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No worries @Huey I'm thinking Majestic will go to an electric tram network for that? But if you are interested: -
A couple of great photos Murray! Best of luck with them both @curious& @Freda , you might have to start riding them uo the races soon if this fuel crisis continues its upwards trajectory! -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Calandagan (Gleneagles) warmed up for a potential tilt at the $6-million Dubai Sheema Classic with a racecourse gallop at Saint-Cloud on Sunday, with trainer Francis-Henri Graffard confirming that, as things stand, his globetrotting stable star remains an intended runner in the Middle East despite the ongoing conflict in the region. “He needed to work harder than at home. It did him good and I'm satisfied,” Graffard told Equidia following the exercise before racing at Saint-Cloud. “Potentially, he could return to this track to run in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud. “Before that, he could head to Dubai, although there are some uncertainties about the trip due to the current situation. For now, everything is in place for him to go. Princess Zahra Aga Khan is keen on the idea of travelling there.” Last year, Calandagan filled the runner-up spot behind Japanese raider Danon Decile (Epiphaneia) in the Dubai Sheema Classic, before returning to Europe where he registered three consecutive Group 1 triumphs in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and Champion Stakes. Last seen capping his outstanding season with a fourth top-level win in the Japan Cup, he was subsequently crowned Longines World's Best Racehorse for 2025. The presence of Calandagan on World Cup night would be a welcome boost for officials in Dubai where racing has continued despite the threat of Iranian missile attacks. On Friday, racing was temporarily suspended at Meydan during the final meeting of the Dubai Racing Carnival. The conflict has caused connections of several leading World Cup night contenders to abandon their plans to travel to the UAE. Danon Decile, for example, was recently ruled out of a defence of his Dubai Sheema Classic crown, in favour of targets closer to home. “We haven't made a decision yet on whether he goes to Dubai or not,” Nemone Routh, racing manager for the Aga Khan Studs in France, added of Calandagan's prospects of making the trip. “If he goes, he ships next Saturday. We will give ourselves the rest of the week to evaluate things and probably make a last-minute decision on Friday given what is happening in the Middle East. “To be in a position to make a last-minute decision, you have to carry on and get him ready as if you are going to run, hence why he came to Saint-Cloud. It gives us the option to go and he seems in very good terms with himself. It might not have looked too impressive, but it was sticky ground and we were happy with him.” Routh continued, “We have Rayevka still there [in Dubai] with our travelling head lad after running in the Super Saturday race and we are in contact daily. “The staff there are quite low-key about it and don't feel particularly in danger or alarmed, but it's a very evolving situation and not one we have ever come across before. “We're just trying to keep all options open as it would be the ideal race for him, but obviously we don't want to take any unnecessary risks. We will just monitor the situation and then make a decision on Friday on whether he ships Saturday.” The post Dubai Sheema Classic Still On the Cards for Calandagan Following Saint-Cloud Gallop 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
Be careful what you read on social media. Or perhaps that should be, be careful how you read what's on social media. This dim-witted hack got a little over-excited during the week when seeing a post by Ted Voute about Eydon foals. Had Prince Faisal decided to do a Gentleman's Deal with his strapping homebred and cover a few mares while the horse remained in training? Fear not, dear reader, we're on the case. Regrettably, though, instead of bringing you a scoop about Eydon's new dual-purpose career as both stallion and racehorse, we have to report the facts. And those are that Voute's post merely meant foals at Eydon – lovely though they were, those nippers by Mishriff and Blue Point – and Eydon himself remains in the excellent care of Andrew Balding, who has pencilled in a resumption of his racing duties in the John Porter Stakes at Newbury on April 18. “It's a good thought,” says Voute when quizzed by phone about Eydon's potential stallion career. “But maybe in another couple of years.” Eydon is of course named in honour of his birthplace, Voute's fabled Eydon Hall Farm in Northamptonshire. From there, Voute