Bluestocking added to field for European showpiece but Auguste Rodin heads for Japan, Belmont hero retired and record prizes at Keeneland – all this and more in our weekly digest of recent international racing news
Star filly Bluestocking added to Arc field
France: Prix Vermeille winner Bluestocking has been supplemented for €120,000 to join the field for the Qatar-sponsored Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe on Sunday [Oct 6].
Trained by Ralph Beckett for Juddmonte, who teamed up 12 months ago with Arc runner-up Westover, the dual G1-winning filly is part of a 16-runner field for Europe’s richest race, in which leading French-trained three-year-olds Look De Vega and Sosie head the market.
Auguste Rodin does not run owing to soft ground, leaving world #1 trainer Aidan O’Brien to rely on Irish Derby winner Los Angeles and Continuous, while Japan fields a leading contender in Shin Emperor.
Carrying prize-money of €5m ($5.5m), the Arc is one of eight G1 contests at ParisLongchamp this weekend. Other highlights include star stayer Kyprios, who heads the Prix du Cadran on Saturday, and Breeders’ Cup-bound sprinter Bradsell, looking to complete a G1 hat-trick in Sunday’s Prix de l’Abbaye. More here
Auguste Rodin to end career in Japan Cup before stud duties
Ireland: Six-time G1 winner Auguste Rodin, withdrawn from the Arc at Thursday’s final declaration stage, will end his career in the Japan Cup in Tokyo on November 24 before being retired to stud at Coolmore’s Irish base.
The son of Japanese icon Deep Impact, a dual Derby winner who also won last year’s Breeders’ Cup Turf, was a G1 winner at two, three and four for trainer Aidan O’Brien.
“Auguste Rodin is an exceptional racehorse and stallion prospect with the blend of class, speed and pedigree that only the best possess,” said Coolmore’s MV Magnier. “He is a very special horse for us, and I truly believe he ranks up there with the best middle-distance racehorses and sires that we have stood here before him.”
Auguste Rodin’s regular rider Ryan Moore added: “He's been an unbelievable horse for us. We have always thought the world of him. He has everything you’d want. He has so much pace. He could kill horses for speed, and he was able to stretch that over 12 furlongs. Horses like him are so hard to find. An incredible horse.” More here
Belmont Stakes hero Dornoch retired to Spendthrift
USA: Belmont Stakes winner Dornoch, one of the leading lights of the US Classic generation, will miss the Breeders’ Cup Classic and has been retired after being diagnosed with bone bruising.
The son of Good Magic, who also won the Haskell Stakes before a below-par run in the Travers, will begin his stud career at Spendthrift Farm in 2025.
“Dornoch owes us nothing – he’s the best horse I’ve ever trained,” said trainer Danny Gargan. “We decided to have the vets go over him thoroughly before we started to really ramp up his works for the Breeders’ Cup. That’s when some bone bruising was discovered.” More here
Keeneland boasts record prize-money – and richest race
USA: Keeneland’s short, sharp 17-day Fall Meet kicks off tomorrow [Oct 4] as the most lucrative in the famous venue’s history featuring 22 stakes worth a record $9.85m.
The Coolmore Turf Mile, $1.25m highlight of a stakes-laden card on Saturday [Oct 5], will be the richest race ever run at Keeneland, outside the Breeders' Cup. Carl Spackler heads the home team against eight rivals including the Harry Charlton-trained Kikkuli from the UK – the mount of Frankie Dettori – and Aidan O’Brien’s Mountain Bear.
The race is part of the opening ‘Fall Stars Weekend’ – three racedays with a total of 11 stakes worth $5.8m, among them eight Breeders’ Cup ‘Win and You’re In’ Challenge events. More here
• Keeneland catalogs 3,373 horses for November Breeding Stock Sale More here
• Janney breeding stock to be dispersed at Keeneland More here
Big Brown’s new home at Old Friends
USA: Big Brown (right), brilliant winner of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes in 2008, has been retired to Old Friends Thoroughbred retirement farm in Georgetown, Kentucky.
The 19-year-old arrived at the facility on Friday [Sept 27], courtesy of Andy Cohen, managing partner of the Big Brown syndicate.
“It doesn’t seem that long ago when we would visit Big Brown in the middle of the night and just hang out with him,” said Cohen. “He was like a puppy and especially loved it when the young children would come over to pet him. I couldn’t be more comfortable knowing Big Brown will get the love and care he deserves at Old Friends where the horse is the boss.” More here
Rouget/Reynier ‘superstable’ proposals scrapped
France: The proposed merger between leading trainers Jean-Claude Rouget and Jerome Reynier to form a French ‘superstable’ partnership has fallen through.
The pair’s plan to combine forces from the start of next year has been scrapped and both trainers set to continue as independent entities. “It’s not going to go ahead, it just wasn’t viable,” said Reynier, who plans to open his own satellite yard near Paris.
“It was very hard to organise, financially and structurally, with the staff and everything else,” he went on. “We tried to put everything in place but it was too much of a nightmare to organise.” More here
Elsewhere in racing …
USA: Runnymede’s Catesby Clay dies at 101 More here
Bahrain:Strong entry revealed for Bahrain International Trophy More here
Japan: Mickaelle Michel fails JRA exam but granted short-term NAR licence More here
GB: Lake Victoria is new 1,000 Guineas favourite More here
Australia: Without A Fight out of Melbourne Cup More here
France: Dual Classic heroine Blue Rose Cen is retired More here
South Africa: Unbeaten filly Gimme A Nother arrives in France More here
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