5th June, 2011 – Queen Elizabeth ll’s dream of finally winning the Epsom Derby with ‘Carlton House’ was crushed by an electric burst of acceleration from a French trained colt ‘Pour Moi’. Carlton House, a gift to the Queen from Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed, carried the hopes of many after widespread media coverage prior to Her Majesty’s 10th attempt to win the world’s greatest flat race.
Pour Moi, trained by Chantilly-based Andre Fabre and ridden by teenage Derby debutant Mickael Barzalona, gave a scintillating performance to stun the crowd of royal supporters, Andre having had nine previous attempts himself to win this greatest of accolades.
Sired by the great Montjeu who now stands at Coolmore Stud in Ireland, Pour Moi is owned by the Tabor, Magnier and Smith partnership who now not only look forward to a slice of the £1.2m prize money but riches much greater in future stud fees that a triumph in this Classic will generate.
LONG RUN became the youngest horse to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup for nearly 50 years in a truly enthralling race. The showpiece of the festival lived up to its name when the Nicky Henderson trained horse powered to a seven length victory ridden by amateur jockey Sam Waley-Cohen. Kauto Star and Denman, the previous Gold Cup winners ( 2007, 2008, 2009 ) trained by Paul Nicholls, put up an immensely brave challenge together with last year’s victor, Imperial Commander but eventually bowed down to the strength of the young contender. The 6 year old French bred gelding, owned by the father of the jockey went off as 7-2 favourite giving his Berkshire based trainer the elusive victory that he has sought for 33 years.
Denman ran a terrific race in defeat to finish runner up for the second year and stable mate Kauto Star held on to third place. Thirteen horses went to post for the 3m 2½ furlong Steeple Chase which was first run in 1924 and now boasts £500,000 in prize money.
Kiwi Caroline Powell became the first New Zealand woman to win the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials in England at the weekend. Caroline, who hails from Christchurch but is now based on the Scottish Borders at Kelso, joins fellow countrymen Blyth Tait, Andrew Nicholson and Mark Todd on the roll of honour.
Riding the popular 17-year-old grey gelding, Lenamore, they put in a foot perfect performance and remained unphased by pressure after finishing dressage and cross country in pole position with a score of 38.7. Lenamore was one of the oldest horses in the competition and stands at just 15.3 hh.
Seventy six riders from twelve different nations competed for this coveted title, with first ever entries from China and Lithuania. Renown as being a tough challenge with its undulating cross country course and thirty demanding fences, Burghley requires both skill and stamina in abundance.
Three times Champion jockey Ryan Moore completed a famous Investec Derby/Oaks Classic double at the weekend, breaking the track record in the process. Saturday’s stunning 7 length victory on Workforce was also the best Derby winning performance since Generous in 1991. This talented but inexperienced colt showed great acceleration on fast ground on this notoriously difficult and undulating course. Owned and bred by Prince Khalid Abdulla (Juddmonte Farms), Workforce (by King’s Best – USA) carried his famous green and pink silks to a third Derby victory following Quest For Fame in 1990 and Commander In Chief, 1993. Prince Khalid has extensive breeding and racing interests in America, England and Ireland. Trainer Sir Michael Stoute, who is based in Newmarket, is now the most successful current trainer of the Derby with five wins.
The Investec Oaks winner Snow Fairy, owned by Cristina Patino was bought for just 1,800 euros at Tattersall’s Ireland sales in 2008. Winning in determined fashion by a neck, with the rest of the fifteen runners strung out behind, this gutsy filly by Intikhab (USA) was supplemented for the Oaks at a cost of £20,000 after winning a listed race at Goodwood last month. This was trainer Ed Dunlop’s second Oaks victory after previous success with the brilliant Ouija Board six years ago.
Fourteen times Champion jockey Tony McCoy won the Grand National at Aintree on Saturday, the world’s most famous steeplechase. After fourteen attempts dating back to 1995, an emotional McCoy couldn’t hide his joy when winning the race which had eluded him for so long. Victory prevailed riding the Jonjo O’Neill trained 10/1 joint favourite ‘Don’t Push It’, a 10 year old bay gelding by ‘Old Vic’. For millionaire owner J P McManus, this win was also long overdue after 33 attempts since his first as an owner in 1982.
A maximum field of forty runners lined up to tackle the awesome Aintree course. The four and a half mile race with 30 fences has a total prize fund of 925,000 pounds and is arguably the toughest test of horse and jockey in the world. An estimated 100 million pounds is wagered on the race each year with this year’s outcome costing the bookmakers an estimated 50 million pounds.
Runner up Black Apalachi was prominent throughout but McCoy was always stalking him on the second circuit before jumping the last together and pulling clear to win by five lengths.
The Cheltenham Gold Cup produced more drama to end a week in which only 3 clear favourites won, producing a succession of unexpected results. Crowds reached an all time high but Britain’s bookies were last night celebrating their 45-million-pound windfall after the odds-on favourite, Kauto Star and his stable companion rival, Denman, failed to win this coveted prize.
Kauto Star was bidding for a third Gold Cup victory and a second in a row but the Paul Nicholls trained 10-year-old had a crashing fall four fences from home after making a blunder early on. Denman, who won in 2008, took up the running and a battle ensued but even with champion jockey Tony McCoy on board, they couldn’t hold off an impressive challenge by younger rival, Imperial Commander (7/1). Locally trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies, this handsome son of Flemensfirth (USA) surged clear to win by seven lengths, giving trainer and jockey Paddy Brennan their first Gold Cup victories. Mon Mome who won the 2009 Grand National finished third.
