Quadrilateral is the headline name among 15 final declarations for the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket on Sunday.

 

The Roger Charlton-trained filly - the daughter of Frankel - has won all three races in her fledging career and will be ridden by 20-year-old Jason Watson.

 

Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager to owner Khalid Abdullah, said the horse had grown stronger since her last race.

The opening Classic of the Irish Flat season is set to have significant terrestrial exposure in both Ireland and Britain with ITV Racing broadcasting the Tattersalls Irish 2,000 Guineas on Friday night.

 

Coverage of the anticipated clash between Ger Lyons' Phoenix Stakes star Siskin and the Aidan O'Brien-trained Futurity Stakes hero Armory has also been boosted on Irish shores, with RTE beginning their increased programming of Irish racing at the Curragh on Friday.

 

ITV Racing presenter Francesca Cumani believes the increased broadcasts offer an excellent opportunity for the sport to broaden its new audience following impressive viewing figures for last weekend's home-based broadcasts, which drew as many as one and a half million people for the Qipco 2,000 Guineas.

 

Friday's coverage on ITV4, which includes five races from the Curragh and four from Newbury, runs from 4.30pm-7pm

Lucy Normile has given up training and expressed fears the Covid-19 pandemic will force others to hand in their licences.

 

And her worries were echoed by National Trainers Federation chief executive Rupert Arnold, although he pointed to the resilience of those in the profession.

 

Normile, who is based in Perthshire and enjoyed her biggest win with Vandas Choice in a valuable handicap hurdle at Down Royal in 2003, has trained for 20 years but is no longer able to make it pay in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

 

"You'd have to put Covid-19 as the real factor," she said. "I haven't got enough horses to keep going and we then had to turn a lot of the summer jumpers out when we didn't know what was happening. I've had a couple of owners who have been hit hard.

 

"We're the last on the line of places to spend money – people don't have to have racehorses but they have to feed and clothe their family. It's my business but it's everyone else's hobby and in this current economic disaster we're bottom of the chain."

 

'It's never been a profitable business'

 

Normile, 48, had her final runner when Granite City Doc finished second at Newcastle last Saturday and reflected: "It's horrible. It's been my life for as long as I can remember, through the good times and the bad times, but I've got to the stage where I've just got to think of my kids and my partner and work out what's best for all of us.

 

"I have no idea what I'm going to do now. Maybe something that actually makes me some money! It's probably never been profitable but you keep going and you have some nice horses and some good winners – you don't lose money but you don't make money. It's never been a profitable business but it's kept the wolf from the door and kept us going.

 

"Small yards do find it hard, there are all the unseen costs. And there is a problem finding staff, that is worldwide, not just in the racing industry – people don't want to be doing the work."

 

Arguments, tension and a huge team effort: the inside story of racing's return

 

Normile fears other trainers are likely to follow her lead and said: "A lot of jobs are going to go once the furlough business ceases and a lot of people will say they don't have the money to be spending on having racehorses.

 

"I hope I'm wrong but it's tough being a smaller trainer at the best of times – and these aren't the best of times. There are people dying or losing family members so there are others in a lot worse state than me but it's pants."

 

Responding to her views, Arnold said: "Things were difficult for small-scale trainers even before the coronavirus. Racing is even more a numbers game than it was before. Racing stopping for a period and the impact, as Lucy says, on the wider economy and businesses that provide the financial wherewithal for owners to have horses in training, is going to have an effect.

 

"I guess it would be no surprise if a few found conditions too much in coming months.

 

"But trainers are incredibly resilient, they find a way to keep going. One might have thought that more would have stopped training during the recession from 2008 but people find a way, and there are always new people coming through who want to take a chance."

 

Far Above, who produced an electric burst of speed to win the Group 3 Palace House Stakes at Newmarket on Saturday, has been retired after sustaining an injury in the race.

 

Trained by James Tate for Sheikh Rashid Dalmook Al Maktoum, Far Above was racing at five furlongs for the first time last weekend and showed the attributes of a potentially top-class sprinter when defeating Judicial under jockey PJ McDonald.

Siskin proved an utterly irresistible force in forging his way to an emphatic Tattersalls Irish 2,000 Guineas victory under Colin Keane.

 

In doing so, Keane and trainer Ger Lyons secured a breakthrough Classic victory. Lyons has excelled in his handling of Khalid Abdullah’s deeply exciting First Defence colt, whose second Group 1 at the Curragh saw him stretch his unbeaten run to five

An intended runner at Doncaster on Sunday became the first horse to be refused entry to a British racecourse under coronavirus protocols.

 

Jam And Mam was set to make her debut for Lambourn trainer Archie Watson.

 

But one of the people accompanying the three-year-old filly to the races failed a temperature check.

 

Since British racing returned behind closed doors on 1 June, all attendees must pass a temperature check before they are admitted.

 

If anyone gives a confirmed reading above 37.8C, they will be refused entry as a raised temperature is a potential indicator of illness.

Stradivarius put in a majestic performance to land a third successive Gold Cup at Royal Ascot.

 

Frankie Dettori made his move to the front on the 4-5 favourite with two furlongs to go and looked comfortable.

 

The pair accelerated beautifully away from the rest of the field to win by 10 lengths with Nayef Road (11-1) second and Cross Counter (7-1) third.

 

Stradivarius joins Sagaro and Yeats in winning the highlight of the Royal meeting three times.

