22 Jan

Dewhurst Stakes winner Gewan has been crowned European Champion Juvenile for 2025 with a rating of 121. Trained by Andrew Balding, the son of Night Of Thunder was recruited from the Arqana May Breeze-Up Sale for i80,000 having been purchased originally from Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale. He followed up a debut win at Newbury in July with an impressive defeat of Italy (Wootton Bassett) (112) in the G3 Tattersalls Acomb Stakes at York. His defeat of Gstaad (Starspangledbanner) at Newmarket to end the season followed a sole defeat in the G2 Betfred Champagne Stakes at Doncaster and confirmed him a leading Classic prospect for 2026. Following Gewan is the Aidan O'Brien-trained pair of Gstaad and Puerto Rico (Wootton Bassett), each with a mark of 119, while stablemates Hawk Mountain (Wootton Bassett) (116) and Action (Frankel) (115) also take high rank. O'Brien is...

28 Nov

Billy Jackson-Stops has been crowned Bloodstock Agent of The Year after four of his purchases struck in Group 1 company throughout 2025. The JS Bloodstock Consultancy man received the accolade from Geoffrey Howson, honorary president of the Federation of Bloodstock Agents (FBA), at Tattersalls on Friday. “I’m greatly honoured to be named Bloodstock Agent of the Year,” said Jackson-Stops. “One of the greatest achievements anyone can have in their industry is recognition from their peers, so to be acknowledged by Geoffrey and others at the FBA means the world to me.” October 4 proved a day to remember as Jackson-Stops enjoyed a top-flight, cross-hemisphere double. The elite-level brace was initiated by Royal Supremacy, a 65,000gns Book 2 signing with Andrew Balding who landed the Metropolitan in Australia. A little over five hours later, Caballo De Mar provided trainer George Scott with a maiden Group 1 triumph in the...

28 Nov

A host of big-race successes in 2025 has contributed to Billy Jackson-Stops scooping the bloodstock agent of the year award for the first time. The presentation was made ahead of the penultimate session of the Tattersalls December Foal Sale on Friday, with Geoffrey Howson, the Hon. President of the Federation of Bloodstock Agents, handing over the prize. Jackson-Stops said, “I am greatly honoured to be named Bloodstock Agent of the Year. One of the greatest achievements anyone can have in their industry is recognition from their peers, so to be acknowledged by Geoffrey and others at the FBA means the world to me. “I must thank my wife, Lily. Without her, I could not have achieved anything close to what I've been fortunate enough to accomplish. Her ability to work, run a house, and largely raise our two children on her own is the reason I'm able to...

14 Nov

Bay City Roller made a compelling case to be a part of his powerful ownership's breeding operation when running away with Saturday's Preis von Bayern in Munich. The last Group 1 of the European season was a first of 2025 and a fourth in total for the colt's sire New Bay, one of Ballylinch Stud's leading lights.  Bay City Roller had smart credentials prior to his appearance in Germany, having landed last season's Group 2 Champagne Stakes at Doncaster and finished just under a length behind the Arc hero Daryz in the Prix Eugene Adam in June, as well as filling the runner-up spot in two other French Group 2s. This emphatic performance, in which he made all of the running and powered seven lengths clear of Tiffany over a mile and a half, augurs well for the future. The colt has a distinguished page, which led to...

09 Nov

George Scott and Victorious Forever celebrated a second Group 1 success in the space of five weeks as Bay City Roller pulled seven lengths clear of his rivals to dominate the Grosser Allianz Preis von Bayern at Munich.  The three-year-old was swiftly sent into the lead by rider Adrie de Vries and it was not long before victory looked assured as he powered relentlessly clear of his rivals in the final two furlongs. "It all just came together perfectly today and he was able to show just how good he is," said Scott, who landed his first Group 1 event when sending out Caballo De Mar to win the Prix du Cadran at the start of October.  "Fundamentally he stays very well and he loves to get his toe in. I think we’ve properly worked him out now. We know what's required of him next year and how...

