Ascot Sale on Tuesday

ALMOST 200 horses will be offered for sale at the Tattersalls Ireland Ascot June Sale next Tuesday, starting at 10.30am. The catalogue has been boosted by 50 late ‘wildcard’ entries which includes 15 horses with winning and placed form, and 30 point-to-pointers with similar credentials. Vendors include Godolphin, Gordon Elliott, Nicky Henderson, Colin Bowe, Denis Murphy, Philip Hobbs and Oliver Sherwood.

Shergar show

THE documentary Searching for Shergar will be aired for the first time on BBC Northern Ireland next Thursday (June 7th) at 9pm. It is the product of more than two years’ research. It proved grist to the mill for BAFTA award-winning director Alison Millar. She had received that recognition for The Disappeared. Using the experience gained in that project, Alison knew which stones to look under. The result makes for compelling television. Trained by Michael Stoute for the Aga Khan, Shergar won the Derby and Irish Derby in 1981. He was standing at Ballymany Stud on the Curragh when he was kidnapped in 1983. The IRA is widely thought to have been responsible and it is believed that the kidnappers put down the stallion when he became unmanageable. The horse’s remains were never recovered and shareholders lost out as the horse was not insured against theft.

Class filly for Irish Oaks

SEA Of Class will be aimed at the Darley Irish Oaks at the Curragh on July 21st. Trainer William Haggas decided to skip yesterday’s Oaks at Epsom following heavy rain earlier in the week. Owned by the Tsui family, the Sea The Stars filly burst on to the scene when winning at Newbury on May 19th and Haggas will look to continue her education somewhere else first before her trip to Ireland.

“I think the rain was the final nail in her coffin. She is a very nice filly, a very late foal,” Haggas told At The Races. “I think the Oaks is just a race too early for her. We’ll aim her now for Ireland on July 21st and have a run before then. She’s smart and has a turn of speed. I was gutted she couldn’t run, but my gut feeling also said it was the right decision.”

Godolphin tops Kildare CAP list

GODOLPHIN Ireland received over €180,000 in direct payments from the European Union under the Common Agricultural Policy in 2017. Sheikh Mohammed’s racing and breeding operation was the largest beneficiary of the scheme in Co Kildare. All EU farmers are entitled to support in the form of direct payments, on the condition that they respect strict rules on human and animal health and welfare, plant health and the environment. Around €1.6 billion is distributed among Irish farmers under the scheme each year. Godolphin own at least seven stud farms in Ireland, thought to total over 5,000 acres. Kildangan Stud in Monasterevin is the biggest of them.

Turf track for Chelmsford City

Chelmsford City racecourse in Essex has been given permission by the British Horseracing Authority to install a turf track alongside its existing all-weather surface. Not be built before 2020, one of the conditions stipulated by the BHA is that no more than three races will be run on turf at their fixtures.