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By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Ian Balding, who has died at the age of 87, made an indelible impression on the turf, not only as the trainer of some wonderful horses including Mill Reef, but also as mentor to many young people who subsequently graduated to success in the sport. Most notable is his son Andrew, who succeeded him at the helm of Kingsclere in 2002 and who has subsequently ensured that Kingsclere remains synonymous with both success and class. Ian Balding and his elder brother Toby were born in the USA where their father Gerald, a professional polo player, was living at the time. The family returned to Britain after the war and Gerald started training at Weyhill. It soon became clear that the boys were destined to follow their father into the sport. Toby, a keen point-to-point rider, took over his father's stable when he turned 21 in 1957; while Ian's progress towards holding a licence was only slightly more gradual. Ian's first major sporting achievements came when he was an undergraduate at Christ's College, Cambridge, where he earned a blue for rugby (a sport in which he was to make 92 appearances for Bath). He was never far from the turf, however, and rode out whenever he could at Royston for Willie Stephenson, who at the time was one of the leading dual-purpose trainers in the country. Ian was a natural athlete, very good at many sports including riding, ending up with over 70 wins over jumps as an amateur to his credit. Training was always his aim, though, and on leaving Cambridge he spent a year at The Grange, Beckhampton, as a pupil under Herbert Blagrave, who achieved conspicuous success over an extended period training only his own and his wife's (mostly home-bred) horses. A position followed as assistant to Captain Peter Hastings-Bass at Kingsclere but sadly tragedy struck after only a year. Peter Hastings-Bass was the son of a great trainer (the Hon Aubrey Hastings, who trained four Grand National winners including one, Ascetic Silver in 1906, whom he rode to victory himself) and in the late '50s and early '60s, training at Kingsclere which he had bought in 1953, he looked set to build a similarly imposing record. The icing on the cake came in the autumn of 1963 when he received eight yearlings from the Queen, who thus supplanted the popular American sportsman and philanthropist Paul Mellon as the stable's most distinguished patron. Tragically, Peter Hastings-Bass succumbed to a terminal illness the following summer. There was no possibility of his widow Priscilla taking over the licence at Kingsclere because the Jockey Club at the time did not grant licences to women; while their son most likely to follow in his father's footsteps, William (later Lord Huntingdon), who did in time become a successful trainer, was aged only 16 at the time. Consequently, Ian became the trainer at Kingsclere, aged 25. The link between the Hastings and Balding families was further strengthened in 1969 when Ian married Peter and Priscilla Hastings' daughter Emma. The two-year-olds at Kingsclere that summer included the Queen's Planta Genista, who had won at Lingfield in April. The best of the bunch, though, seemed to be Mr Mellon's home-bred American colt Silly Season (Tom Fool) who was beaten on debut at Salisbury before heading to Royal Ascot shortly after Ian Balding had officially become his trainer. Fairytales do occasionally come true and Silly Season duly broke his maiden by winning the Coventry Stakes, giving a heartening endorsement that it would remain a case of business as usual at Kingsclere. Silly Season ended his first season by winning the Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket. At three he won the Greenham Stakes at Newbury, the St. James's Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot and the Champion Stakes at Newmarket; at four he landed both the Lockinge Stakes and the Hungerford Stakes at Newbury. He became a successful stallion at New England Stud with many of his best progeny trained by Ian Balding, including 1972 Greenham Stakes winner Martinmas and 1973 Cambridgeshire heroine Siliciana. Silly Season, for all that his seven wins included some of Britain's greatest races, was almost as notable for a string of narrow defeats as he was for his triumphs. In later years Ian Balding would recount a discussion which he had with Mellon after the horse's retirement, a conversation which spoke well of both men. Thanking Mellon for having entrusted so talented a horse to an inexperienced trainer, he suggested that Silly