29 Oct

Jackson-Stops Continues To Make Waves With Victorious Forever Billy Jackson-Stops and George Scott secured the progressive 94-rated Wave Rider (Belardo) on behalf of Victorious Forever at 420,000gns. An impressive winner over 1m2f at Pontefract when last seen, Wave Rider will be targeted at races in Bahrain, a jurisdiction that Scott has done so well in before with horses like Isle Of Jura. Jackson-Stops said, "Sheikh Nasser has won his own Cup a couple of times and it would be great to try and win it again. He has the form and the profile to be successful there. Harry [Charlton] is someone we know and trust and the horse has been looked after to the very best. Bahrain as a racecourse is on the up and we want to support that and send the right horses and ensure the quality of ability and competition remains high....

28 Oct

It was no surprise to see a number of leading Australian-based buyers flexing their muscles on some of the top middle-distance prospects and Ciaron Maher added a potentially smart Sea The Stars gelding to his team Down Under in the shape of Shadwell's 89-rated Mukhtalif. Will Bourne, who was assisted by Billy Jackson-Stops, landed the William Haggas-trained dual winner for 325,000gns. He said, "Mukhtalif is progressive and, having inspected the horse, you can see he’s a beautiful animal. We really like the fact that the stallion works in Australia. David Hayes had the Australian Cup winner Fifty Stars and Johnny McKeever bought the Metropolitan winner Just Fine out of this sale, and they’re both by Sea The Stars. This horse is a progressive stayer so he profiles perfectly for us and we’re happy to be taking him down there." Bourne added, “When you look at Ciaron’s...

12 Oct

Andrew Balding's colt is 2lb clear of Gstaad and ended a run of six straight Aidan O'Brien or Charlie Appleby-trained winners. Dewhurst winner Gewan received the "cherry on top" by being crowned Europe's champion two-year-old on Tuesday, when it emerged he is set to head straight for the Betfred 2,000 Guineas. The Andrew Balding-trained colt ended a run of six straight champion juveniles from the yards of either Aidan O'Brien or Charlie Appleby, topping the 2025 table with a mark of 121 after assessment by a panel of international handicappers. "It's a huge honour for us to be involved with such a horse and to have the cherry on top to be what he is today, it's a fantastic achievement," said Paul Curran, bloodstock and racing manager to Ace Stud, about a colt who will run under the Forz Europe banner this year. "It was a dream year we had with...

05 Oct

Caballo De Mar was creating several firsts in the Prix du Cadran by becoming a maiden Group 1 winner for both his trainer George Scott and his sire Phoenix Of Spain. The Barouche Stud-bred gelding had become the sixth individual Pattern winner for his sire only a fortnight ago in the German St Leger and took that record a step further with a gallant defeat of Coltrane at Longchamp. Caballo De Mar is a member of the first of Phoenix Of Spain's three crops of racing age. The grey hero of the Irish 2,000 Guineas and son of Lope De Vega is standing at the Irish National Stud, with his 2025 fee held steady at €10,000. Scott's winner represents the growing Bahrain powerhouse ownership Victorious Forever, the result of a recent merger of the interests of Shaikh Nasser bin Hamed Al Khalifa’s Victorious Racing and his brother Shaikh...

21 Aug

Andrew Balding, who won this race with the subsequent Gr.1 2,000 Guineas winner Chaldean back in 2022, added a second Gr.3 Tattersalls Acomb Stakes to his CV at York when Gewan powered clear on the run towards the line to win yesterday. The two-year-old son of Night Of Thunder sat in behind the pace during the early stages of the 7f contest under P J McDonald. As the race began to come to the boil at the three-furlong marker, Gewan pressed the leader and soon picked up the pace. However, he had not yet shaken off the challenge from Aidan O’Brien’s Italy (Wootton Bassett), who appeared very quickly on his right-hand side, but having responded well to his jockey’s urgings, Gewan showed great courage and pulled a length and a half clear of Italy to win. The Charlie Appleby-trained and Godolphin-owned Distant Storm (Night Of Thunder)...