert Cowell and David Simcock. Murphy, Hayley Turner and Sean Levey are riding for Andrew Balding and Richard Hannon.

Murphy said, “This is an exciting innovation and considering the prize money there should be fierce competition between the teams. I look forward to being involved.”

Turner added, “It's great that the racing industry has decided to try something a bit different. I know the jockeys and the trainers are all really excited. I think it will help to capture a non-racing audience and be a fun event all round.”

The trio of Jim Crowley, Hector Crouch and Pat Cosgrave will ride for trainers George Baker, David Menuisier, Gary Moore and Amanda Perrett. Meanwhile, Doyle, Jack Mitchell and Cieren Fallon team up with another Newmarket training team consisting of Michael Bell, Ed Dunlop, James Fanshawe and Roger Varian.

Ireland is represented by David Egan, Gavin Ryan and Dylan Browne McMonagle for O'Brien brothers Donnacha and Joseph. However, Team France is in a holding pattern, as confirmation of regulations surrounding Brexit and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is still needed before announcing their nominated jockeys.

The Racing League competition limits each jockey to 18 of the 36 races in the competition. There is also £50,000 on offer to the three jockeys that score the most points in the competition. The 12 teams will compete at six meetings of six races apiece over six consecutive Thursdays in the summer beginning at Newcastle on July 29. Points are available from first to 10th in each race, and the highest scoring team throughout the competition wins the league.

Oli Harris, the Racing League's Chief Marketing Officer, said “We're delighted that the teams have now confirmed their jockeys. The likes of Hollie, Oisin and Frankie will no doubt grab the headlines, but we are also excited to have some of the most talented up and coming jockeys in UK and Ireland on board, as well as experienced campaigners such as Paul Hanagan, Martin Dwyer and Jamie Spencer. This is an important step in painting a complete picture of the Racing League.

“We will follow this by announcing the principal naming partner of each team, before the 30 horses in each team's squad are selected in July.”

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What’s In a Name: Tenebrism

Young filly Tenebrism (f, 2, Caravaggio–Immortal Verse {Ire}, by Pivotal {GB}), the dramatically fast winner of the first race at Naas on Mar. 28, carries a brilliant and astute name.

“'Tenebrism', from Italian tenebroso (dark, gloomy, mysterious), also occasionally called 'dramatic illumination', is a style of painting using especially pronounced chiaroscuro, where there are violent contrasts of light and dark, and where darkness becomes a dominating feature of the image,” states Wikipedia.

And who is generally credited with the invention of this technique? None other than Michelangelo Merisi, also known as Caravaggio, the great and tormented artist on the cusp of the 16th and 17th centuries. Caravaggio preceded and surpassed Byron in being thought as Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know: he was constantly involved in brawls and is reputed to have killed at least two men, one in a scuffle, and another one in a gruesome duel. Caravaggio died under suspicious circumstances at 38 years of age, but by then he had mastered the play of light and darkness on a canvas like no other and had produced masterpiece after masterpiece in his short and tortured existence.

The equine Tenebrism has the look of a masterpiece herself and let us hope that she is in for a long and happy career.

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Group 1 Producer Stage Presence Dies at 23

Group 1 producer Stage Presence (Ire) (Selkirk-Park Charger {GB}, by Tirol {Ire}) has passed away at 23, the Racing Post reported on Monday.

Bred by Lodge Park Stud in Ireland, the eventual dual winner first sold for €40,000 at the 1999 Goffs Orby Yearling Sale, and she raced in the colors of Robert Sangster for trainer Barry Hills. Sold again for 49,000gns during the Tattersalls December Mares Sale in 2004, she went to Horse France. In foal to Danehill Dancer (Ire), the half-sister to Group 3 winner Rum Charger (Ire) (Spectrum {Ire}) was purchased by Hugo Lascelles Bloodstock for 475,000 guineas at Tattersalls three years later and her remaining progeny were all bred by Lady Bamford.

Her three black-type winners were 2015 G1 Prix de Diane heroine Star of Seville (GB) (Duke of Marmalade {Ire}), 2004 Danehill Dancer (Ire) filly English Ballet (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) who won the 2006 G3 Sweet Solera S. and ran third in the G1 Meon Valley Stud Mile later that year, and black-type winner and 2019 G1 St. James's Palace S. runner-up King of Comedy (Ire) (Kingman {GB}).

Three of her daughters have already added more black-type to the family, with her first foal, the winning Spectacular Show (Ire) (Spectrum {Ire}), responsible for stakes-winner Valbchek (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) and the multiple stakes-placed Schroders Mistake (Ire) (Cable Bay {Ire}). English Ballet has two stakes-placed fillies, and her full-sister, Stage Performance (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) has one.

Daylesford Stud Manager Charlie Brewer told Racing Post, “She was a fabulous mare and a real character. She'll be greatly missed on the stud, everyone loved her.”

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