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Yearling Entry Stage for Derby to be Scrapped

The Derby will move away from its traditional yearling entry stage and will operate on a solely three-year-old entry system from the 2024 running of the Classic.

A statement released on Thursday by Jockey Club Racecourses, which owns Epsom Downs, home of the Derby and the Oaks, read, “The move comes following discussion with stakeholders and after a three-year-old only entry system worked well for the 2022 race, when the yearling entry stage due to take place in 2020 was not considered feasible due to the pandemic.

“As such, the yearling entry stage for the 2024 race which would traditionally take place in early December will not take place. Further information regarding the prize fund, entry stages and structure for the 2024 Derby will be available via the usual process and publications next year, including the Flat Pattern Book and Programme Book.”

In 2021, online car retailer Cazoo was announced as the new sponsor of the Derby meeting, but that arrangement has now come to an end. Next year's Derby, which closed for yearling entries last December, has a prize-money pool of £1.5 million. The remaining entry stages will be at the traditional stages next spring.

“The yearling entry system is something we have always considered annually before confirming, as we are constantly striving to ensure all aspects of The Derby are optimised for changing behaviours and trends within the sport and the wider world,” said Andrew Cooper, head of racing and clerk of the course at Epsom Downs.

“The pandemic gave us an opportunity to test whether a three-year-old system would work, and having consulted participants prior to, during and since it took place earlier this year, our view is that the increased flexibility that removing the yearling stage brings is more reflective of how trainers and owners now tend to operate.”

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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.

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Shadwell’s Baaeed Crowned Cartier Horse Of The Year

Shadwell homebred Baaeed (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) was named the Cartier Horse of the Year and Cartier Older Horse at the 32nd Cartier Racing Awards at the Dorchester Hotel in London on Wednesday evening.

The first Shadwell colourbearer to earn the Horse of the Year accolade, the William Haggas trainee added another four Group 1 victories to his pair earned in 2021, posting wins in the Lockinge S., Queen Anne S., Sussex S., and International S. in succession. His only loss in an 11-start career was a fourth-place finish in the G1 Champion S. on QIPCO British Champions Day in October. It was announced on Tuesday that the son of Aghareed (Kingmambo) would stand for £80,000 at Shadwell's Nunnery Stud in 2023.

Also shortlisted for Horse of the Year were G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe heroine Alpinista (GB) (Frankel {GB}), quadruple Group 1-winning stayer Kyprios (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and three-time Group 1-winning sprinter Highfield Princess (Fr) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}). G1 Champion S. hero Bay Bridge (GB) (New Bay {GB}) and dual Group 1-winning miler Kinross (GB) (Kingman {GB}) were fellow nominees in the Cartier Older Horse category.

His Highness The Aga Khan's Vadeni (Fr) (Churchill {Ire}) was named the Cartier 3-Year-Old Colt on the back of victories in the G1 Prix du Jockey Club, G1 Eclipse S., and G3 Prix de Guiche. Runner-up in Alpinista's Arc, the Jean-Claude Rouget trainee was also third in the G1 Irish Champion S. He follows Sinndar (Ire) (Grand Lodge) (2000) and Dalakhani (Ire) (Darshaan {GB}) (2003) in earning the 3-year-old colt award for the owner-breeder. This year marked the centennial of The Aga Khan's operation.

Already awarded the title of Cartier 2-Year-Old Filly, Inspiral (GB) (Frankel {GB}) became just the third filly to also take the Cartier 3-Year-Old Filly title. The Cheveley Park Stud homebred is in good company, however, as the earlier two winners are none other than Divine Proportions (Kingmambo) in 2005 and Minding (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in 2016. The John and Thady Gosden-trained bay scored an imperious victory in Royal Ascot's G1 Coronation S., and, after a second-place finish in the G1 Falmouth S., she bounced back with a gritty win in Deauville's G1 Prix Jacques Le Marois.

Kyprios proved unstoppable in the stayers' ranks throughout a six-start 4-year-old season, collecting victories from April through October. Trained by Aidan O'Brien for Moyglare Stud and the Coolmore partners, the chestnut's victory in the Listed Vintage Crop S. kickstarted a tour de force, quickly followed by the G3 Saval Beg Levmoss S. a month later. Stepped up to Group 1 company, the colt delivered in the Gold Cup, Goodwood Cup S., Irish St. Leger, and the Oct. 1 Prix du Cadran was a 20-length demolition job.

