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Intense Focus
Intense Focus (foaled 24 February 2006) was an American-bred, Irish-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. As a two-year-old he was highly tried, running nine times. After winning a maiden race in May he was placed in the Coventry Stakes, Railway Stakes and Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère before recording a 20/1 upset victory in the Dewhurst Stakes. He failed to win in two starts in 2009 and was retired from racing. He has had some success as a breeding stallion. Background Intense Focus is a bay horse with a small white star and a white sock on his left hind leg bred in Kentucky Robert N Clay of Three Chimneys Farm & the Airlie Stud. The colt was sent to Ireland and put up for auction at the Goffs Million sale in October 2007. He was bought for €340,000 by the trainer Jim Bolger. The colt raced in the ownership of Jim Bolger's wife Jackie, in partnership with John Corcoran. He was trained throughout his racing career by Jim Bolger in County Carlow and was ridden in all but one ...
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Giant's Causeway (horse)
Giant's Causeway (14 February 1997 – 16 April 2018) was an American-bred, Irish-trained Thoroughbred racehorse who won five Group One races in Britain and Ireland as a three-year-old in 2000: the St James's Palace Stakes, Eclipse Stakes, Sussex Stakes, Juddmonte International Stakes and Irish Champion Stakes. He was named the 2000 Cartier Horse of the Year. The horse was sent to stud and proved to be an outstanding sire. Nicknamed the "Iron Horse" on account of his toughness and constitution, Giant's Causeway was hailed by his trainer Aidan O'Brien as a "true champion". Background Giant's Causeway was a chestnut horse with a white blaze. He was bred in Kentucky by Coolmore Stud and Michael Tabor. His sire Storm Cat was the 1999 and 2000 leading sire in North America, and his dam Mariah's Storm also produced Freud, the 2008 leading sire in New York. Racing career 1999: Two-year-old season As a two-year-old in 1999, Giant's Causeway was unbeaten in three races: a maiden ra ...
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Kevin Manning (jockey)
Kevin James Manning (born March 1967) is an Irish flat racing jockey. Manning rides principally for the stable of Jim Bolger. He has won both the Epsom Derby and the Irish Derby. Manning was champion flat racing apprentice jockey in Ireland on two accessions and was appointed as stable jockey to Jim Bolger in 1993. Manning won his first Group 1 race on Eva Luna in the 1994 Phoenix Stakes and his first classic race victory came in the 2002 Irish Oaks on Margarula. He has since won major races in Ireland, Britain, France and Hong Kong, notably on the filly Alexander Goldrun who won 5 Group 1 races . Manning's highest profile victory came in 2008 when he rode New Approach to a half-length victory over Tartan Bearer in the Derby. He subsequently won the Irish Champion Stakes and English Champion Stakes on New Approach who is now a leading sire. He has also won the Gr 1 Dewhurst Stakes on 5 occasions. In 2013 Manning won the 2000 Guineas & St James' Palace Stakes on New Approac ...
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Soldier Of Fortune (horse)
Soldier of Fortune (foaled February 20, 2004 in Ireland) is a Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2007 Group One Irish Derby Stakes as well as important races in France, and who in 2008 won the Group One Coronation Cup. Soldier of Fortune was sired by Galileo who also sired New Approach, Epsom Derby winner in 2008, Lush Lashes, Coronation Stakes winner in 2008, and Red Rocks, Breeders' Cup Turf winner in 2006. In 2007, Soldier of Fortune won the Irish Derby, beating Epsom Derby winner Authorized. He later ran in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, finishing fifth behind stablemate Dylan Thomas. In 2008, he won the Coronation Cup beating Macarthur and Get Away. He finished third in a dead heat with Its Gino in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, and in his final race of the year, Soldier of Fortune ran fourth to winner Conduit in the Breeders' Cup Turf at Santa Anita Park in California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of ...
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Gran Criterium
The Gran Criterium is a Group 2 flat horse race in Italy open to two-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Milan over a distance of 1,500 metres (about 1 mile), and it is scheduled to take place each year in October. The event held Group 2 status for a period in the 1970s. It was subsequently promoted, and was Italy's only Group 1 race for juvenile horses. It was downgraded back to Group 2 from 2014. Records Leading jockey since 1970 (6 wins): * Gianfranco Dettori – ''Gay Lussac (1971), El Muleta (1977), Stouci (1978), Pareo (1979), Anguillo (1982), Sikeston (1988)'' ---- Leading trainer since 1980 (4 wins): * John Dunlop – ''Sanam (1986), Sikeston (1988), Alhijaz (1991), Hello (1996)'' * Alduino Botti - ''Anguillo (1982), Will Dancer (1984), Mission Boy (2018), Vis A Vis (2020)'' ---- Leading owner since 1980 (3 wins): * Prince A. A. Faisal – ''Sanam (1986), Alhijaz (1991), Nayarra (2011)'' Winners since 1980 The 2008 running was cancelled because ...
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Athasi Stakes
The Athasi Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Ireland open to thoroughbred fillies and mares aged three years or older. It is run over a distance of 7 furlongs (1,408 metres) at the Curragh in early May. History The event is named after Athasi, a successful broodmare in the 1920s and 1930s. Her progeny included Trigo, the winner of the Derby and St Leger in 1929. The Athasi Stakes was formerly restricted to fillies aged three. Following a period with Group 3 status, it was downgraded to Listed level in 1987. The race was opened to four-year-old fillies in 1993. It was opened to older mares in 2001. It regained Group 3 status in 2003. Records Most successful horse: * ''no horse has won this race more than once'' Leading jockey since 1986 (5 wins): * Michael Kinane – ''Certain Secret (1988), Inishdalla (1991), Market Booster (1992), Asema (1993), Hazariya (2005)'' Leading trainer since 1986 (7 wins): * Dermot Weld ...