Season might have been the best horse they would ever have and that he perhaps had not got the best out of him. Mellon, with typical kindness, assured him that he had trained the horse very well before adding, “And don't worry: I'll soon find a better one to send to you anyway”. As ever, he was as good as his word and a better one did indeed soon arrive: Mill Reef. Mill Reef is led in by Paul Mellon after the Derby | Getty Images Ian Balding will be remembered as the trainer of some very special horses but the one who will always be at the top of anyone's list is Mill Reef (Never Bend). Bred by Paul Mellon at Rokeby Stud in Virginia, the little colt headed across the Atlantic to Kingsclere as a yearling in the autumn of 1969. Over the next three years Mill Reef proved himself one of the greatest horses ever to have graced the British turf. The story is beautifully told in Lord Oaksey's book The Story of Mill Reef and in Brough Scott's film Something to Brighten the Morning which, narrated by Albert Finney, has helped to ensure that the names Mill Reef, Paul Mellon, Ian Balding, Geoff Lewis (the stable jockey) and John Hallum (who looked after the horse) will forever loom large in the romance of the turf. A champion at two, three and four, Mill Reef was beaten only once (by Brigadier Gerard in the 2,000 Guineas) and won some of the greatest races including the Coventry, Gimcrack and Dewhurst Stakes at two, the Derby, Eclipse Stakes, King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at three (in a season which Ian Balding ended as champion trainer); and the Prix Ganay and Coronation Cup at four. He retired to the National Stud, from which he twice became Champion Sire (in 1978 and 1987) thanks to his Derby-winning sons Shirley Heights (who in turn sired the 1985 Derby winner Slip Anchor) and Reference Point. While Ian Balding trained some notable horses for the Queen, including the 1970 Doncaster Cup winner Magna Carta (Charlottesville), Mellon's 'black, gold cross front and back; black cap, gold stripe' stands as the livery most synonymous with the trainer, and not solely thanks to Mill Reef. Several sons of Mill Reef carried them with great distinction including the multiple Group 1-winning full-brothers Glint Of Gold and Diamond Shoal, as well as King Of Clubs. Over jumps Crystal Spirit (Kris), a half-brother to Glint Of Gold and Diamond Shoal won the Cleeve Hurdle and the Sun Alliance Hurdle at Cheltenham in 1991; while another Mellon home-bred who ranked up with Glint Of Gold and Diamond Shoal was Gold And Ivory (Key To The Mint). Other top-class colts for the stable included George Strawbridge's Selkirk (Sharpen Up), Jeff Smith's Dashing Blade (Elegant Air) and Mr and Mrs Robert Hitchens' Tagula (Taufan), all of whom went on to make a significant mark at stud. Classic-winning fillies for Ian Balding were Eric Kronfeld's 1980 Prix de Diane heroine Mrs Penny (Great Nephew) and Paul Mellon's tiny home-bred tigress Forest Flower (Green Forest). The latter's dam Leap Lively (Nijinsky) had been a good filly for owner and trainer, winning the Fillies' Mile at Ascot in 1980 before finishing third to Blue Wind in the following year's Oaks. Forest Flower belied her lack of size by doing even better, landing the Queen Mary Stakes, Cherry Hinton Stakes and, fittingly, Mill Reef Stakes as a two-year-old in 1986 before taking the Irish 1,000 Guineas the following year. It is lovely that those famous Mellon colours are now carried by the Kingsclere Stud horses produced by Emma Balding, whose proteges include the Andrew Balding-trained Group 1 winners Side Glance and Elm Park, both of whose sires (Passing Glance and Phoenix Reach) had been trained at Kingsclere. Ian Balding, right, with long-term Kingsclere supporter Jeff Smith | Racingfotos It turned out that Forest Flower was not the mightiest amazon trained by Ian Balding because she was followed by Jeff Smith's home-bred Lochsong (Song), whose career provided arguably the greatest tribute to Ian Balding's skill. She spent most of her two- and three-year-old seasons proving nothing other than that she was a very hard-puller who was difficult to keep sound. Unraced at two in 1990, she won a maiden race at Redcar and an apprentice handicap at Newbury towards the end of a three-race campaign in 1991, suggesting that perhaps it was worth persevering with her. Over the next three seasons Lochsong was sublime (bar in the 1994 July Cup, when she reminded us that she was still very much a handful, doing her best of her running on the way to post). She raced 24 times over those three seasons, winning 