Dettori notches 250 Group 1 wins

Twenty-nine years after scoring his first Group 1 victory on Markofdistinction in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, Frankie Dettori brought up a remarkable 250th winner at the highest level at Ascot on Saturday.

The headline moment came aboard Anthony Oppenheimer’s homebred filly Star Catcher, trained by John Gosden, who edged home in the QIPCO British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes, just half an hour after Dettori and Stradivarius had gone down by a nose in the Long Distance Cup.

Dettori said: “I am still a bit sour about Stradivarius, but the ground is a lot worse than we thought. I am pleased this filly won.

“Like you said, from crying to smiling in half an hour! She’s lovely, she’s tough, and I think she is going to stay in training. She is a wonderful filly and provided me with my 250th Group 1 – I love her.”

Champions Day provided further Group 1 success for Sean Levey as he guided King Of Change to an authoritative win in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, while the Andrew Balding-trained Donjuan Triumphant struck in the Sprint Stakes.

Aidan O’Brien had never won the Champion Stakes before but that changed when Magical proved far too good for her rivals in the ten-furlong contest.

October Yearling Sale ends

The Tattersalls October Yearling Sale concluded with Book 4 on Saturday and strong levels of trade over the two weeks helped generate the third highest total spend in history.

Turnover for the 2019 edition reached 158,155,600gns, which was down just three per cent on last year’s total. The average increased slightly from 104,853gns to 105,297gns, and the median improved five per cent to 50,000gns.

Tattersalls Chairman Edmond Mahony said: “More than 1,500 yearlings have been sold at Tattersalls in the course of the past two weeks, to swathes of eager buyers from all corners of the world and we should take this opportunity to thank every single participant for their contribution to another successful Tattersalls October Yearling Sale.

“Every year the sale showcases the cream of the European yearling crop and we must recognise that it is the support of the breeders and consignors from Britain, Ireland, France, Germany and further afield which shapes this fixture.

“They provide the quality yearlings which give us the platform to promote the sale and to attract the buyers at all levels of the market in such impressive numbers.

“There are so many outside political and economic forces at play which could be expected to undermine our bloodstock market, but the past two weeks at Tattersalls have given everyone involved cause to be proud of what this industry has to offer.”

Rulership strikes with Mer De Glace in Caulfield Cup

Japanese stallion Rulership supplied his first top-level winner outside of Japan when the Hisashi Shimizu-trained Mer De Glace took the Caulfield Cup in Australia on Saturday.

The Northern Farm-bred colt is out of the Sunday Silence mare Glacier Blue and is from the family of Zieten and Blue Duster. Mer De Glace is one of seven top-level performers for Rulership, that number including Japanese St Leger winner Kiseki.

Today’s racing

Jumps meetings are staged at Sedgefield, Kempton and Cork today, while there are two Listed races for fillies/mares on Naas’ Flat card.

Racing returns to Longchamp with the Group 2 Prix du Conseil de Paris the main event and the partnership of Andre Fabre and Pierre-Charles Boudot, successful in last weekend’s Arc with Waldgeist, are represented by unbeaten filly Pelligrina.

Robin Of Navan has been a fine servant to the Harry Dunlop stable and the six-year-old heads to San Siro in Italy to contest the Group 2 Premio Vittorio di Capua (1m). His stable companion, Golden Lips, is also in action on the card in the Group 2 Premio Dormello (1m) for juvenile fillies, along with fellow British raiders Night Colours (Simon Crisford) and Romsey (Hughie Morrison).

In Hong Kong, superstar miler Beauty Generation goes for his 11th straight win in the Group 2 Oriental Watch Sha Tin Trophy (Handicap) at Sha Tin.