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Main Sequence not the only focus as Derby expectancy grows for Lanigans
30 May 2012 12:00 AM
Their second child is due within days, but David Lanigan yesterday reported his wife and secretary to be still diligently at her desk in the office of their new stables in Lambourn. Should things start happening sooner than anticipated, Amy knows just what to expect – above all on Saturday, when her husband will have no less a distraction than an unbeaten colt in the Investec Derby. "For our first-born, she drove herself to the hospital," Lanigan confessed. "I joined her there after third lot."
McCabe's Caspar Netscher strikes a Classic blow for Camelot's also-rans
29 May 2012 12:00 AM
Camelot so bestrides the Investec Derby that some bookmakers now offer odds that would qualify him as the hottest favourite since Tudor Minstrel was beaten at 4-7 in 1947. Only 11 other colts were left in the race yesterday, four of them from the same stables in Co Tipperary, and he is just 8-13 with Betfred to win on Saturday.
Samitar is a Classic first for Harley and Channon
28 May 2012 12:00 AM
For once yesterday, the spotlight was off Aidan O'Brien, who had taken a record-equalling 27th Irish Classic on Saturday, and on to a young man winning his first of any stripe. Step forward last year's apprentice champion Martin Harley, victorious on the 12-1 chance Samitar in the 1,000 Guineas at the Curragh in a finish dominated by outsiders.
Equestrianism: French shows Olympic form
28 May 2012 12:00 AM
Piggy French underlined her Olympic selection credentials with a commanding performance at the Houghton International Horse Trials in Norfolk yesterday.
Power surges to Irish Guineas glory
27 May 2012 12:00 AM
Trainer Aidan O'Brien maintains his stranglehold on this year's Classics and the best may be yet to come
Daddy too long even if Hall is in the next parish
26 May 2012 12:00 AM
O'Brien contender looks value as Bolger preps his Derby hope on seasonal debut in Irish Guineas
Knight hands over reins to be with best mate
25 May 2012 12:00 AM
If some of the circumstances of her retirement seem fairly poignant, then at least Henrietta Knight has contrived a sequel that confounds convention in satisfyingly consistent fashion. For the trainer who won so many hearts in her oddball partnership with Terry Biddlecombe has arranged to transfer most of their horses to the care of another hobbling, plain-talking veteran of debilitating sporting triumph, in Mick Channon.
Morrison follows his Star on parallel path to Oaks success
24 May 2012 12:00 AM
In his youth, Hughie Morrison saw his father breed two Oaks winners from the same mare, so he could hardly be astounded if two candidates for the same Classic happened to emerge from one stable.
Tregoning convinced Derby will reveal dash in Cavaleiro
23 May 2012 12:00 AM
The man who saddled the 2006 winner yesterday resolved to ride the crest of a wave back to the Investec Derby on Saturday week. Marcus Tregoning, trainer of Sir Percy, has sent out five winners from nine runners since Cavaleiro finished third on his reappearance in the Lingfield Trial. And while he did consider a less demanding option at Goodwood on Friday, Tregoning anticipates so much improvement from the colt that he now intends to wait for the big one.
Bolger sets Parish Hall Classic challenge en route to Camelot
22 May 2012 12:00 AM
Though the race falls only a week before Epsom, the Abu Dhabi Irish 2,000 Guineas on Saturday will not only measure the form of Camelot but could also produce an 11th-hour threat to the odds-on favourite for the Investec Derby.
I'll Have Another fires rich dreams of US Triple Crown
21 May 2012 12:00 AM
Whatever the fate of the 2,000 Guineas winner Camelot at Epsom in 12 days' time, and whatever his destiny afterwards, at least one Triple Crown dream is still alive. The Kentucky Derby hero I'll Have Another followed up in the second leg of the US version, the Preakness Stakes, on Saturday night and is now bound for the third, next month's Belmont Stakes.
Fabulous Frankel has both heart and mind
20 May 2012 12:00 AM
World's greatest racehorse returns from injury to take his unbeaten run to 10, and his trainer warns there is better to come
Frankel primed to join the all-time greats
19 May 2012 12:00 AM
He has nothing to fear but fear itself. The very fact that Frankel returns at all, of course, must be counted auspicious in that regard.
Bonfire to face old flame in Derby
18 May 2012 12:00 AM
One of the British Turf's most gratifying rituals is to observe the runners strolling around the parade ring before its greatest race. This time round, however, it may prove so revealing that the actual running of the Investec Derby could itself obtain a somewhat ceremonial quality. For if the herd leader is usually identified at the Epsom winning post, some subtle obeisance might be discernible even before the colts are saddled a fortnight tomorrow.
Fugue tunes up for Oaks challenge
17 May 2012 12:00 AM
The theme stated so boldly over its opening bars may yet recur inexorably through the Classic season, but some ears are beginning to pick up a developing counterpoint. Having already won the 1,000 and 2,000 Guineas, horses trained by Aidan O'Brien dominate betting on both Epsom Classics. Yesterday, however, the Ballydoyle trainer brought an odds-on favourite to York for an unceremonious thrashing in the last major trial for the Investec Oaks, and today he will find out where he stands with the two colts closest to Camelot in the Derby market. If either Bonfire or Mandaean remotely approaches the performance of The Fugue, certainly, O'Brien will know that horses trained on British soil do not intend to cede its most precious turf without a fight.
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