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Challenge Stakes (Great Britain)
The Challenge Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 7 furlongs (1,408 metres), and it is scheduled to take place each year in October. History The event was established in 1878, and the inaugural edition was titled the First Great Challenge Stakes. It was originally contested over six furlongs and open to horses aged two or older. The present system of race grading was introduced in 1971, and for a period the Challenge Stakes held Group 3 status. It was extended to seven furlongs in 1977, and closed to two-year-olds in 1985. It was promoted to Group 2 level in 1987. The race was formerly staged during Newmarket's Champions' Day meeting in mid-October. It became part of a new fixture called Future Champions Day in 2011. Records Most successful horse (2 wins): * Energy – ''1882, 1884'' * Mephisto – ''1886, 189 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Newmarket Racecourse
Newmarket Racecourse is a British Thoroughbred horse racing venue in Newmarket, Suffolk, Newmarket, Suffolk, comprising two individual racecourses: the Rowley Mile and the July Course. Newmarket is often referred to as the headquarters of Horse racing in the United Kingdom, British horseracing and is home to the largest cluster of training yards in the country and many key horse racing organisations, including Tattersalls, the National Horseracing Museum and the National Stud. Newmarket hosts two of the country's five British Classic Races, Classic Races – the 1,000 Guineas and 2,000 Guineas, and numerous other Group races. In total, it hosts 9 of British racing's List of British flat horse races#Group 1, 36 annual Group One, Group 1 races. History Racing in Newmarket was recorded in the time of James VI and I, James I. The racecourse itself was founded in 1636. Around 1665, Charles II of England, Charles II inaugurated the Newmarket Town Plate and in 1671 became the fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Horse Trainer
A horse trainer is a person who tends to horses and teaches them different disciplines. Some of the responsibilities trainers have are caring for the animals' physical needs, as well as teaching them submissive behaviors and/or coaching them for events, which may include contests and other riding purposes. The level of education and the yearly salary they can earn for this profession may differ depending on where the person is employed. History Domestication of the horse, Horse domestication by the Botai culture in Kazakhstan dates to about 3500 BC. Written records of horse training as a pursuit has been documented as early as 1350 BC, by Kikkuli, the Hurrian "master horse trainer" of the Hittite Empire. Another source of early recorded history of horse training as a discipline comes from the Ancient Greece, Greek writer Xenophon, in his treatise On Horsemanship. Writing circa 350 BC, Xenophon addressed Horse training, starting young horses, selecting older animals, and proper Ho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Dunlop (racehorse Trainer)
John Leeper Dunlop (10 July 1939 – 7 July 2018) was an English race horse trainer based in Arundel, Sussex. He trained the winners of 74 Group One races, including 10 British Classics, with over 3000 winners in total. He was the British flat racing Champion Trainer in 1995. Born in Tetbury, he first took out a training licence in 1966. After a two-year apprenticeship with Neville Dent and Gordon Smyth he took over Castle Stables in Arundel, on the Duke of Norfolk's estate. He played a pivotal role in the establishment of Middle Eastern influences in British horseracing, training Hatta, Sheikh Mohammed's first winner as an owner at Brighton in 1977. He was also associated with Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum over a period of three decades, training horses such as Salsabil, winner of the 1,000 Guineas, Oaks and Irish Derby. The main jockeys with which he was associated include the Australian Ron Hutchinson, Willie Carson, Pat Eddery and Lester Piggott . In later years he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guy Harwood
Guy Harwood (born 10 June 1939) is a retired British racehorse trainer. Background Harwood was born in Pulborough, West Sussex, in 1939. His father, Wally made the family fortune with his garage business, founded in 1931. Harwood began riding at the age of 18 and won 40 point-to-point races and 14 National Hunt races over the next few years. Training career He began training horses in 1965 under permit, and took out a training licence in 1966, establishing the Coombelands racing stables. In the 1970s, Harwood developed his stable to become one of the most modern in Britain, introducing such innovations as artificial gallops, American-style barns and a computerised office system. He trained many winners there, including Dancing Brave, winner of the 1986 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and European Horse of the Year for 1986. In 1996 his daughter, Amanda Perrett, took over the reins at Coombelands. Harwood received the prestigious Goodwood Racecourse Media Dinner Award for 2007. Harwood ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greville Starkey
Greville Michael Wilson Starkey (21 December 1939 – 14 April 2010) was an English jockey who rode almost 2,000 winners during a 33-year career on the flat. Starkey scaled the heights of his profession during his 33-year career in which he rode 1,989 winners on the Flat. He claimed a notable Classic double-double in 1978 when landing The Derby and Irish Derby on Shirley Heights and the Oaks and Irish Oaks on Fair Salinia. Other big races he won in this country included the Ascot Gold Cup (3 times), the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes, Eclipse Stakes (twice), Champion Stakes and Sussex Stakes. As well as Classic success on Shirley Heights and Fair Salinia, Starkey landed the 1964 Oaks on Homeward Bound and the 2,000 Guineas on To-Agori-Mou in 1981 and Dancing Brave in 1986. He rode a century of winners on 4 occasions (1978, 1982, 1983 and 1986), each time finishing 4th in the flat jockeys table, with a personal best of 107 in 1978. Starkey was champion ap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brocade (horse)
