Henri Matisse ready to renew Field Of Gold rivalry at Goodwood
The Ballydoyle handler said: 'He's being trained for the Sussex and is going good so far. We're very happy with him and he is progressing.'
Also a runner-up at the Royal meeting was Illinois, in the Gold Cup behind Trawlerman, and he too is set for a trip to the Sussex Downs, where he could be joined by an emerging stablemate.
O'Brien said: 'At the moment he (Illinois) is going for the Goodwood Cup and it's possible that Scandinavia could go there as well.
'We were very happy with his run in Ascot. We'd prefer he had another year before he went there (for the Gold Cup), but that is the way it worked out.'
O'Brien also outlined plans for Coventry Stakes winner Gstaad, who will be seen next in top-level action at the Curragh.
He said: 'The plan is to go for the Phoenix Stakes (August 9). That is the way we are thinking at the moment.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
3 minutes ago
- BBC News
Ray French - dual-code international and iconic voice of rugby league
For millions brought up in rugby league's television age, Ray French's voice was synonymous as the soundtrack to the glory years of the sport in the 1980s and was a time when rugby league was a staple of Saturday afternoon Grandstand, with a nationwide audience tuning in to action from places largely across the north of England - Wigan, Castleford, Oldham, it was a time when the sport had a wider profile, when Ellery Hanley, Garry Schofield, Martin Offiah and, further afield, Mal Meninga were household Ray French was one too. Walking the walk to go with the talk French was far more than an iconic broadcaster, however. He walked the walk to go with his commentary was a much-respected player and, employed as a teacher in his native St Helens away from the field - grounding that would prove essential in his future ability took a lad from the working class north into the establishment elite of English rugby union, earning him international honours in the 15-player Helens saw the qualities and brought him home to play rugby league, and he was part of a successful side alongside fellow Saints legends such as Kel Coslett, Tom van Vollenhoven and later commentary partner Alex ended his career at Widnes, and became a dual-code international when he represented Great Britain and was part of the 1968 World Cup squad, playing alongside stars such as Roger Millward, Neil Fox and Cliff was an intelligence to his play, an eye for a pass to go with the robust requirements of playing second-row in the hurly-burly of the 1960s. Becoming the voice, following an icon For all his on-field excellence, it was the voice, the tone and the lexicon employed in French's second rugby league career which made many, including this boy from beyond the heartlands in Nottingham, fall in love with the game and his wonderful was a tough gig, following in the footsteps of the pioneering Eddie Waring, who took rugby league mainstream and forged a career in light entertainment as a well-known figure in the broadcasting was not for rubbing shoulders with Morecambe and Wise. For him, it was about putting the sport in its best his first Challenge Cup final in 1981 through to the last in 2008, and a host of Test matches and internationals, French soundtracked some of the greatest players and the greatest games in his inimitable 1985, Wigan versus Hull. Arguably the ultimate Challenge Cup final."He can step on a threepenny bit this lad!" French said as John Ferguson worked in the tiniest of spaces to finish for emotive language, the punching tone bright with enthusiasm and excitement. Nine years later, Jonathan Davies outstripped Australia's rapid-quick Brett Mullins to score a brilliant try - again on Wembley's grand stage."He's got the head back! The Welshman is in for a magnificent try."One of the most memorable Great Britain tries, called the greatest moment was his call of Martin Offiah's rip-roaring length of the field effort under the twin towers for Wigan in the 1994 Challenge Cup final against Leeds, just months before Davies' was goosed having touched down, barely able to acknowledge his feat as he sank to his knees with emotion. French had the words."That must rank among the finest ever seen on this ground."Captured to all commentators, he had his pet lines. "He's going for the line!" being a famous one, and his penchant for the combo of a player's weight and amateur club was another little idiosyncrasy that fans grew to package of a sing-song voice-note forged by his St Helens upbringing, the richness of his vocabulary, his authenticity as someone steeped in rugby league and his brilliant rapport on the mic with Joe Lydon, Maurice Bamford and former team-mate Murphy, and in later years those he had called home to score such as Davies, helped establish Ray as an iconic voice. 'A genuinely lovely human being' Beyond all of his abilities in a professional capacity, those who worked with Ray in the game will recall a genuinely lovely human coaches, directors, owners, fans encountered an engaging, friendly, humble and kind man, always happy to talk about his beloved years he was the main man for rugby league at the BBC, and yet never forgot his roots and his his later years, Ray kept his hand in commentary with Radio Merseyside often alongside great friend Allan Rooney, and it was a joy to spend time listening to the pair's stories, patter and was the equivalent of seeing Barry Davies or John Motson down at your local club, yet it was just business as usual for French will always be rugby league royalty and a broadcasting legend.
