Top News Europe | Horse Racing Free Tips

Battaash’s King’s Stand Bid In Jeopardy

Battaash (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire})'s bid to defend his G1 King's Stand S. title could be in jeopardy, with the 7-year-old's return to trainer Charlie Hills's yard delayed after he picked up an injury while wintering at Shadwell.

Battaash sustained a small fracture over the winter, however he is back cantering and is expected to return to Hills in a matter of weeks.

“He just had a tiny little fracture in a joint during the winter and we've had to give him plenty of time off. He's had a pin put in it,” said Angus Gold, Shadwell's racing manager. “He's been back cantering for five weeks now and he seems fine at the moment and we will give him two more weeks cantering there and then, all being well, he will go back into training at that stage. Obviously the horse's welfare is our main concern.

“He'll be a month later going into training than normal, but [the late] Sheikh Hamdan did say to try him again as long as he was sound. Because he is going back in later than normal, it's not guaranteed he'll get to Royal Ascot. Hopefully he will, but we will see how he goes when he gets back in. He's seven years old and we need to make sure he's in one piece.”

The post Battaash’s King’s Stand Bid In Jeopardy appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Princess Zoe Kicks Off Ambitious Campaign

Princess Zoe (Ger) (Jukebox Jury {Ire}) captured the imagination of many with her meteoric rise from 64-rated German handicapper to Irish listed winner and French Group 1 scorer last season, and the Tony Mullins charge gets her 6-year-old campaign underway in Saturday's Listed Noblesse S. going 12 furlongs at Cork.

Princess Zoe was second on her first start for Mullins at Navan last June before winning five straight. She earned her first black-type victory under Joey Sheridan in Galway's mile and a half Listed Oyster S. before stepping up to 2 1/2 miles for success in ParisLongchamp's G1 Prix du Cadran. The grey rounded out her season with a fourth in the G1 Prix Royal-Oak.

Mullins made it no secret in the interim that his key goal for Princess Zoe in 2021 is the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, but he said on Friday that for now he is focusing on the first half of the year.

“The plan is to get two runs into her in April while there's a cut in the ground, and then we'll plan the rest of the season after that,” he said. “I'm keen to go back over a mile and a half with her. People have it in their heads that she's a dour stayer, but from the work I'm seeing, I think she'll be as effective or if not more over that trip. She's won over a mile and a half twice at Galway. Slow horses tend not to be able to do that.”

Princess Zoe's form was franked last weekend when Subjectivist, who she finished adrift of in the Prix Royal-Oak, emphatically won the G2 Dubai Gold Cup.

“Subjectivist was impressive in Dubai, and I thought her run behind him was equally as good as her first in my opinion,” Mullins said. “She'd had two trips to France–I thought that was very good. Hopefully she's as good this year. If she is, the world is our oyster.”

“Her work seems to be as good,” Mullins added. “She wouldn't be 100%, but we're not far off it. She's a strange filly, because she loves hard work. We gave her a break after Longchamp, but she was very unhappy, and we had to put her back in light training all winter because she was very upset. She's not like us, craving a break–she loves her work. So while she's fit, she might not just be as razor-sharp as she would be after a run or two.

As for what could come after Princess Zoe sharpens up, Mullins said, “We've half an idea of running at Royal Ascot–then after that, I can't see her running again until September. We have put her in the [G2] Yorkshire Cup, but we have a plan to go to the [G3] Vintage Crop at Navan at the end of April–if it came up firm we have the York option.

“It might mean meeting Stradivarius at York, but I can say if we can't beat him then we haven't got an Arc filly–we're thinking big.”

Returning to the immediacy of Saturday's race, Mullins said, “There are no easy races in Ireland now–they are so competitive. Having had a quick look, I thought Jessie Harrington's [Flor De La Luna] and Ger Lyons's [Yaxeni] would be the biggest dangers–but if we under-perform there would be others.”

The post Princess Zoe Kicks Off Ambitious Campaign appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

EBF Pledges £1.8-Million To Prizemoney In 2021

The European Breeders' Fund has pledged £1.8-million of its earnings from British-based stallions to prizemoney enhancements in 2021 between flat and National Hunt races, focused between Class 4 and listed level races. The £1.68-million pledged to flat racing covers more than 600 races, and is the EBF's joint-highest contribution equal to 2019.

In 2020, 595 flat races were run in 2020 under EBF conditions, receiving £1,430,250 of funding. British EBF financial contributions made up 22.5% of the £6,358,360 total prize money of these races, making them the second-largest sponsor in the sport. When racing was halted in the early part of 2020, the EBF re-strategised its initial allocations to release as much EBF money as possible when racing resumed. It also asked racecourses to reflect 100% of EBF money above the BHA minimum prize funds.

“2020 was a tough year for everyone but we were delighted to be able to get more than £1.5-million in to prize money, even with a truncated race programme,” said British EBF Chairman Simon Sweeting. “The relative strength of the stallion market means that we have been able to maintain our commitment to racing's prize money in 2021, when we know the effects of the last year will be felt keenly. We hope by the careful budgeting and strategy of the British EBF team, that we will be able to provide a certain amount of continuity and continue to elevate prize money wherever we can.”

British EBF Race Planning Committee Member Sam Bullard added, “We are constantly assessing our portfolio of races and how we support them; we work closely with the BHA and racecourses to identify new funding opportunities and are happy to support a much-needed new conditions race for 3-year-olds to be debuted at Goodwood's May fixture. We are also keen to back projects that provide specific developmental opportunities. A great example of this are the hugely successful British EBF Future Stayers' races. Designed to give juvenile maiden and novice opportunities for horses with middle and staying distance pedigrees, they have produced a runners to subsequent black-type winners ratio of 9%.”

The British EBF welcomes Jono Mills as a trustee for 2021. Mills replaces Sam Bullard as the Darley representative, but will remain on both the Flat and National Hunt Race Planning Committees.

The post EBF Pledges £1.8-Million To Prizemoney In 2021 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

2021 Furlong Factor Open For Entries

Racing Welfare in conjunction with Great British Racing (GBR), the Tote and Sky Sports Racing, have launched the 2021 edition of the pop idol competition, Furlong Factor. Introduced last season, the competition is free to enter and first prize is £1,500 in cash and a trophy from Inkerman London. All funds raised from the Furlong Factor will go toward Racing Welfare's Lost Events Appeal. Entries close Apr. 21. To enter, contestants are asked to record themselves singing into their phone and email their videos to communications@racingwelfare.co.uk or send in by WhatsApp to 07970 631170.

Selected entries will go through to a round of heats which will run from Apr. 26-30. A winner will be selected from each heat, as voted for by the public, and will go through to the May 4 final, during which fans will have the opportunity to back their favourite contestant through the Tote before voting on Twitter to find the grand winner of the Furlong Factor. The winner will be announced live on Sky Sports Racing.

Full details on contest entry are available at: http://racingwelfare.co.uk/furlong-factor/.

“The financial impact of the pandemic continues to hit us hard and I would encourage anyone who enjoys this year's Furlong Factor to consider donating to our Lost Events Appeal,” said Racing Welfare Chief Executive Dawn Goodfellow. “Every donation, no matter how big or small, enables us to help those who need us the most at this time.”

For more information on Lost Events Appeal or to donate, visit https://justgiving.com/campaign/RWlostevents.

The post 2021 Furlong Factor Open For Entries appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post