Consider Saturday’s Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot a European preview to November’s Breeders’ Cup Turf at Keeneland. And consider it a meeting of some of the best turf runners in the world: European Division. Which is appropriate, given the winner of this 1 1/2-mile jaunt […]
Tag: Mishriff
Horseplayers Get Plenty of Familiarity In This Year’s Saudi Cup
When handicapping the Saudi Cup, your typical first inclination is to lock in on the familiar. After all, it’s a race offering the unfamiliar in an unfamiliar-to-North American-bettors site. Two years ago, in the first iteration of the $20 million race, it was the familiar site of Maximum Security crossing […]
Mishriff Returns to Saudi Cup With Eyes On a Monster Prize
Should Mishriff conquer his outside post, the formidable presence of Mandaloun and the 12 other rivals stalking shares of the $20 million Saudi Cup purse, he’ll become the highest earning horse in Thoroughbred racing history. Read that sentence back. Should Mishriff defend his Saudi Cup title, the 5-year-old Irish-bred, British-trained […]
Saudi Cup Opens This Week’s International Cross Country Pick 5
The $20 million Saudi Cup, a.k.a. the world’s richest race, opens this week’s opportunity for horseplayers to get rich via the New York Racing Association’s Cross Country Pick 5. This week’s five-race sequence takes on a cross-global flavor. It features races from the home of the Saudi Cup — King Abdulaziz Racetrack […]
Star-Packed British Champion Stakes Looks Like a Breeders’ Cup Field
The British Champion Stakes bears a resemblance to the Breeders’ Cup Classic, if that $6 million all-star race was held in the UK. There’s an all-star flavor to the anchor race of British Champions Day at Ascot. You’ve got multiple Group 1 winner Mishriff taking on Epsom Derby champion Adayar. […]
York Ebor Festival Opens With Mishriff vs. Love in the Juddmonte
The four-day York Ebor Festival begins Wednesday at York, wasting little time in making its presence felt on the racing world. That’s courtesy of Group 1 winners Mishriff, Love, and Alcohol Free headlining the Group 1 Juddmonte International. That race, one of three Group 1 events on the 28-race meet […]
Knicks Go Fast-Breaks Into Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings
Knicks Go picked a good time to win his fourth career Grade 1 race, using last Saturday’s Whitney Stakes victory to claim the top spot among American horses in the latest edition of the Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings for 2021. In the rankings compiled by the International Federation of […]
Top Talent Brings Equine Palace Intrigue to King George Stakes
The storylines in Saturday’s Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes are almost as loaded with intrigue as the field is loaded with talent. And this field for the 1 ½-mile turf trek at Ascot is loaded with talent. But each high-profile contestant comes with his – […]
Healthy, Wealthy Mishriff Returns as Eclipse Stakes Favorite
Boasting a healthier bankroll than he did opening the year, Mishriff returns from his post-Saudi Cup, post-Dubai respite on Saturday to headline a field of seven in the Group 1 Eclipse at Sandown Park in England. The top-ranked horse in the world, according to the Longines rankings, Mishriff comes into […]
Charlatan Retired to Stud After Meteoric and Stellar Career
Standout colt Charlatan, who won every race but his last one, retired from racing Thursday, heading for stud duty at Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm in Paris, KY. That comes a little over a month after the 4-year-old went on the shelf after a Churchill Downs workout. That last workout came […]
Mystic Guide Joins Mishriff Atop World’s Best Racehorse Rankings
Mystic Guide had to travel halfway around the globe to earn his spot in the latest Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings. Mishriff merely had to travel back to the turf to keep his. The two share the top spot in the latest Longines rankings, both earning a 122 rating. That […]
Mishriff Takes Top Spot in Initial 2021 Longines Rankings
Led by Charlatan, American Thoroughbreds took three of the top eight spots, but it was Ireland’s Mishriff who seized the top spot in the 2021 first edition of Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings. The John Gosden-trained 4-year-old earned a 122 rating from the racing officials and handicappers compiling the rankings […]
Charlatan Comes Out of Gutsy Saudi Cup Finish Ready for More
The day after Charlatan finished a game, but beaten, second to England’s Mishriff in the $20 million Saudi Cup, his trainer Bob Baffert gushed about what transpired on the other end of the world. “He ran a big race,†Baffert told Santa Anita Park’s Ed Golden on Sunday morning. “He […]
Let’s Cut to the Saudi Cup Chase: It’s Charlatan vs. Knicks Go
The best-case scenario for the connections of every Saudi Cup horse not named Knicks Go or Charlatan is easy to comprehend, if not easy to realize. It goes something like this. Leaving from Post 5, Joel Rosario sends Knicks Go out like a shot. From Post 9, Mike Smith and […]
Americans Take Center Post Stages at Saudi Cup Post Draw
Between Posts 4 and 9 sit the five United States horses running in Saturday’s $20 million Saudi Cup. Most spectators’ eyes will likely gravitate to Posts 5 and 9, where Knicks Go and Charlatan start, respectively. Post positions were drawn Wednesday for the Saudi Cup. There are 14 horses representing […]
Charlatan, Knicks Go, and Swiss Skydiver Headline Saudi Cup Nominees
Swiss Skydiver, Charlatan and Knicks Go are three names you’d expect to find in the world’s richest race – the $20 million Saudi Cup. And those three American stars headline a lengthy nominee list for the Feb. 20 Saudi Cup. The 1 1/8-mile Saudi Cup drew 109 nominees from nine […]