13 times and being placed six. At four she completed the Stewards' Cup, Portland and Ayr Gold Cup treble. At five her wins included the King George Stakes, Nunthorpe Stakes and Prix de l'Abbaye. At six she won consecutively the Palace House Stakes, Temple Stakes and King's Stand Stakes (by five lengths) before landing repeat wins in the King George Stakes and Prix de l'Abbaye. She was voted Cartier Champion Sprinter in both 1993 and '94 and Cartier Horse of the Year in 1994. Throughout his career, Ian Balding showed himself equally good at educating both horses and jockeys. The first of his apprentices to be champion was Ernie Johnson (in 1967) who had started his apprenticeship under Peter Hastings. Next came Philip Waldron in 1970. Subsequently stable jockey to Henry Candy, Philip Waldron served his time alongside John Matthias, who became the Kingsclere jockey for several years, most notably riding Glint Of Gold in most of his races. The tradition of promoting the stable's apprentices again shone brightly when Francis Arrowsmith won the Ayr Gold Cup on Lochsong after Willie Carson had been on her in the first two legs of her great treble. It has continued under Andrew Balding, with William Buick and David Probert sharing the apprentices' title in 2008, Oisin Murphy taking it in 2014 (before going on to be, to date, champion jockey five times) and Jason Watson doing so in 2018. Ian Balding will deservedly be remembered as one of the great trainers of the modern era, notable for training his horses kindly and being adept at nurturing them for long careers, even those who started out as precocious two-year-olds. Aside from the horses' many great victories, further sources of pride for the family have been the outstanding careers developed by his and Emma's children Clare (whose broadcasting achievements need no introduction) and Andrew. The latter succeeded his father at the end of the 2002 season and has fully maintained Kingsclere's position as one of the world's greatest and most successful stables. The tone was set on a magical afternoon in June 2003 when Will Farish's Casual Look (Red Ransom) won the Oaks for first-season trainer Andrew Balding, ridden by former Ian Balding apprentice Martin Dwyer, with the BBC broadcast of the race presented by Clare Balding. Two very proud parents could rest easy that the future was in safe hands. Ian Balding is survived by Emma, their children Clare and Andrew, and by their grandchildren Jonno, Toby and Flora. We join the entire racing world in offering this very popular family our condolences. The post Ian Balding: A Sporting Great Remembered appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
The nominees for the 2026 G1 Saudi Cup meeting feature 57 Group/Grade 1 winners from 22 different countries, among them GI Breeders' Cup Classic and 2025 Saudi Cup hero Forever Young (Real Steel). The two-day stand on February 13-14 will be worth $39.6 million in prize-money. Besides trainer Yoshito Yahagi's star in the main event are fellow Breeders' Cup Classic winner White Abarrio (Race Day), GI Preakness Stakes hero Journalism (Curlin), as well as GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile victor Nysos (Nyquist), and GII Clark Stakes winner Magnitude (Not This Time). G1 Champions Cup heroine W Heart Bond (Kizuna) and G1 Tokyo Daishoten one-two Diktaean (King Kamehameha) and Mikki Fight (Drefong) add depth to Japan's challenge. In the newly elevated $3-million G1 Neom Turf Cup sponsored by Howden includes two-time Breeders' Cup hero Rebel's Romance (Dubawi), G2 Bahrain International Trophy winner Royal Champion (Shamardal), and Aidan O'Brien's multiple Group 1-placed The Lion In Winter (Sea The Stars). Besides the Group 1s on tap for Saturday, the $2.5-million G2 Red Sea Turf Handicap features turf stayers Durezza (Duramente) for Japan and Joseph O'Brien's Al Riffa (Wootton Bassett). Among the nominees for the $2-million G2 Riyadh Dirt Sprint are Book'em Danno (Bucchero), and Bentornato (Valiant Minister), as well as Meydan Group 1 winners Tuz (Oxbow) and Dark Saffron (Flameaway). In the $2-million 1351 Turf Sprint are GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint winner Shisospicy (Mitole) and Group 1 winner Lazzat (Territories). In The $1.5-million G3 Saudi Derby, G1 Premio Derby Nacional hero Khamal (Mendelssohn) is signed on. During Friday's card, the International Jockey Challenge will be staged, and the $500,000 Saudi International Handicap sponsored by LUCID will take place. Nominees specifically for the Saudi Cup itself are listed here. HRH Prince Bandar