A cheer of relief erupted from the crowd as Kauto Star returned unscathed. He will now have a well earned rest until next season. Mon Mome will now head to Aintree to attempt to become the first dual Grand national winner since Red Rum and Denman will likely have the Grand National as his principal target next season.
Despite his disappointment on Kauto Star, Ruby Walsh was leading jockey at the festival for the fifth time. Nicky Henderson won the top trainer award.
Mild sunny weather welcomed the return of enthusiastic crowds to Prestbury Park with the promise of 4 days of top quality National Hunt racing and the pinnacle of the racing year – the Cheltenham Gold Cup on Friday.
The first day of the Cheltenham festival hit punters pockets hard with surprise results when 5 favourites failed to win. Champion jockey Tony McCoy’s joy was evident when winning the feature race, the Champion Hurdle, on Binocular. Up until last week it was unclear if the Nicky Henderson trained gelding would run because of recent injury. This French bred six year old, who finished 3rd in 2009, was always travelling sweetly and took command between the last two hurdles to win comfortably giving his popular Irish owner, J. P. McManus, his 22nd festival success.
But much of the festival focus remains on Friday’s eagerly anticipated Gold Cup which will see a clash for the 3rd time of super equine heroes, Kauto Star and Denman. The Paul Nicholls trained duo have captured the hearts of the nation and Kauto Star’s bid to win this three and a quarter mile chase would secure a place in the history books with former champions Arkle, Best Mate, Golden Miller and Cottage Rake.
Moorlands Totilas and Dutch rider Edward Gal beat their own impressive record when claiming the Grand Prix Kur in the CDIW at Olympia on Wednesday evening with a score of 92.30% to win by a massive ten percent margin. The nine year old black Stallion by Gribaldi was victorious earlier in the year at the FEI European Championships at Windsor, on that occasion posting a score or 90.70% to win the Freestyle individual Gold medal.
Performing to a bespoke classical music ensemble named ‘Totally Totilas’ the Stallion executed an accurate test that highlighted his extravagant paces, immense power and superb elevation.
Last year’s winners, Adelinde Cornelissen and Parzival, also representing the Netherlands, had to settle for 2nd place on this occasion on a score of 82.05%. The 12 year old chesnut gelding by Jazz looked tense having been unsettled by the electric atmosphere as 8,500 spectators looked on. Read more> http://www.horsesinthesouth.com/article/article_detail.aspx?id=9305
12th December, 2009 – Khyber Kim produced a shock win in the Boylesports.com International Hurdle at Cheltenham this weekend, beating last year’s Champion Hurdle winner ‘Punjabi’ and odds-on-favourite ‘Celestial Halo’. This eagerly contested Champion Hurdle trial now puts ‘Khyber Kim’ into the reckoning to follow up and win the big race at the Festival in March next year.
Reputedly a quirky character, the seven year old who also won last month’s Greatwood Hurdle, gave jockey Paddy Brennan his third win of the day. Trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies now aims to give his athletic charge one more run to keep him sweet before the big day. Despite their defeat, trainers Paul Nicholls and Nicky Henderson remained upbeat about the performances of Celestial Halo and Punjabi who was having his first run of the season.
‘Poquelin’ stormed to victory with an impressive seven length win in the Boylesports.com Gold Cup after finishing second in the Paddy Power Gold Cup last month. Owned by leading jumps enthusiast Andy Stewart, whose black, red and white racing colours are a familiar sight, Poquelin is now second favourite to win the Ryanair Chase at the Festival. This win comes hot on the heels of recent successes for the formidable trainer/jockey duo Paul Nicholls and Ruby Walsh with stable stars Denman, Kauto Star and Twist Magic. Read more> http://www.horsesinthesouth.com/article/article_detail.aspx?id=9279
16th November, 2009 – Fierce winds and testing going challenged entries at Cheltenham’s Open meeting, reputedly the most important venue in the first half the National Hunt season in England. Each of the 3 days presented a feature race, the highlight being the highly competitive ‘Paddy Power Gold Cup’ which has been a high point in the racing calendar since 1960.
SURPRISINGLY, the Irish, with their impressive winning record at the Cheltenham Festival in March, had not won the Paddy Power Gold Cup or its equivalent for almost three decades but this year the Edward O’Grady trained ‘Tranquil Sea’ cast adrift his 15 rivals before the home straight to the sheer delight of the crowd. Jubilant jockey Andrew McNamara couldn’t hide his joy when the well backed 11-2 favourite came home four and a half lengths in front of ‘Poquelin’, with ‘Hold Em’ third and ‘Ballyfitz’ fourth. The seven year old bay travelled comfortably throughout the two and a half mile race to scoop the lion’s share of the £150,000 prize fund. More reasons to celebrate followed when two hundred people in the Club Enclosure took advantage of a full £30 ticket refund, promised to them if the Irish won the big race.
Friday’s hugely popular Countryside Raceday with its traditional country fair atmosphere featured the unique Glenfarclas Cross Country Steeplechase – a course combining hedges, banks and timber rails over a distance just short of four miles. Irish horses have dominated this race in recent times, this running being no exception. Favourite ‘Garde Champetre’ powered home to an outstanding success when given a confident ride by jockey Nina Carberry, beating stablemate ‘Headsontheground’. Sporting the well known green and gold colours of legendary gambler JP McManus and trained by Enda Bolger, ‘Garde Champetre’ follows in the footsteps of four times winner (2004 – 07) ‘Spotthedifference’, owned and trained by the same duo. Although ‘Garde Champetre’ may now return to Cheltenham for the cross-country race next month, he is not expected to run in the Grand National in April. Read more> http://www.horsesinthesouth.com/article/article_detail.aspx?id=8878
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