oversees the bloodstock of Prince A A Faisal among his other clients, and in his role as racing manager for the prince has enjoyed the progression of the seven-year-old Eydon, even if it hasn't always been as free-flowing as might have been hoped in his younger days. By Prince Faisal's homebred Darshaan stallion, the G1 Prix Jean Prat winner Olden Times, Eydon emulated his sire by winning the Listed Feilden Stakes at Newmarket when still a maiden. He went on to run fourth in the 2,000 Guineas won by Coroebus before having almost two years off the track through injury niggles. The owner-breeder persisted with his statuesque colt, however, and Eydon has subsequently made another nine starts at five and six, winning last year's G3 Aston Park Stakes at Newbury and G2 Gran Premio del Jockey Club in Milan. “I think Eydon has done enough [to be a stallion] and it's just whether Prince Faisal would like to do it,” said Voute. “We wouldn't stand him in a public stud, but we could just stand him at Eydon and cover some of the prince's mares, and if anybody else wanted to join in, they could.” In the meantime, however, there is racing to be done. “He's flying at the moment, but he does have a habit of going wrong on the day of, or the day before, so we always hold our breath,” Voute cautions. “In Hong Kong, he was actually touch and go to even run because he had a foot abscess. He just comes up with an ailment somewhere along the line, often within hours of a race, but fingers crossed, Andrew is happy with him at the moment, so we'll see.” Prince Faisal actually has not one, but two, maybe even three stallion prospects in the pipeline. Chief among them is last year's G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest winner Sajir, a handsome son of Make Believe, the stallion he raced to win the Poule d'Essai des Poulains and who now stands at Ballylinch Stud. Sajir after his win in the Prix Maurice de Gheest | Emma Berry Sajir had warmed up with a win at Chantilly last spring before a trip across the Channel to win the G3 Abernant Stakes at Newmarket, and Voute says that more English raids could be on the cards for the Andre Fabre-trained five-year-old this year. “Andre says that he thinks that he is better on a straight track or over a straight six [furlongs],” Voute says. “I think we're going to run him on straight tracks from now on, and he might run him at the beginning of April in Deauville. “His long-term target is to try to win a Group 1 in England, so if there is a stallion career there, that would at least put him on the radar of the stallion men.” There is certainly plenty to recommend Sajir as a stallion prospect, not least his excellent dam-line, which traces back through his Group-placed mother Simple Magic (Invincible Spirit) to the influential Niarchos mare Coup De Folie. Voute adds,”He's very good-looking and he deserves a place at stud, so Andre is very focused on trying to build him towards an English Group 1, and I think he's capable of that, judging by his Maurice de Gheest win. “A lot more people are keeping horses in training longer, and it's lovely to see. I do feel rather that everybody's got more appetite to keep going when they're good and they don't find a home [at stud]. They'd rather watch them race and have that enjoyment.” Of the younger brigade for Prince Faisal, there is the Sandown novice winner Oxagon (Frankel), who was runner-up in the G2 Champagne Stakes at Doncaster to Puerto Rico (Wootton Bassett) with subsequent G1 Dewhurst Stakes winner Gewan (Night Of Thuner) behind him that day. Though he is a winner over seven furlongs for John and Thady Gosden and has a 2,000 Guineas entry, Oxagon's pedigree – he is from the family which has produced Prince Faisal's top sprinters Invincible Spirit and Kodiac – contains some speedier elements, and Voute says that his physique also leans towards that. “He looks like a sprinter – he's more butty, rather than a big, scopey Frankel,” Voute notes. “He will maybe go to Newbury [for the Greenham Stakes] over seven furlongs, and that might tell us whether we've got to go to Royal Ascot over six or whether we're going to the Guineas or not. We're going to wait and see what he says to us.” So, it turns out that Prince Faisal, the accomplished and longstanding owner-breeder of G1 Prix de Diane winner Rafha (Kris) and her many celebrated descendants, has much to look forward to this season – just not foals by Eydon. Not yet, anyway. But if and when he does retire to stud, as we hope he will, just remember that you read it here first. The post Stallion Prospects Galore for Breeder Responsible for Invincible Spirit and Kodiac 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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