Glasgow Times
8 minutes ago
- Glasgow Times
Balding: We'll work back from the Arc with Kalpana
Andrew Balding's four-year-old had run admirably in defeat in both her prior outings this term, last seen going down fighting in a titanic dual with Whirl on the Curragh last month. Returned to her favoured distance of a mile and a half, it momentarily looked like Kalpana had slipped the field when Oisin Murphy asked the Juddmonte-owned filly to quicken. However, hot on her tail was Francis-Henri Graffard's French raider Calandagan, who ensured Kalpana had to once again dip into her reserves and battle before being thwarted close home. Kalpana went down fighting at Ascot (PA) 'I'm very proud of her, she's run her heart out again and just been beaten by a very good horse,' said Balding. 'She's done nothing wrong, had every chance, just bumped into a quick one on the day. 'It would have probably helped our cause if a bit more rain had got into the ground, but we can't complain.' For Juddmonte it was once again Graffard who proved their nemesis after Goliath denied Bluestocking 12 months ago. Ralph Beckett's filly would of course claim the Prix Vermeille and then the Arc, and hopes are high Kalpana could do the same. THE FRENCH RAIDER HAS DONE IT! 🇫🇷 CALANDAGAN WINS THE KING GEORGE VI AND QUEEN ELIZABETH STAKES! — At The Races (@AtTheRaces) July 26, 2025 Her route to the Arc could see her follow Bluestocking and head to ParisLongchamp for an early sighter in the Vermeille. But Balding could instead use another route successfully used by a Juddmonte star in the past – and search for back-to-back victories in Kempton's September Stakes, a race Enable won before downing Sea Of Class in the French capital in 2018. 'She's a class act and she's tightened up again since her two runs and come forward again, we're excited about the autumn,' added Balding. 'I would have thought that was a career-best effort and we'll be working back from Paris in October. 'She's in the Yorkshire Oaks, but she's had a hard race today and we'll work back from the Arc. Trainer Andrew Balding could have an Arc contender on his hands (Nigel French for The Jockey Club/PA) 'We could head to the Vermeille, but she hasn't won a race yet this year so could go to the September Stakes without a penalty which might be an easier 'in'. 'It is likely to be one or the other and there's an extra week this year from the Vermeille to the Arc so anything is possible. 'The Kempton race she won last year and is on our doorstep and you are guaranteed the surface. But the Vermeille could be a good shot at a Group One, so we'll see.' Also given an international objective, albeit further afield, is Charlie Appleby's stable stalwart Rebel's Romance who was a luckless third in his quest to follow up Hardwicke Stakes success at Royal Ascot. Rebel's Romance could only finish third (David Davies/PA) Short of room at a vital stage, William Buick was forced to sit and suffer, as he repeated last year's placed effort in the race. Appleby said: 'He ran a solid race. It was a tactical race in a small field and no one would have expected the leader to be who it was (Jan Brueghel). It was very slow fractions in the first half a mile. 'We were in that pocket and with a horse that we know gallops we would have liked to have got out and got rolling. The rain earlier was nothing and that didn't settle the dust. 'He will go on his travels again now and we will point him towards the Canadian International.'
Leader Live
22 minutes ago
- Leader Live
Balding: We'll work back from the Arc with Kalpana
Andrew Balding's four-year-old had run admirably in defeat in both her prior outings this term, last seen going down fighting in a titanic dual with Whirl on the Curragh last month. Returned to her favoured distance of a mile and a half, it momentarily looked like Kalpana had slipped the field when Oisin Murphy asked the Juddmonte-owned filly to quicken. However, hot on her tail was Francis-Henri Graffard's French raider Calandagan, who ensured Kalpana had to once again dip into her reserves and battle before being thwarted close home. 'I'm very proud of her, she's run her heart out again and just been beaten by a very good horse,' said Balding. 'She's done nothing wrong, had every chance, just bumped into a quick one on the day. 'It would have probably helped our cause if a bit more rain had got into the ground, but we can't complain.' For Juddmonte it was once again Graffard who proved their nemesis after Goliath denied Bluestocking 12 months ago. Ralph Beckett's filly would of course claim the Prix Vermeille and then the Arc, and hopes are high Kalpana could do the same. THE FRENCH RAIDER HAS DONE IT! 🇫🇷 CALANDAGAN WINS THE KING GEORGE VI AND QUEEN ELIZABETH STAKES! — At The Races (@AtTheRaces) July 26, 2025 Her route to the Arc could see her follow Bluestocking and head to ParisLongchamp for an early sighter in the Vermeille. But Balding could instead use another route successfully used by a Juddmonte star in the past – and search for back-to-back victories in Kempton's September Stakes, a race Enable won before downing Sea Of Class in the French capital in 2018. 'She's a class act and she's tightened up again since her two runs and come forward again, we're excited about the autumn,' added Balding. 'I would have thought that was a career-best effort and we'll be working back from Paris in October. 'She's in the Yorkshire Oaks, but she's had a hard race today and we'll work back from the Arc. 'We could head to the Vermeille, but she hasn't won a race yet this year so could go to the September Stakes without a penalty which might be an easier 'in'. 'It is likely to be one or the other and there's an extra week this year from the Vermeille to the Arc so anything is possible. 'The Kempton race she won last year and is on our doorstep and you are guaranteed the surface. But the Vermeille could be a good shot at a Group One, so we'll see.' Also given an international objective, albeit further afield, is Charlie Appleby's stable stalwart Rebel's Romance who was a luckless third in his quest to follow up Hardwicke Stakes success at Royal Ascot. Short of room at a vital stage, William Buick was forced to sit and suffer, as he repeated last year's placed effort in the race. Appleby said: 'He ran a solid race. It was a tactical race in a small field and no one would have expected the leader to be who it was (Jan Brueghel). It was very slow fractions in the first half a mile. 'We were in that pocket and with a horse that we know gallops we would have liked to have got out and got rolling. The rain earlier was nothing and that didn't settle the dust. 'He will go on his travels again now and we will point him towards the Canadian International.'