A hardy veteran of the handicap ranks, Highfield Princess proved a revelation when cut back to sprinting trips for owner-breeder John Fairley and trainer John Quinn. In action from February through November, the 5-year-old scored her first group win in the G2 Clipper Logistics S. at York in May, her fifth start of 2022. She earned her first top-drawer tally in the G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest two starts later at Deauville on Aug. 7, and then added the G1 Nunthorpe S. returned to the Knavesmire and in the Curragh's G1 Flying Five S, in August and September, respectively. Connections opted to try for an international Group 1 four-timer at the Breeders' Cup, but her draw and a rough trip did her no favours, and she was a close fourth.

Part of a legion of Group 1-winning juveniles for Aidan O'Brien and the Coolmore partners in 2022, Blackbeard (Ire) (No Nay Never) got the nod as the Cartier 2-Year-Old Colt. He won six of his eight starts in a busy 2-year-old campaign which culminated in a two-length victory in the G1 Middle Park S. The Derrick Smith, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor and Westerberg silksbearer also captured the G1 Prix Morny, G2 Prix Robert Papin, G3 Marble Hill S. and the Listed First Flier S. Set for stallion duties at Coolmore Ireland in 2023, he was second by a nostril in the G2 Railway S. en route to championship honours.

Blackbeard's Cartier 2-Year-Old Filly counterpart is Lezoo (GB) (Zoustar {Aus}). The Ralph Beckett-trained filly, owned by Marc Chan and Andrew Rosen, was first or second in all five starts in 2022. After taking the Listed Empress Fillies S. in late June, she was only a half-length back of 'TDN Rising Star' Mawj (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) in the G2 Duchess Of Cambridge S. at Newmarket a month later, and returned to winning ways in the G3 Princess Margaret S. at Ascot on July 23. Lezoo defeated subsequent GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf heroine Meditate (Ire) No Nay Never) in the G1 Cheveley Park S. back at Newmarket to end her season on a high in September.

The recipient of the Cartier/The Daily Telegraph Award of Merit is owner-breeder Kirsten Rausing of Lanwades Stud. Besides celebrating her homebred Alpinista winning the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, Rausing was also the breeder of G1 St Leger hero Eldar Eldarov (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), as well as recent Australian Group 1 winners Zaaki (GB) and Durston (GB). In addition, Rausing serves as an integral figure in the sport's governance and administration, while through her Alborada Trust, she has also provided vital funding for a host of causes in racing and wider society.

Laurent Feniou, Managing Director of Cartier UK, said, “We have been fortunate to witness another exceptional year of European horse racing and I am delighted to celebrate an outstanding group of horses at the 32nd Cartier Racing Awards. Baaeed lit up the season with four brilliant victories and he is a worthy recipient of the Cartier Horse of the Year award. We are also thrilled to honour Kirsten Rausing, who has given so much to the industry, with the Cartier/The Daily Telegraph Award of Merit. It is a privilege for Cartier to be able to recognise these champions of the sport and my deepest congratulations go out to all of this year's winners. I would like to extend special thanks to Racing Post, The Daily Telegraph and Sky Sports Racing for their continued support of the awards.”

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Magical Lagoon Ready To Go For QEII Cup

Classic heroine Magical Lagoon (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) is in “perfect condition” in advance of the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup on Nov. 14, according to assistant trainer Kate Harrington.

Racing for Zhang Yuesheng, the 3-year-old filly, who won the G2 Ribblesdale S. prior to her G1 Irish Oaks heroics, was fifth to future Arc winner Alpinista (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in the G1 Yorkshire Oaks in August.

“This morning, she galloped for about six furlongs,” said Harrington, who assists her mother, Jessica. “We just wanted to get a nice breeze into her and for Shane [Foley] to see how she's moving and how she was.

“She lost a nice bit of weight traveling here, but she's back to her best weight now. With Shane riding her today, she knows it's coming close to the race date, she's in perfect condition and we couldn't be happier with her. She's taking everything well in her stride and settled in really well with the surroundings here.

“The quick surface in Japan is one of the reasons why we brought her here. She's done well on quick surfaces in Europe and I think the right-handed course at Hanshin will suit her well. Magical Lagoon is a tough horse, she has stamina and she'll never give up a fight.”

Jockey Shane Foley added, “Hanshin Racecourse is a very good and fair track with a long straight so that she can get into a battle. The harder the battle, the better she'll be.

“She's usually good out of the gate and quick into her strides so we hope to get a nice position in the first five or six and get her into a nice rhythm.

“We'd prefer that it doesn't rain and that we can race on fast track because her best form is on firm ground, but she's getting stronger all the time and I think she'll handle it well. The soft ground in Japan is different to soft ground in Europe so hopefully it won't get too bad.”

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