Brocade (31 May 1981 – 2003) was a British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. Unraced as a juvenile she began her racing career in 1984 and showed high class form to win the Oak Tree Stakes and the Challenge Stakes as well as finishing second in the Prix Quincey. After struggling to recapture her best form as a four-year-old she ended her racing career with a win in the Prix de la Forêt. She was highly successful as a broodmare, producing several winners including Barathea and Gossamer. Background Brocade was a "robust, good-quartered" bay mare bred in England by her owner, Gerald Leigh's Cayton Park Stud. He was sent into training with Guy Harwood at Pulborough, West Sussex. Harwood was noted for his modern approach to training, introducing Britain to features such as artificial gallops and barn-style stabling. She was from the eleventh crop of foals sired by Habitat, an American-bred, British-raced miler who became one of the leading European stallions of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Duffield
__NOTOC__ George Duffield MBE (born 30 November 1946) is an English retired flat racing jockey. He served a seven-year apprenticeship with Jack Waugh, and rode his first winner on 15 June 1967 at Great Yarmouth Racecourse on a horse called Syllable, trained by Waugh. He became stable jockey for trainer John Oxley in 1970, but this was not to be a successful partnership, and they split in 1972. After riding freelance for a bit, he was to become first jockey to trainer Sir Mark Prescott in 1974, a partnership which was to prove most enduring and fruitful. George Duffield spent 30 years as stable jockey to Prescott, riding 830 winners for him, including successes in Ireland, France and Belgium. Duffield was a journeyman jockey for a great part of his career, but he became much better known in 1992 thanks to the exploits of the three-year-old filly User Friendly, trained by Clive Brittain, also at Newmarket, User Friendly gave Duffield his first 'Classic' success when winning Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Noalcoholic
Noalcoholic (13 March 1977 – December 1997) was a French-bred Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He showed useful form when trained in France and was set to be exported to stand as a breeding stallion in Australia. During what was intended to be a brief stopover in England in the spring of 1982 he began to show impressive form on the training gallops and was returned to the track in the training of Gavin Pritchard-Gordon. He showed much improved form as a five-year-old, winning the Van Geest Stakes, Prix Messidor and Challenge Stakes as well as finishing second in the Queen Anne Stakes and the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes. He was even better at six, winning the Lockinge Stakes and the Sussex Stakes and being rated the best older horse in Europe over one mile. He was eventually sent to Australia in 1984, where he became a successful breeding stallion. Background Noalcoholic was a "big, strong" bay horse with a white blaze bred in France by his owner, William du Pont III's Pillar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Armstrong (racehorse Trainer)
Robert Walter Armstrong (15 January 1944 – 5 February 2021) was a British horse trainer who trained horses competing in flat racing. In a career lasting from 1973 until 2000 he trained the winners of 737 races in Great Britain, including 13 at Group One level. He was the son of Sam Armstrong (1904–1982) and grandson of Bob Armstrong, who were both also racehorse trainers. Robert Armstong's sister, Susan, married the champion jockey Lester Piggott. The best horses he trained were Moorestyle and Never So Bold, both European champion sprinters. Major wins *Coronation Cup - (1) - ''Be My Native (1983)'' *International Stakes - (1) - ''Shady Heights (1988)'' *July Cup - (2) - ''Moorestyle (1980), Never So Bold (1985)'' *King's Stand Stakes - (1) - ''Never So Bold (1985)'' *Middle Park Stakes - (1) - ''Mattaboy (1980)'' *Nunthorpe Stakes - (1) - ''Never So Bold (1985)'' *Prix de la Forêt - (2) - ''Moorestyle (1980, 1981)'' *Prix du Moulin de Longchamp - (1) - ''Sparkler (1973)'' * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henry Cecil
Sir Henry Richard Amherst Cecil (11 January 1943 – 11 June 2013) was a British flat racing horse trainer. Cecil was very successful, becoming Champion Trainer ten times and training 25 domestic Classic winners. These comprised four winners of the Derby, eight winners of the Oaks, six winners of the 1,000 Guineas, three of the 2,000 Guineas and four winners of the St Leger Stakes."Sir Henry" Sir Henry Cecil website. Retrieved 18 June 2012. His 1000 Guineas and Oaks successes made him particularly renowned for his success with .Wood, Greg [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kris (horse)
Kris (1976–2004) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse. As a two-year-old in 1978 he was unbeaten in four races, including the Horris Hill Stakes, but was rated some way below the best of his generation. In the following year he won the Greenham Stakes on his debut before being defeated half a length by Tap On Wood when favourite for the classic 2000 Guineas. He went on to dominate British racing over one mile for the rest of 1979, winning the Heron Stakes, St James's Palace Stakes, Sussex Stakes, Waterford Crystal Mile, Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and Challenge Stakes, earning comparisons with Brigadier Gerard. As a four-year-old he won the Lockinge Stakes but was off the course with injury problems for much of the season and was narrowly beaten by Known Fact when attempting to repeat his previous win in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes. He retired from racing with a record of fourteen wins and two second places from sixteen starts. Kris went on to become a very successful br ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joe Mercer (jockey)
Joseph Mercer, OBE (25 October 1934 – 17 May 2021) was an English thoroughbred race horse jockey. He was active as a jockey from 1947 to 1985 and rode a total of 2,810 winners in Britain. Mercer's nickname was "Smokin' Joe". He was apprenticed to trainer Frederick Sneyd and won his first British Classic race while still an apprentice on Ambiguity in the 1953 Epsom Oaks. He was British flat racing Champion Apprentice twice, in 1952 and 1953. He subsequently worked as stable jockey for Jack Colling, Dick Hern, Henry Cecil and Peter Walwyn. During his spell at Cecil's yard he won his only British flat racing Champion Jockey's title in 1979. The most successful horse Mercer rode during his career was Brigadier Gerard, winner of 17 of his 18 races between 1970 and 1972. He won every British Classic except the Derby, although he was runner-up twice. He retired as a jockey in November 1985. He then worked initially as a jockey's agent before accepting a job as rac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |