Several of this week’s Royal Ascot principals have Del Mar on their schedule, while Aidan O’Brien saddled his 400th G1 winner at Britain’s most prestigious meeting. All this and more in our weekly digest of international racing news
Aussie star Asfoora set for Breeders’ Cup after Royal Ascot win
GB: Australian sprint star Asfoora looks set for further world travels after securing a guaranteed fees-paid berth at the Breeders’ Cup with a fine victory over a big field in the King Charles III Stakes at Royal Ascot on Tuesday [June 18].
Trainer Henry Dwyer is keen on a trip to Del Mar for the BC Turf Sprint after becoming the latest Aussie to thwart the European contingent in the G1 event formerly known as the King’s Stand Stakes.
Ridden by Oisin Murphy, the five-year-old scored by a length over Regional with Breeders’ Cup winner Big Evs running another big race in third. “The Breeders’ Cup came on the radar a fair while ago when they told me it was at Del Mar, ‘Where the turf meets the surf!’” said Asfoora’s trainer Henry Dwyer said.
“We’ve heard great things about Del Mar and I was very excited to put it on the itinerary provisionally. That was very much in the frame when the prep started.” More here
Big Evs is likely to reoppose in the BC Turf Sprint, while Queen Anne Stakes winner Charyn has earned a berth in the BC Mile as part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge. More here
Aidan O’Brien posts 400th G1 win with Auguste Rodin
GB: Aidan O’Brien reached a remarkable landmark at Royal Ascot on Wednesday [June 19] when Auguste Rodin became his 400th G1 winner on the Flat in the featured Prince of Wales’s Stakes.
The dual Derby winner held off the French pair of Zarakem and Horizon Dore to claim his sixth top-level success in the £1m contest by three-quarters of a length. Auguste Rodin’s fellow Breeders’ Cup winner Inspiral was only sixth.
Although the King George back at Ascot on July 27 is Auguste Rodin’s next target, O’Brien said a return to the Breeders’ Cup, where he won the Turf in 2023, is high on the agenda – with the Classic a possible option.
“The Breeders’ Cup is where everyone wants to be in the autumn,” said the trainer, whose first G1 win came via Desert King in the National Stakes at the Curragh in 1996. “Hopefully, everything is well with Auguste Rodin in the autumn, that’s where we’ll be if he is. I was very surprised when he worked on the dirt [last year at Santa Anita] at how he handled it.” More here
Docklands looks set for Cox Plate
Australia: Docklands, who was runner-up to Charyn in the Queen Anne Stakes on Tuesday [June 18], is likely to head to the Melbourne Spring Carnival later this year.
Carrying the colours of Australian-based OTI Racing, the four-year-old finished strongly for second in the G1 event over a mile for trainer Harry Eustace, brother of Melbourne Cup-winning trainer David Eustace.
“Naturally we are very happy with the run of Docklands and it now confirms that he is a realistic chance to come across to Australia in the spring,” said OTI Racing boss Terry Henderson. “Obviously, we’d like to head towards the Cox Plate and follow up with a race at Flemington.” More here
French Oaks winner Sparkling Plenty fetches £8.1m
France: Sparkling Plenty reached a remarkable sales price of £8.1 million ($10.3m) at the Goffs London Sale on Monday [June 17] – a day after the filly had won the Prix de Diane (French Oaks) at Chantilly.
Trained by Patrice Cottier, the daughter of Kingman claimed the Chantilly Classic with a late burst under Tony Piccone.
She was the prize lot at the eve-of-Royal Ascot sale in Kensington Gardens, where it emerged she had been bought back by owner-breeder Jean-Pierre-Joseph Dubois after a spirited bidding battle. A deal was also struck to sell a 50% share in Sparkling Plenty to Al Shaqab Racing for £5m ($6.36m). More here
Toby Sheets found dead in Greece
USA: Toby Sheets, a longtime assistant trainer to Steve Asmussen, was found dead on a beach on Sunday [June 16] on the Greek island of Mathraki. He was 55.
Sheets’s death is the latest in a series of such tragedies reported in Greece, thought to be as a result of an extreme heatwave hitting the country.
“Toby was a part of our stable for many years, including our Belmont Stakes win with Creator, as well as his expert handling of Haynesfield among others,” Asmussen told the Thoroughbred Daily News. “He will be deeply missed by his family and many friends.” More here
More than 20 mares and foals perish in French fire
France: More than 20 mares and foals have been killed in a fire at a Normandy stud. The fire broke out in the early hours of Sunday morning [June 16] at the Haras de Barnesq, near Bayeux, where Herostar, a full-brother to jumps stars Douvan and Jonbon, stands.
It is understood he was unharmed in the blaze at the farm, which is the base for Belgian owner-breeder Jose Lardot’s operation. More here
Elsewhere in racing …
USA: Ruidoso Downs evacuated due to wildfires More here
Australia: Melbourne Cup-winning jockey Brett Prebble announces retirement More here
Australia: Broadsiding makes claim for top 2yo honours More here
Canada: IFHA summit on equine safety and technology highlights recent research More here
Japan: Do Deuce tops Takarazuka Kinen More here
Japan: Keita Tosaki rides 1,500th winner More here
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