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Shamardal
Shamardal (27 March 2002 – 16 April 2020) was a Thoroughbred racehorse who competed in the United Kingdom and in France and was voted the 2004 European Champion Two-Year-Old. Background Bred at Watercress Farm in Paris, Kentucky, Shamardal was sired by the 2000 European Horse of the Year, Giant's Causeway. He was out of the mare Helsinki, who had been only an average runner, but who was a full sister to Street Cry. Shamardal's damsire was Machiavellian, a son of the leading sire in North America, Mr. Prospector. In November 2002, his breeders put him up for sale at the Keeneland Sales but when the bidding failed to meet their reserve price they decided to wait until the following year to auction him again. In early 2003, the yearling began to exhibit a subtle lack of coordination and an abnormal clumsiness in his gaits. He was soon diagnosed with a Grade 3 level of cervical vertebral malformation syndrome, a spinal disorder commonly referred to by horsemen as the "wobbl ...
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Ghanaati
Ghanaati (foaled 28 March 2006) is an American-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. In a racing career which lasted from September 2008 and October 2009 she ran six times and won three races. After winning one minor race as a two-year-old she won the Classic 1000 Guineas at Newmarket Racecourse on her first appearance in 2009. She then won the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot and was placed in both the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood and the Sun Chariot Stakes at Newmarket before being retired at the end of the season. Background Ghanaati is a "big, strong", dark-coated bay mare bred by her owner, Hamdan Al Maktoum's Shadwell Farm at Lexington, Kentucky. Her dam, Sarayir won three races, and as a daughter of the mare Height of Fashion, was a sister of Nashwan, Unfuwain and Nayef. In addition to Ghanaati, Sarayir produced the Cumberland Lodge Stakes winner Mawatheeq. As a descendant of the 1000 Guineas winner Highclere, Ghanaati is also closely related to the Japanese ch ...
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Footstepsinthesand
Footstepsinthesand (foaled 15 February 2002) is a retired, undefeated Thoroughbred racehorse and active sire who was bred in the United Kingdom but trained during his racing career in Ireland. He won both his races as a two-year-old in 2004 and won the 2000 Guineas Stakes at Newmarket on his three-year-old debut in 2005. Footstepsinthesand sustained an injury during the race and never ran again, retiring to stud undefeated after a career of only three races. Background Footstepsinthesand is a bay horse standing 16.1 hands high, bred at Cheveley, near Newmarket, Suffolk by Anthony Oppenheimer's Hascombe and Valiant Stud. He was one of the first foals sired by the European Horse of the Year Giant's Causeway out of the mare Glatisant. Giant's Causeway has sired the winners of over 300 races, including the winners of 26 Group One/Grade I races. His most successful progeny include Aragorn, Shamardal and Eskendereya. Glatisant, who was bred and raced by Philip Oppenheimer was a succe ...
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Irish Champion Stakes
The Irish Champion Stakes (Irish: Curadh-Dhuais na hÉireann) is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Leopardstown over a distance of 1 mile and 2 furlongs (2,012 metres), and it is scheduled to take place each year in September. History The event was established in 1976, and it was initially held at Leopardstown as the Joe McGrath Memorial Stakes. It was named in memory of Joe McGrath (1887–1966), the founder of the Irish Hospitals' Sweepstake and a successful racehorse owner. The race was transferred to Phoenix Park and renamed the Phoenix Champion Stakes in 1984. Its present title was introduced in 1991, when the event returned to Leopardstown after the closure of its former venue. The Irish Champion Stakes became part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge series in 2009. The winner now earns an automatic invitation to compete in the same year's Breeders' Cup Turf. The Irish Champion Stakes has be ...
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International Stakes
The International Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at York over a distance of 1 mile, 2 furlongs and 56 yards (2,063 metres), and it is scheduled to take place each year in August. History The event was devised by Major Leslie Petch, a former Clerk of the Course at York. It was first run in 1972, but by this time Petch had resigned from his position due to ill health. The race was originally sponsored by Benson and Hedges and called the Benson and Hedges Gold Cup. The inaugural running was won by Roberto, that year's Derby winner. The second-placed horse was Brigadier Gerard – his only defeat in a career of eighteen races. The sponsorship of Benson and Hedges continued until 1985, and for the following two years the event was backed by the bloodstock company Matchmaker. Its title during this period was the Matchmaker International. The present spo ...
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Sussex Stakes
The Sussex Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Goodwood over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres), and it is scheduled to take place each year in late July or early August. History The first version of the event, a 6-furlong race for two-year-olds, was established in 1841. It continued intermittently for thirty-seven years, but it was uncontested on twenty-five occasions including fourteen walkovers. The Sussex Stakes became a 1-mile race for three-year-olds in 1878. The previous version had been overshadowed by both the Goodwood Cup and the Stewards' Cup, but in its modified form it became the most prestigious race at Goodwood. The event was opened to four-year-olds in 1960, and to horses aged five or older in 1975. The race is currently held on the second day of the five-day Glorious Goodwood meeting. Records Most successful horse ...
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