Recent Captain Cook Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) victor Rock On Wood (Redwood) descends from the imported filly Celebrity II (Meadow Court), however it has taken 50 years for his branch of the family to finally get the Group 1 job done. The very last foal of Celebrity II (she had six daughters and two colts),... Read More

Acrobat (AUS) 2 c Fastnet Rock – Hips Don’t Lie by Stravinsky O: Coolmore, Cobra, D L O’Byrne, M J Kirwan, J A R Bester, Dr B Bester, R McClure & Mrs B M McClure B: Katom T: Ciaron Maher and David Eustace S: 2020 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale V: Coolmore Stud P: Passed... Read More

“It’s called line-breeding when it works, and in-breeding when it doesn’t,” is the old line, the sardonic joke that salves some of the wounds from the capricious lottery of making horses.   Fine lines indeed.   They’re being put under the microscope again, and in this instance starting to bear results, with a horse named Significance –... Read More

Not even the spectre of Covid-19 could detract from the global nature of the Longines Hong Kong International Races at Sha Tin on Sunday. The Hong Kong Jockey Club bill the card’s Group 1 events as the ‘Turf World Championships’, and while other international meetings also easily live up to that status, there must have... Read More

Hutchinson heads to Ireland Ron Hutchinson made his move to Ireland in 1960 and then England two years later  – fundamentally lured by the money and inspired by Scobie Breasley. “Firstly it was seven guineas (about £7 7s) a losing ride, from memory, and the prize–money was much better, in those days, than it was... Read More