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Juddmonte juggling pack with leading milers
Juddmonte juggling pack with leading milers

The Herald Scotland

time6 days ago

  • Entertainment
  • The Herald Scotland

Juddmonte juggling pack with leading milers

'I think they just went far too slow, they crawled for four furlongs and then sprinted and Lead Artist is a horse we know stays beyond a mile,' said Juddmonte's European racing manager, Barry Mahon. 'It just didn't pan out for us on the day, but he's a better horse than that, we know that, and we'll get him back on track and see the best of him again.' Where and when Lead Artist will bid to redeem himself is uncertain, with Juddmonte possessing an enviable hand in the mile division, with the Irish Guineas and St James's Palace Stakes hero Field Of Gold the undoubted top dog. Lead Artist holds an entry in Goodwood's Sussex Stakes, but is unlikely to head that way if that is the chosen target for his illustrious stablemate, while Harry Charlton's Irish Guineas runner-up Cosmic Year must also be thrown into the mix. Mahon added: 'I don't know where we'll go with Lead Artist yet. There's going to be a bit of juggling there with him and Field Of Gold and Cosmic Year and Jonquil as well. 'We haven't quite worked it out yet, but we will as we go.' Andrew Balding's Jonquil is another looking to bounce back from an underwhelming performance at Royal Ascot, having seemingly found the six furlongs of the Commonwealth Cup too sharp. Jonquil will step back up in trip (David Davies/PA) He was one of two Juddmonte-owned runners who failed to run up to expectations in that Group One contest, with the Ger Lyons-trained Babouche also well held. 'Babouche was disappointing, she was just too keen and you don't get away with being that keen in a Group One in Ascot,' said Mahon. 'It was her second time in England and her second time doing that, so we'll have to go back to the drawing board. We'll probably keep her in Ireland for the rest of the year and see if we can get her back on track. 'Jonquil was just a bit of a square peg in a round hole – six furlongs was too short for him. Christophe (Soumillon) felt he came home great in the last half-furlong, but he said he needs a mile and we'll try and find an opportunity.'

Derby-winning jockey becomes latest British-based rider to move to Hong Kong
Derby-winning jockey becomes latest British-based rider to move to Hong Kong

Daily Mirror

time6 days ago

  • Sport
  • Daily Mirror

Derby-winning jockey becomes latest British-based rider to move to Hong Kong

A week after adding to his Royal Ascot laurels with success in the Commonwealth Cup, it has been announced that Richard Kingscote will join Andrea Atzeni and Harry Bentley on the lucrative circuit Derby-winning jockey Richard Kingscote is to become the latest British-based rider to move to Hong Kong. The 38-year-old has ridden more than 1,600 winners across the world including five at Group 1 level. His biggest success was achieved on the Sir Michael Stoute-trained Desert Crown in the 2022 Epsom Derby on only his second ride in the Classic. He scored his latest of five Group 1 victories at Royal Ascot last week when he steered Time For Sandals to win the Commonwealth Cup. ‌ He has also ridden the winners of the Irish St Leger, on the Michael Owen-owned and bred Brown Panther, and the Champion Stakes. ‌ Kingscote has ridden 36 winners in 2025 but the quality of his mounts has been reduced by the retirement of Stoute at the end of last year. He had only four rides at the five day Royal Ascot meeting. Nevertheless he took advantage of an unexpected opportunity to visit Hong Kong earlier this year when he accepted an invitation to ride as an emergency replacement for ten meetings after a spate of falls in Hong which hospitalised four jockeys, including local stars Zac Purton and Vincent Ho. He rode four winners and signed off with a treble at Sha Tin, winning on all three of his mounts. Kingscote told Mirror Racing: "I am very much looking forward to it and it's a good opportunity. I am lucky that I do well here in Britain but this is a chance to try something new and if you don't try you never find out." Kingscote has been granted a part-season licence by the Hong Kong Jockey Club which will start on July 17 and run up to February 17 2026, after which it could be extended. He will join established former British-based jockeys Andrea Atzeni and Harry Bentley in one of the most competitive weighing rooms in the world. Atzeni has ridden 54 winners in the current season and is third in the jockeys' championship while Bentley has 30 wins.

