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    • Dewhurst Stakes winner Gewan has been crowned European Champion Juvenile for 2025 with a rating of 121. Trained by Andrew Balding, Gewan was recruited from the Arqana May Breeze-Up Sale for €80,000 having been purchased originally from Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale. He followed up a debut win at Newbury in July with an impressive defeat of Italy (112) in the Group 3 Tattersalls Acomb Stakes at York. His defeat of Gstaad at Newmarket to end the season followed a sole defeat in the Group 2 Betfred Champagne Stakes at Doncaster and confirmed him a leading Classic prospect for 2026. Following Gewan is the Aidan O'Brien-trained pair of Gstaad and Puerto Rico, each with a mark of 119, while stablemates Hawk Mountain (116) and Action (115) also take high rank. O'Brien is also responsible for the highest-rated fillies in the Classification, with Precise and True Love being awarded a mark of 115. The second-highest rated British representative, with a mark of 118, is the Eve Johnson Houghton-trained Zavateri. A winner of four of his five starts, the Without Parole colt won the Group 1 Goffs Vincent O'Brien National Stakes at the Curragh prior to finishing fourth behind Gewan in the Dewhurst. Britain's highest-rated filly is Venetian Sun. Trained by Karl Burke, she too took Group 1 honours in the Sumbe Prix Morny at Deauville to go alongside her victories in the Group 3 Albany Stakes at Royal Ascot and the Group 2 Duchess of Cambridge Stakes (sponsored by bet365) at Newmarket's July Festival. Graeme Smith, BHA Handicapping Team Leader, said, “Gewan became the first outright European Champion 2YO to emerge from Kingsclere in the 48-year history of the classification, bettering the achievement of Andrew Balding's previous Dewhurst – and subsequent QIPCO 2,000 Guineas – winner Chaldean (119) in 2022. “He follows Forest Flower (125 in 1986) and Mrs Penny (joint Champion in 1979 at 121), who were both crowned Champion 2YO Fillies for Andrew's late father, Ian. “Gewan's 121 performance in defying long odds in a representative Darley Dewhurst Stakes capped a stellar year for his sire, Night Of Thunder. As well as being represented in 2025 by the top-class Ombudsman and QIPCO 1,000 Guineas winner Desert Flower, the Darley stallion established a strong hand for the 2026 Classics. “Tattersalls Online Royal Lodge Stakes winner Bow Echo and Distant Storm, who finished third behind the imposing grey Gewan in the Dewhurst, also rank within the top 11 in this year's Classification.” IHRB Handicapper Mark Bird added, “Aidan O'Brien trained Europe's Champion Juvenile Filly for the third year in a row and for a record ninth time in total as Precise and True Love shared top billing on a rating of 115. “True Love's victory in the Group 1 Tattersalls Sceptre Sessions Cheveley Park Stakes at Newmarket was matched by Precise's success in the Group 1 Bet365 Fillies' Mile at the same track two weeks later. “In what was a banner year for the Ballydoyle-trained two-year-olds, Aidan trained a record seven individual two-year-old Group/Grade 1 winners in 2025. He also matched his previous best total of nine two-year-old Group/Grade 1 race wins in a calendar year, as well as equalling his highest total of two-year-old winners (three) at Royal Ascot. “This dominance of the two-year-old landscape is reflected in his being responsible for six of the top 10 horses in the Classification. “Two of the four Ballydoyle Group 1-winning colts ended the year tied as Champion two-year-old in Ireland on a rating of 119. Gstaad landed the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Del Mar after running up three times in elite company, while Puerto Rico went from strength to strength to win both the Group 1 Qatar Prix Jean Luc Lagardere and the Group 1 Criterium International in France by season's end.” The post Dewhurst Stakes Hero Gewan Crowned Europe’s Champion Juvenile For 2025 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article
    • Training trio Ben, Will and JD Hayes hoping to snatch another feature win in New Zealand. Buoyed by a successful raid on New Zealand feature racing last year, Ben Hayes is plotting to do the same as Arkansaw Kid (Harry Angel) takes on the Gr.1 Railway Stakes at Ellerslie on Saturday. The 1200-mere event is the beginning of a two start trans-Tasman campaign for the five-year-old along the lines of when the Hayes team were successful with Here To Shock (NZ) (Shocking) in the Gr.1 BDC Group Sprint (1400m) in February 2025. That win has given the stable the confidence to go again. “He left after his trial last week and we are really happy with him,” Ben said. “It is full steam ahead.” The son of Irish sire Harry Angel won a jump out at Flemington over 800m on January 9 after finishing third in the AU$1 million The Supernova (1400m) at Pakenham on December 13. That even has since delivered two winners and one placegetter among the six starters since. “We had success last year and Arkansaw Kid, I think he is a very good group two horse in Australia who is competitive in group ones but always finds one better,” Hayes added. “We thought it is a great opportunity to try and win a group one with him. “With the set weights and penalties conditions, he gets in there quite nicely in the weights. “He will then go on to the same race that Here To Shock won, then maybe the Canterbury Stakes in Sydney after that.” Arkansaw Kid finished second in The Meteorite (1200m) at Cranbourne on November 22 to the Cindy Alderson-trained Jigsaw who is also set to start in the Railway Stakes. View the full article
    • well the stewards reports for the north island are always predictable. as i predicted,todays report completely ignored the main factors in firstly,why becker lost its driver, then was knocked to the ground later in the race.. lets just analyse the stipes report and what it ommited. 1)it says becker broke shortly after the start and shifted in.It ommits to say, i'm all in,had shited in albeit not  a major inward movement,but still enough for the horse i'm all in's,hind leg to contact the sulky wheel of becker.It was that contact that lead to im all in  galloping,as what horse wouldn't when its leg action has been significantly impeded by a sulky wheel. You can actually stop the video and it shows that. If you don't believe you can see that on the video then ask yourself why does the stipes report note that im all in was treated for a laceration to the leg that i say made contact with the sulky. Its obvious where and when the contact was made,yet the stipes ignore that. 2)the stipes gave advice to j dunn for the manner in which he drove. What the heck did they do that for. Was he not just trying to avoid the runner with no driver.  3)Why did they not question n delany for the manner in which he drove. What on earth was delany doing,becuase there is no doubt whatsover that he contributed to becker falling. 4)why did they not question c ahckett,because it was very obvious that she also contributed significantly to becker falling by forcing the horses inside her onto becker and making him fall. 5)the stipes report noted becker  jumped track markers near the 900m. Well duh,why was he jumping track markers.it was obvious.it was because the drivers outside him deliberately drove in a manner that forced becker to jump the markers now i've got better things i could be doing than pointing out just how incomplete(being diplomatic with that word) that stipes report was. i've said it before and this latest example again illustrates what i say about the north island stipes. they often overlook what some drivers do and because of their failure to give proper guidance and oversight to the juniors in the north isalnd,the standards of driving is poor when compared with the south island who have proper oversight. drivers,whether they be inexperienced or not,should still have an obligation to think of safety,not only for the drivers,but also the horsesThat did not happen today and the stipes in charge turned a blind eye. the only driver who considered safety and i believe showed common sense was j dunn,yet he was the only driver they spoke to about the manner he drove.  
    • Interesting HRNZ have just released the northern top pacers/trotters autumn  programme, not hard to see how easy to slot in the Auckland Cup, only way they will attract all the toppys together, would just run a FFA on Dec 31, let Omakau build there day. 
    • Still good entertainment, but these days I can take it or leave......but yes many punt through Xmas and new year, it's just what many do then back to normal life.
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