 

Trainer John Gosden indicated afterwards that matching Yeats' record of four wins from 2006-09 could be a target for next year.

Hollie Doyle claimed her first Royal Ascot win on 33-1 shot Scarlet Dragon after Golden Horde held off Kimari to win the Commonwealth Cup on day four.

 

Doyle rode Scarlet Dragon to victory in the Duke of Edinburgh Stakes to join Gay Kellaway and Hayley Turner on the Ascot roll of honour.

Denis Hogan has his sights set on the Darley July Cup for Sceptical after the four-year-old finished a close third in the Group 1 Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Liam Treadwell, who rode 100-1 shot Mon Mome to win the 2009 Grand National at Aintree, has died aged 34.

 

 

Treadwell returned to the saddle after retiring from professional riding in February 2018.

 

Tributes have poured in from the racing world, with the rider described as being "polite, funny, kind and brave".

 

Police attended Treadwell's Shropshire home after his death, which they are treating as unexplained but said there was no third-party involvement.

 

It was one of the famous race's biggest surprises when Treadwell triumphed on Mon Mome for trainer Venetia Williams, who said he was like part of the family.

 

"It's a massive shock. I think we all thought he was in a good place now, having been through some tough times in previous years," she said.

 

"We shared a day that was certainly the best day of my life, and I suspect of his.

 

"He was here for a large part of his racing career, and not a day went by without him putting a smile on somebody's face."

 

 

 

So sad to hear about the news regarding Liam Treadwell.

Highest Ground confirmed the promise of his debut win at Leicester last September with a comfortable success over the smart Waldkonig at Haydock.

 

The son of Frankel, who impressed despite a slow start on his debut last season, was sent off the 13-8 second favourite and, after tracking the front-running Waldkonig, cruised into the lead a furlong out to win by two and a half lengths.

Donnacha O'Brien could trump his father Aidan to a breakthrough success in the Prix de Diane next month as he's strongly considering a tilt at the Group 1 with exciting Irish 1,000 Guineas runner-up Fancy Blue.

 

The Investec Oaks remains a possibility for the daughter of Deep Impact after she enhanced her reputation despite forfeiting her unbeaten record this month, but O'Brien is leaning towards the French equivalent over 1m2½f for his stable star a week on Sunday.

 

"We're not 100 per cent sure at this stage but she's working towards that weekend, with the Prix de Diane scheduled for the day after Epsom," said O'Brien, whose record-breaking father has yet to win the fillies' Classic. "It'll be one or the other for her."

Santiago gives Aidan O'Brien his 14th Irish Derby win at the Curragh. Aidan O'Brien trained the first four horses home, a 1-2-3-4.

Redcar racecourse was left facing an extensive job of repair and a bill for around £1,000 after vandals broke in overnight.

 

Around two furlongs of safety rail at the top of the straight was damaged and the track has asked that anyone with information about the incident contact Cleveland police.

Serpentine stunned Epsom with a runaway success to give trainer Aidan O'Brien a record eighth Derby win.

 

The 25-1 shot was sent into a clear lead by jockey Emmet McNamara and could not be caught to triumph by five-and-a-half lengths.

 

Khalifa Sat (50-1) was second with 66-1 chance Amhran Na Bhfiann third.

 

It completed a Classic double for Serpentine's Irish trainer after Love set a new record time to win the Oaks by nine lengths under Ryan Moore.

Ghaiyyath, ridden by William Buick, overshadowed favourite Enable to win the Group One Coral-Eclipse Stakes at Sandown.

 

The five-year-old made the running and held on to win from even money favourite and defending champion Enable, ridden by Frankie Dettori.

 

It was Enable's first outing since being beaten in pursuit of a third Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in October.

 

She challenged late on but Ghaiyyath won by two and a quarter lengths.

There will be no Ghaiyyath versus Enable rematch in the Group 1 King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot later this month after connections of Sunday's Eclipse Stakes winner confirmed he would instead head for next month's Group 1 Juddmonte International at York.

Leading Irish jump jockey Barry Geraghty has announced his retirement aged 40.

 

He won all the major races, including the Grand National in 2003 on Monty's Pass and the Cheltenham Gold Cup with Kicking King and Bobs Worth.

 

Geraghty was also associated with champion chasers Moscow Flyer and Sprinter Sacre.

 

"I am happy to say I'm announcing my retirement," said Geraghty, the retained jockey for owner JP McManus.

 

"A big thank you to my family, friends and everyone who has supported me over the last 24 years.

 

"I've been blessed to have had a wonderful career and I'm looking to what the future holds."

The return of racing at Chester is set to be delayed further as track officials wait for coronavirus restrictions to be eased.

 

Chester has been allocated five meetings from next month, starting on August 9, but some of those are likely to be switched elsewhere.

 

Although York and Epsom, tracks similarly situated on public land, have been able to put in protocols to allow racing to take place safely, Chester's location in the heart of the city presents its own challenges.

 

"With the city walls and open course being public land, it's very difficult to control social distancing and it's unlikely we're going to be able to race until restrictions are relaxed," said the track's chief executive Richard Thomas.

Barry Geraghty is considering a career in punditry and bloodstock following his retirement from riding on Saturday, but for now will enjoy "taking his foot off the gas" after a glittering career in the saddle.

 

The rider announced his retirement on Saturday night, having ridden 1,920 winners, 121 of them at the top level. He now plans to spend more time with wife Paula and their three children Siofra, Orla and Rian.