Champions Day seen as an ‘obvious' target for Docklands
Champions Day seen as an ‘obvious' target for Docklands

Glasgow Times

time23-06-2025

  • Sport
  • Glasgow Times

Champions Day seen as an ‘obvious' target for Docklands

Harry Eustace's five-year-old is owned by the Australian outfit OTI Racing, and was campaigned internationally over the winter before returning to Newmarket. His early campaign revolved around Ascot, a track he clearly favours and shone at again with a tough Group One victory over Rosallion. The Queen Elizabeth II Stakes is therefore the late-season target over the same course and distance, with a European campaign the likely focus in the meantime. Harry Eustace celebrates after winning the Queen Anne Stakes with Docklands (David Davies/PA) 'The obvious thing to do would be to work backwards from Champions Day at Ascot, there's also the Prix Jacques le Marois and the Sussex Stakes,' said Eustace. 'He takes his racing well, he ran 10 days before Ascot at Epsom so I don't necessarily want or need to space his racing out a lot. 'He put in a huge performance at Ascot, but he's a five-year-old and if there was ever a year where we can campaign him more aggressively then this is it. 'We were waiting to see how Ascot panned out before we began plotting where'd he go next, but the one thing we know he won't do is go to Australia.' Time For Sandals winning the Commonwealth Cup under Richard Kingscote (John Walton/PA) Eustace had two Group One winners across Royal Ascot, the second being Time For Sandals after her 25-1 strike in the Commonwealth Cup. She has a host of top level sprints on her radar, though connections anticipate next year will be a busier campaign as she started her season this time relatively early. 'She's great and seems to have come out of it really well,' he said of the filly. 'We hadn't really thought past Ascot with her because we were pitching her in a Group One and we knew it'd tell us how to campaign her for the rest of season. 'Now she's a Group One winner, she's got to run in Group One races so races like the Flying Five, the Nunthorpe and the Haydock Sprint Cup are all obvious targets. 'She was up and running early enough for the Fred Darling so I don't think we'll be campaigning her aggressively this year. 'We'll very much look at the older sprint programme next year, it sort of writes itself.'

Noble just Champion for Walker and Shoemark
Noble just Champion for Walker and Shoemark

South Wales Guardian

time21-06-2025

  • Sport
  • South Wales Guardian

Noble just Champion for Walker and Shoemark

Having successfully combined with 22-1 shot Never Let Go in Friday's Sandringham Stakes, Walker and Shoemark teamed up with another relative outsider in Noble Champion, who was 25-1 having struggled to make an impact in Group Three and Listed company this spring. But stepped back up in trip from six to seven furlongs for this Group Three assignment, the Lope De Vega colt flourished, racing in the slipstream of the pacesetting Spy Chief for much of the way before taking over and pulling three and a quarter lengths clear, despite hanging left late on. Favourite Comanche Brave was just under three further back in third. 'It just hasn't panned out, he had a setback in January that messed up our prep for the Greenham,' said Walker. 'We thought he was a Guineas horse, we really believed a lot in him. We thought we'd go a sensible route and we went in a conditions race at Goodwood over a mile, there wasn't much pace. He was keen and he just got it all wrong. 'We brought him back to six, he just shows so much speed at home – we even thought about supplementing him for the Commonwealth Cup because he has so much speed. 'Finally the trainer got it right! He's as good a work horse as we've had, he's a very impressive horse. He's very quick with such a high cruising speed, he's very, very smart. 'He's driven me mad, I'm guilty of wearing my heart on my sleeve and I tell my owners if I think the horses are good, bad or ugly. I told Simon (Sadler, owner) how much belief I had in this horse, we were gutted he got beaten on debut. 'I said to Simon that if it didn't work today, then I didn't know what was going wrong. The ground, track, and trip was all right.' Shoemark felt the course and distance had suited his mount well, adding: The stiff seven furlongs here at Ascot, with a nice strong pace has really seen him at his best effect. He was in a lovely rhythm and it was just a matter of time to when I pressed go, he really hit the line strong. 'It can be a lonely place in front here, with the grandstand there's plenty to look at. He wouldn't have been in front a lot on his own before, so he was entitled to be a little bit green, but he's very talented. 'The yard really is flying and there is a lovely team at home at Ed Walker's. It's a really impressive operation. I feel very fortunate to have partnered some good horses this week.' Spy Chief's rider Robert Havlin was pleased with the 20-1 shot's effort having run just three times previously. He said: 'A great run, he's an inexperienced horse coming from a novice win at Yarmouth. He's still learning and still needs to relax a bit. I think the more racing he does, the better he will get.' Donnacha O'Brien said of his third-placed runner: 'He ran OK, I don't think he had any excuses, the first two pulled well clear. This is a tough place, any time you hit the board, it's not a bad result.'

