3 minute read
Friday's racing round-up includes surprise bloodstock news from Goffs...
Exciting fillies Sakti and Naughty Eyes have been added to Tattersalls' December Mares Sale, which takes place between 2 and 5 December. Sakti was seen to best effect for trainer Ger Lyons when winning the Listed Cooley Fillies & Mares Stakes at Dundalk in November whilst Naughty Eyes, trained by George Boughey, earned a Timeform rating of 72 on her sole appearance at Wolverhampton when winning by three-and-a-quarter lengths. By Mehmas, she is closely related to Group 1 winner Campanelle – a two-time Royal Ascot winner at both Group 1 and 2 level.
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Group 1 St Leger Stakes winner Jan Brueghel was a notable omission from the entries for Hong Kong's International Races in December, having been withdrawn from the Melbourne Cup on vets' orders earlier this month. Trainer Aiden O'Brien has said that it was simply too tight a turnaround for the three-year-old, which he explained in a statement released by Coolmore overnight: "He had a long journey back from Australia and was restricted to only trotting while over there. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to prepare him properly for Hong Kong so we will revisit his plans. We may aim for a race in Saudi early next year."
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Goffs sales ring was the scene of high drama on Friday afternoon, as Gouache, dam of Group 1 winning Goliath, went unsold at €5,000,000. Goliath is set to contest the Japan Cup on Sunday, bringing the curtain down on a stellar season in which he landed the Group 3 Prix d'Hedouville and the Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Royal Ascot. This pedigree upgrade, however, was insufficient cause for breeders to stump up the asking price set by Millennium Stud.
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In an eventful day at Seven Barrows, Lambourn handler Nicky Henderson has confirmed the retirement of Champion Hurdle third Luccia following a disappointing reappearance at Wetherby earlier this month when pulled up. In the course of a twelve-appearance career, she amassed £230,000 in prize money, including a victory in the Betfair Exchange Trophy at Ascot and a fourth in the Grade 1 Aintree Hurdle.