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Prague has Epsom target following Lockinge defection

Prague has Epsom target following Lockinge defection

Dylan Cunha's stable star was poised to make his comeback in Saturday's Newbury Group One, but was declared a non-runner on Friday morning.
'He just had a temperature and he will be fine and probably be back cantering tomorrow, but he just can't run and you can't take a chance with a temperature, not in this league anyway,' said Cunha.
'We've taken two out in the last two weeks already like this and it's just one of those things and bugs go around at this time of year, but he will be back.'
Prague holds an entry for the curtain-raising Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot next month, but the Phantom House Stables handler is first eyeing getting the five-year-old back in action in the Betfred Diomed Stakes on June 7 before loftier assignments are considered.
Cunha added: 'He will be fine and we might get him out at Epsom on Derby day in the Diomed.
'We'll probably go to Epsom and then we'll take it from there. It's frustrating for a small yard to miss such a race as the Lockinge, but it is what it is and there's nothing we can do.'
Cunha is also looking forward to new recruit Valley Of The Kings hitting the track having arrived in Newmarket from the handler's native South Africa.
He said: 'He's unraced and he looks like a lovely horse and moves nicely.
'We've had him going up Warren Hill and he arrived pretty fit, so we hope he will be out in the next four weeks or so.'

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Darryll Holland ‘owes everything' to Barry Hills
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Darryll Holland ‘owes everything' to Barry Hills

Hills, who died at the age of 88 and saddled over 3,000 winners during a long and decorated career in the training ranks, had a huge influence on Holland's early career and is also credited with setting many on the path to success within the racing industry. Holland enjoyed many big-race wins around the world in the saddle before setting up as a trainer himself. However, he will always remember fondly the early days of his racing life which were shaped by Hills and his wife Penny, becoming champion apprentice under Hills' stewardship in 1991. 'I owe everything to Barry and Penny, they engineered my career and guided me to where I am today,' said Holland. 'He made me champion apprentice and then first jockey and he was a tough man but very fair and a genius of a trainer. It's an end of an era really. 'I was a raw 15-year old from Manchester and he guided me through, I owe him an awful lot. 'It was a steep learning curve at times and I had the pleasure of bumping into him at the Lockinge meeting (Newbury) and introducing my kids to him and he was still as scary then as he was 30 years ago, but he was an amazing fellow and I always had nothing but respect for him. 'He was a father figure and him and Penny were like my second mum and dad and it was a very sad day yesterday when I got told the news from Michael (Hills).' There were also words of sorrow from the world of jumps racing, as Nicky Henderson reminisced about the times he enjoyed with his great Lambourn neighbour. Henderson said: 'We were good friends but he certainly taught me a few things. I was a bit younger and it was a bit of a strange duet really but we would do an awful lot of things together on and off the racecourse. We had some wonderful times. 'He always said whatever he thought and we could have had an argument, but there was no point as he was always going to win it. If he said something you disagreed with, you just went with it as he was always going to prove he was right in the end! 'He made himself but he also made a lot of people who got on the bus with him and we have to be very grateful to have been a part of it.' Speaking to Racing TV's Luck On Sunday, he added: 'It was one of those incredible innings and you get the feeling the last few weeks haven't been easy. 'He'd had a few adversities over the year but kept coming back and back, mainly through Penny, who has just been unbelievable throughout. 'He would always call it 'God's waiting room' and he visited it a few times but kept coming back and these last few weeks he just didn't want to leave the party and that's what he was all about, as he had such a will to live and love it all. 'That family has just been remarkable and Penny has pulled him through so many battles, he would keep coming back for more and what a lot of fun we have had over some fantastic years. 'He was just a man of huge integrity and friendship and the family he brought up, he would just be so proud of them all. I know he will look on it as a fantastic era, as we all do.'

Darryll Holland ‘owes everything' to Barry Hills
Darryll Holland ‘owes everything' to Barry Hills