Noble just Champion for Walker and Shoemark
Noble just Champion for Walker and Shoemark

South Wales Argus

time21-06-2025

  • Sport
  • South Wales Argus

Noble just Champion for Walker and Shoemark

Having successfully combined with 22-1 shot Never Let Go in Friday's Sandringham Stakes, Walker and Shoemark teamed up with another relative outsider in Noble Champion, who was 25-1 having struggled to make an impact in Group Three and Listed company this spring. But stepped back up in trip from six to seven furlongs for this Group Three assignment, the Lope De Vega colt flourished, racing in the slipstream of the pacesetting Spy Chief for much of the way before taking over and pulling three and a quarter lengths clear, despite hanging left late on. Favourite Comanche Brave was just under three further back in third. 'It just hasn't panned out, he had a setback in January that messed up our prep for the Greenham,' said Walker. 'We thought he was a Guineas horse, we really believed a lot in him. We thought we'd go a sensible route and we went in a conditions race at Goodwood over a mile, there wasn't much pace. He was keen and he just got it all wrong. 'We brought him back to six, he just shows so much speed at home – we even thought about supplementing him for the Commonwealth Cup because he has so much speed. 'Finally the trainer got it right! He's as good a work horse as we've had, he's a very impressive horse. He's very quick with such a high cruising speed, he's very, very smart. 'He's driven me mad, I'm guilty of wearing my heart on my sleeve and I tell my owners if I think the horses are good, bad or ugly. I told Simon (Sadler, owner) how much belief I had in this horse, we were gutted he got beaten on debut. 'I said to Simon that if it didn't work today, then I didn't know what was going wrong. The ground, track, and trip was all right.' Shoemark felt the course and distance had suited his mount well, adding: The stiff seven furlongs here at Ascot, with a nice strong pace has really seen him at his best effect. He was in a lovely rhythm and it was just a matter of time to when I pressed go, he really hit the line strong. 'It can be a lonely place in front here, with the grandstand there's plenty to look at. He wouldn't have been in front a lot on his own before, so he was entitled to be a little bit green, but he's very talented. 'The yard really is flying and there is a lovely team at home at Ed Walker's. It's a really impressive operation. I feel very fortunate to have partnered some good horses this week.' Spy Chief's rider Robert Havlin was pleased with the 20-1 shot's effort having run just three times previously. He said: 'A great run, he's an inexperienced horse coming from a novice win at Yarmouth. He's still learning and still needs to relax a bit. I think the more racing he does, the better he will get.' Donnacha O'Brien said of his third-placed runner: 'He ran OK, I don't think he had any excuses, the first two pulled well clear. This is a tough place, any time you hit the board, it's not a bad result.'

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