Dual Gold Cup winner Kauto Star has been put down after a serious injury sustained whilst in his paddock.
Speaking on At The Races, his former trainer Paul Nicholls called it an "extremely sad day". Nicholls described the horse as a "champion of all champions" that was so good for National Hunt racing.
In a career record that included 23 wins from 41 starts, Kauto Star won the King George VI Chase five times and Nicholls said he "used to light up Kempton Park [at Christmas]."
Career highlights:
2 x Cheltenham Gold Cup wins (2007, 2009)
5 x Kempton Park King George VI wins (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011)
2 x Sandown Park Tingle Creek wins (2005, 2006)
30 June 2015
26 June 2015
BHA Handicapper's view of Royal Ascot
The BHA handicapper has published his thoughts on the performance of various runners and Royal Ascot 2015.
His thoughts can be found here:
http://www.britishhorseracing.com/royal-delights/
His thoughts can be found here:
http://www.britishhorseracing.com/royal-delights/
Racehorses are getting faster
Research published in June 2015 has concluded that average racehorse speed is continuing to increase but that historical improvement has "not been linear".
There was a period of "rapid improvement" from the late 1800s to 1910 and then several decades of "comparative stasis" until 1975.
The rates of improvement in average speed have also varied by race distance and "elite race winners improved more rapidly at shorter distances".
Data from the most recent decades show that "improvement is ongoing":
"Contemporary improvement is low for middle and long distances, but winning speed for elite sprint races actually exceeds estimated historical rates. A similar pattern emerges when all elite finishers are included, and if the wider population of non-elite performers is considered."
The research has been published in the Royal Society's Biology Letters and has been conducted by Patrick Sharman and Alastair Wilson.
http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/11/6/20150310
There was a period of "rapid improvement" from the late 1800s to 1910 and then several decades of "comparative stasis" until 1975.
The rates of improvement in average speed have also varied by race distance and "elite race winners improved more rapidly at shorter distances".
Data from the most recent decades show that "improvement is ongoing":
"Contemporary improvement is low for middle and long distances, but winning speed for elite sprint races actually exceeds estimated historical rates. A similar pattern emerges when all elite finishers are included, and if the wider population of non-elite performers is considered."
The research has been published in the Royal Society's Biology Letters and has been conducted by Patrick Sharman and Alastair Wilson.
http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/11/6/20150310
British Champions Series - fantasy racing 2015
Royal Ascot 2015 review
65 points was the rather measly return for Gleneagles' (8/15) victory in the St James's Palace Stakes with jockey Ryan Moore and trainer Aidan O'Brien earning just 6.5 points each for the win.
Much more healthy was the 325 points that trainer Robert Cowell earned for Goldream's (20/1) first place in the King's Stand Stakes.
Jockeys Graham Lee (164 points) and Frankie Dettori (94 points) also made good contributions to our tally for the week for their wins aboard Trip To Paris (12/1, The Gold Cup) and Undrafted (14/1, The Diamond Jubilee Stakes) respectively.
The next race in the British Champions Series' calendar is the Coral-Eclipse Stakes at Sandown Park on 4 July 2015.
65 points was the rather measly return for Gleneagles' (8/15) victory in the St James's Palace Stakes with jockey Ryan Moore and trainer Aidan O'Brien earning just 6.5 points each for the win.
Much more healthy was the 325 points that trainer Robert Cowell earned for Goldream's (20/1) first place in the King's Stand Stakes.
Jockeys Graham Lee (164 points) and Frankie Dettori (94 points) also made good contributions to our tally for the week for their wins aboard Trip To Paris (12/1, The Gold Cup) and Undrafted (14/1, The Diamond Jubilee Stakes) respectively.
The next race in the British Champions Series' calendar is the Coral-Eclipse Stakes at Sandown Park on 4 July 2015.
End of an era at Warren Place
The end of the 2015 Flat racing season will close an illustrious chapter in UK horseracing. At the end of this season Lady Cecil will retire from training racehorses and Warren Place, the training base of her late husband Sir Henry Cecil, will be sold.
Lady Cecil said: "Training, for me, has always been about working with the horses and the team here at Warren Place. That has been a major factor in why I have continued since Henry died two years ago."
"Therefore, I confirm that at the end of the Flat season, I will stop training. Until then, the team and I will continue to work hard to achieve as much as we can with the horses."
Sir Henry took over at Warren Place in 1976.
Lady Cecil said: "Training, for me, has always been about working with the horses and the team here at Warren Place. That has been a major factor in why I have continued since Henry died two years ago."
"Therefore, I confirm that at the end of the Flat season, I will stop training. Until then, the team and I will continue to work hard to achieve as much as we can with the horses."
Sir Henry took over at Warren Place in 1976.
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