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time15 hours ago

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Hills, who died at the age of 88 and saddled over 3,000 winners during a long and decorated career in the training ranks, had a huge influence on Holland's early career and is also credited with setting many on the path to success within the racing industry. Holland enjoyed many big-race wins around the world in the saddle before setting up as a trainer himself. However, he will always remember fondly the early days of his racing life which were shaped by Hills and his wife Penny, becoming champion apprentice under Hills' stewardship in 1991. 'I owe everything to Barry and Penny, they engineered my career and guided me to where I am today,' said Holland. 'He made me champion apprentice and then first jockey and he was a tough man but very fair and a genius of a trainer. It's an end of an era really. 'I was a raw 15-year old from Manchester and he guided me through, I owe him an awful lot. 'It was a steep learning curve at times and I had the pleasure of bumping into him at the Lockinge meeting (Newbury) and introducing my kids to him and he was still as scary then as he was 30 years ago, but he was an amazing fellow and I always had nothing but respect for him. 'He was a father figure and him and Penny were like my second mum and dad and it was a very sad day yesterday when I got told the news from Michael (Hills).' There were also words of sorrow from the world of jumps racing, as Nicky Henderson reminisced about the times he enjoyed with his great Lambourn neighbour. Henderson said: 'We were good friends but he certainly taught me a few things. I was a bit younger and it was a bit of a strange duet really but we would do an awful lot of things together on and off the racecourse. We had some wonderful times. 'He always said whatever he thought and we could have had an argument, but there was no point as he was always going to win it. If he said something you disagreed with, you just went with it as he was always going to prove he was right in the end! 'He made himself but he also made a lot of people who got on the bus with him and we have to be very grateful to have been a part of it.' Speaking to Racing TV's Luck On Sunday, he added: 'It was one of those incredible innings and you get the feeling the last few weeks haven't been easy. 'He'd had a few adversities over the year but kept coming back and back, mainly through Penny, who has just been unbelievable throughout. 'He would always call it 'God's waiting room' and he visited it a few times but kept coming back and these last few weeks he just didn't want to leave the party and that's what he was all about, as he had such a will to live and love it all. 'That family has just been remarkable and Penny has pulled him through so many battles, he would keep coming back for more and what a lot of fun we have had over some fantastic years. 'He was just a man of huge integrity and friendship and the family he brought up, he would just be so proud of them all. I know he will look on it as a fantastic era, as we all do.'

Darryll Holland ‘owes everything' to Barry Hills
Darryll Holland ‘owes everything' to Barry Hills

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time16 hours ago

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Darryll Holland ‘owes everything' to Barry Hills

Tributes continue to pour in for the late Barry Hills, with Darryll Holland describing one of the greatest trainers of his generation as a 'father figure'. Hills, who died at the age of 88 and saddled over 3,000 winners during a long and decorated career in the training ranks, had a huge influence on Holland's early career and is also credited with setting many on the path to success within the racing industry. Holland enjoyed many big-race wins around the world in the saddle before setting up as a trainer himself. However, he will always remember fondly the early days of his racing life which were shaped by Hills and his wife Penny, becoming champion apprentice under Hills' stewardship in 1991. 'I owe everything to Barry and Penny, they engineered my career and guided me to where I am today,' said Holland. 'He made me champion apprentice and then first jockey and he was a tough man but very fair and a genius of a trainer. It's an end of an era really. 'I was a raw 15-year old from Manchester and he guided me through, I owe him an awful lot. 'It was a steep learning curve at times and I had the pleasure of bumping into him at the Lockinge meeting (Newbury) and introducing my kids to him and he was still as scary then as he was 30 years ago, but he was an amazing fellow and I always had nothing but respect for him. 'He was a father figure and him and Penny were like my second mum and dad and it was a very sad day yesterday when I got told the news from Michael (Hills).' There were also words of sorrow from the world of jumps racing, as Nicky Henderson reminisced about the times he enjoyed with his great Lambourn neighbour. Henderson said: 'We were good friends but he certainly taught me a few things. I was a bit younger and it was a bit of a strange duet really but we would do an awful lot of things together on and off the racecourse. We had some wonderful times. 'He always said whatever he thought and we could have had an argument, but there was no point as he was always going to win it. If he said something you disagreed with, you just went with it as he was always going to prove he was right in the end! 'He made himself but he also made a lot of people who got on the bus with him and we have to be very grateful to have been a part of it.' Speaking to Racing TV's Luck On Sunday, he added: 'It was one of those incredible innings and you get the feeling the last few weeks haven't been easy. 'He'd had a few adversities over the year but kept coming back and back, mainly through Penny, who has just been unbelievable throughout. 'He would always call it 'God's waiting room' and he visited it a few times but kept coming back and these last few weeks he just didn't want to leave the party and that's what he was all about, as he had such a will to live and love it all. 'That family has just been remarkable and Penny has pulled him through so many battles, he would keep coming back for more and what a lot of fun we have had over some fantastic years. 'He was just a man of huge integrity and friendship and the family he brought up, he would just be so proud of them all. I know he will look on it as a fantastic era, as we all do.'

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