bin Khaled Al Faisal, chairman of the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia said, “This is only the seventh time we have staged the Saudi Cup meeting and it has already delivered countless memorable races and performances. “We are delighted and honoured that so many people have chosen to aim their horses for the 2026 Saudi Cup races and, on behalf of everyone at the JCSA, I would like to extend our gratitude to those owners and trainers. “It has been especially pleasing to see the races recognised by the international authorities, too. The Saudi Cup has held Group 1 status since 2022 but we will now be staging our first ever Group 1 race on grass, the Neom Turf Cup, after its consistent level of performance. “The Saudi Cup meeting is not only about world-class racing; it is a celebration of the horse as well as the culture and the hospitality of the Kingdom. The list of nominations only increases the excitement and we look forward to welcoming connections and racing fans alike next month for an event that has quickly made a huge impact on the global calendar.” The post Forever Young Among 57 Group 1 Winners Nominated To 2026 Saudi Cup Programme appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Keeneland has supplement three additional hips to its January Horses of All Ages Sale to be held Jan. 12 and 13 in Lexington, KY. The newest supplements are: Sherbini (Cairo Prince): a 4-year-old filly who was an impressive debut winner at Churchill Downs at two before she was runner-up in the Schuylerville Stakes and placed in the GI Spinaway Stakes, both at Saratoga. Also placed in the Rags to Riches Stakes at Churchill, Sherbini is cataloged as a racing or broodmare prospect and is consigned by ELiTE, agent. Tigerish (Tiz the Law), a 4-year-old filly and one of five black-type performers out of Lerici, by Woodman. Graded stakes-placed at two, Tigerish is a half-sister to Grade I winner Avenge (War Front) and Grade II winner Liguria (War Front). She is from the family of such international stars as Canadian Horse of the Year Wonder Gadot (Medaglia d'Oro) and European champion miler Mark of Esteem (Ire) (Darshaan {Ire}). Bluegrass Thoroughbred Services, agent, consigns Tigerish as a racing or broodmare prospect. 2025 filly by Gun Runner consigned by Four Star Sales, agent. Her dam, Dragic, by Broken Vow, is a half-sister to Gun Runner's juvenile champion Echo Zulu and to Grade I winner Echo Town (Speightstown). Dragic, a multiple stakes performer, is the dam of Saturday Flirt, who is undefeated in four starts in North America, including the 2025 Soaring Softly Stakes at Saratoga. These three supplements increase the total number of horses cataloged to the January Sale to 1,095. The post Sherbini, Tigerish Among Latest Keeneland January Supplements appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
The promising young stallion King Of Change (Farhh) has left Ireland to stand at Tweenhills Stud for the forthcoming season in a move which stud owner David Redvers has described as “potentially game-changing for us”. Runner-up to Magna Grecia in the 2,000 Guineas, King Of Change won three of his six lifetime starts, closing out his career by winning the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on QIPCO British Champions Day. His first two crops of racing age have collectively numbered 76 foals, 37 of which have run to date, including the four Listed winners Lady With The Lamp, Shayem, Miss Of Change and Onemoredance, making King Of Change the leader among the second-crop sires of 2025 with a cumulative figure of 12.9 per cent stakes winners to runners. He is listed as having covered 125 mares in 2024 and 38 in 2025. King Of Change, who is by the subfertile but proven stallion Farhh out of the Echo Of Light mare Salacia, was bred by Rabbah Bloodstock and raced in the colours of Ali Abdulla Saeed, as did his Group 2-winning half-brother Century Dream (Cape Cross), who also stands in the UK at Norton Grove Stud. Now aged 10, King Of Change stood his first two seasons at Shadwell's Derrinstown Stud, before moving to Starfield Stud, where he has been based for the last three seasons. Redvers said that he had tried hard to buy Sands Of Mali when he was auctioned last month by Tattersalls Ireland and was eventually sold to Gay O'Callaghan of Yeomanstown Stud. He told TDN, “I bid a very large number for Sands Of Mali but I was still only about fifth in the running. But I listened to Gay Callaghan's reasoning for giving what a lot of people would consider a telephone number for the horse and it really struck a chord with me. And you know that when you stand a stallion off the track, only one in ten of them, at best, work out. “You are at risk of polluting your broodmare band with ordinary semen and devaluing all of it. Whereas, if you've got a stallion you've got confidence in, with proven numbers, then the likelihood is that you're going to increase the value of your broodmare band. And, you know, you've only got to see what the likes of Whitsbury [Manor Stud] have managed to achieve with Havana Grey to realise how powerful a good stallion is.” King Of Change will stand alongside fellow Group 1 winners Kameko and Lightning Spear at Tweenhills in Gloucestershire. Earlier advertised at Starfield Stud for €5,000 for 2026, King Of Change's fee at Tweenhills will be announced in the coming days. Redvers continued, “I've been looking hard for a proven stallion and [King Of Change] was the stallion I most wanted to send mares to and use. And I thought, well, it was worth asking the question, and I was rather surprised when the answer came back as yes. “This fellow is extremely fertile. He's had very exciting results, and then he's got 100-odd foals on the ground this year. So, as a result, there's a lot of good stuff to come. I'm going to send him more mares this year of our own than he covered all of last year. I couldn't really be any more excited about him, to be honest. “To be in a position to buy this horse ourselves with a couple of partners is potentially game-changing for us. Even if it's relatively small numbers we're working with, the stats don't lie.” He added, “From very limited opportunities King Of Change has delivered outstanding results, and it is mouthwatering to think what he could achieve going forward with more quality and quantity. It goes without saying that we will be supporting King Of Change with our broodmare band and our partners in the stallion will do likewise. “At the beginning of our thirtieth anniversary as a stallion farm, King Of Change's arrival heralds an exciting new chapter for Tweenhills.” The post ‘I Couldn’t Really Be Any More Excited’: Redvers Welcomes King Of Change To Tweenhills For 2026 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
FanDuel TV will televise the live announcement of the finalists for the 2025 Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards on Sunday, Jan. 4 at Noon ET, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), National Turf Writers And Broadcasters (NTWAB), and Daily Racing Form announced Friday. The Eclipse Awards, honoring excellence in Thoroughbred racing, are voted upon by the NTRA, represented by member racetrack racing officials and Equibase field personnel, NTWAB, and Daily Racing Form, and are produced by the NTRA. The announcement of the Eclipse Awards finalists on FanDuel TV is sponsored by John Deere, The Jockey Club, and the NTRA. FanDuel TV also will televise live the 55th Annual Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards at The Breakers Palm Beach in Florida on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. The evening will begin with the Red Carpet show at 6:30 p.m. ET, followed by the awards ceremony at 7:30 p.m. ET. The ceremony will be co-hosted by Britney Eurton and Lindsay Czarniak, and Caton Bredar will again serve as the Ceremony Announcer. The evening will culminate with the announcement of the 2025 Horse of the Year. Finalists in the Horse of the Year category also will be announced earlier that evening. Also back again this year will be an Eclipse Awards Charity Golf Tournament benefitting the PDJF which will be held Thursday morning prior to the awards ceremony on The Ocean Course at The Breakers. Also, one lucky fan and a guest will win a chance to attend this year's year show as part of the Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards Sweepstakes. The grand prize winner and their guest will also accompany Resolute Racing at the Pegasus World Cup. There is no purchase necessary to participate in the promotion and entries may be made on the NTRA website, or its accompanying social media channels, and the Resolute Racing website, or its accompanying social media channels. Fans can enter the contest by submitting their name, information, and explanation as to why they want to win this once in a lifetime experience. Entries are now open online and continue through Jan. 9 at 11:59 p.m. ET, with the winner drawn on Jan. 10. The post FanDuel TV To Air Live Announcement Of Eclipse Award Finalists appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article
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