Highland Reel bounced back from the disappointment of Royal Ascot last season by claiming victory at the Prince of Wales's Stakes.

The Irish horse finished second in his first appearance at the famous racecourse as he was beaten out narrowly by Dartmouth in the Hardwicke Stakes. However, the five-year-old was able to respond on his return to the event with another term of experience under his belt, and he put forward an excellent performance to secure a comfortable victory.

Highland Reel went off at 9/4 with bookmakers including Sportsbet. Events such as Royal Ascot offer a diverse range of betting options for punters, but in a busy summer of action, you can pick your sport with to perhaps enjoy a flutter away from the track.

However, with horses displaying the great form that Highland Reel has shown, it's easy to see the popularity that a week at Ascot can bring, although the grind has been real for all involved in the Irish's horses development.

Read more: Highland Reel Earns Redemption at Royal Ascot

Barney Roy avenged his defeat at the hands of Churchill at the 2000 Guineas by claiming victory at the St James's Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot. Richard Hannon Jr's charge was considered the outsider to Churchill, who was the overwhelming favourite to win the meet in his quest to emulate past greats. However, Barney Roy produced an outstanding performance to come through the field and finish with a flourish down the stretch to secure the crown.

Aiden O'Brien's charge failed to mount even a challenge for the victory as he could only muster a fourth-place finish - a disappointing result for the Irish horse that seemed on a charge to produce one of the great flat seasons to emulate the success of Galileo Gold.

Now the battleground has changed, with Churchill now in need to a victory to sway the balance of power back in his direction, although there are defining moments left in the campaign.

Barney Roy's victory has livened up the flat season, with now two top competitors striving to be remembered as the dominant horse of the term.

Both trainers will be working vigorously to get their charges ready for the challenges ahead as the next major showdown is scheduled for the end of July at Glorious Goodwood at the Sussex Stakes, although Ribchester is now considered the leading contender following his success at the Queen Anne Stakes in the early horse racing betting odds.

We'll now look back at the careers of both horses that competed at the St James's Palace Stakes along with Ribchester to see how they've been put on a collision course.

Read more: Barney Roy, Churchill, and Ribchester Set for Showdown at Sussex Stakes

The Woodlawn Vase: from Kentucky to New York to Maryland, the Most Valuable and Well-Traveled Racing Trophy in American Horse Racing

by Marion E. Altieri for Equine Info Exchange

The Woodlawn Vase, a magnificent chunk of solid sterling silver (36” tall, 400 ounces) has been the inspiration for Thoroughbred owners and trainers who aim their steeds at the Preakness Stakes every year since 1917.

The breathtakingly beautiful piece was designed in 1860 by Tiffany, and first won by Thomas G. Moore’s filly, Mollie Jackson in 1861 in Louisville. The following year, his mare, Idlewild, won the trophy—and thereby kept the valuable piece in Moore’s possession.

Fast-forwarding to 1917, when the Vase became the official trophy of the Preakness and awarded to the Preakness winner, Kalitan and this year celebrates its 100th year as the reward for winning the second jewel in the American Triple Crown.

But in-between Mr. Moore’s possession of the trophy in 1862 and 1917…what happened to it?

In 1862, Captain Moore, owner of Woodlawn Farm in Kentucky, felt the hot winds of war breathing down the neck of his old Kentucky home…and buried the marvelous chunk of solid sterling silver on his property, along with the family silver and jewels. He feared that Confederate soldiers would confiscate the pure silver Vase, and melt it down for ammunition.

Read more: One Hundred Years of the Woodlawn Vase

by James Carney

Becoming a horse owner is extremely exciting. The thrill of watching a horse you own race is one of the best feelings you can have (legally). The main problem with horse ownership is that racing is extremely expensive. The average price of a 2-year-old is right around $92,000 - (Jockey Club resource). So unless you are an accredited investor with more than $1,000,000 net worth, it will be hard to responsibly purchase a horse on your own.

There is some good news, don’t worry. The rest of us can use syndicates to get the same upside with a far less risky downside. A syndicate is where you go in with a group of people and purchase a horse. With all this upside, you do have a great downside. Which is you have less control. In a nutshell, a syndicate might be for you if you are willing to compromise some of the control to maximize on a wide variety of benefits. If this is something you’re considering, keep reading.

PROS

There are plenty of pros to why someone should get involved in a syndicate. The pros vastly outweigh the cons, in my opinion. That doesn’t mean one is better than the other, it means one is better for a certain type of person than the other. With that said, here is a list of benefits of a syndicate.

Work with the pros.

Horse racing is a sport where you can spend your entire career trying to become an expert, and end your career knowing there is still more to learn. It’s a very complicated sport with very complicated rules and regulations which may vary depending on your state or country you’re racing in. The main benefit of working with a syndicate is that you’ll be working with a horse professional who will be much more equipped to handle the administrative and day to day stress that comes with horses more so than you would be able to on your own. So what does this mean for you?

Read more: The Pros and Cons of Racing Partnerships

by Patricia N. Saffran

Amongst the pleasures of spring is the appearance of festive charity events for horse lovers such as My Lady’s Manor Steeplechase for the benefit of Ladew Topiary Gardens, Monkton, MD, April 15, 2017.

The garden should be in bloom and many racegoers will stroll through this enchanting property before the races. The annual steeplechase races are held down the road at the Eldridge-Harford Hunt Club, where racegoers can tailgate. Some attendees like to set up elaborate picnic tables, establishing a party atmosphere for friends and family.

Four races will be run over timber fences featuring 5 year olds and up. The race card begins at 1:30 PM with the first leg of the 107th running of Maryland’s Steeplechase Triple Crown My Lady’s Manor Steeplechase Race, with a $30,000 purse. This historic race was first run in 1909.

Read more: My Lady’s Manor Steeplechase Set to Run for the Benefit of Ladew Topiary Gardens

Two Top American Champions Meet

Champion American Racehorse California Chrome and Champion American Polo Player and captain of the US Polo team Nic Roldan stood next to each other at Gulfstream only a few days before the Pegasus World Cup

Nikki Walker, granddaughter of Gulfstream Park owner Frank Stronach, is an advisory board member of the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA) and an accomplished equestrian, was also present. Fan favourite professional polo player Kris Kampsen, who also specializes in retraining OTTBs (Off-the-Track Thoroughbreds) to polo, was also in attendance. Additional Polo Players: Julian de Lusaretta, Luchino Ortiz de Urbina & Mia Cambiaso, and Polo Pony trainer Martin Phagouape.

Nic watched California Chrome train and then had a “meet & greet” with him afterward, including a photoshoot opportunity at Barn 2, Gulfstream Park, Ft. Lauderdale

To highlight the fact that over half of Nic’s string of polo ponies are “Off-the-Track Thoroughbreds,” and that this is a essential way these two regal disciplines can work together to provide a wonderful future for OTTBs.

Sport of Kings meets the Game of Kings

From January to May, the focus of the international polo world is on Wellington, Florida; and on Sunday 8th of January one of top American polo player Nic Roldan’s mounts was chosen as the Best Playing Pony of that game. The mare in question is a chestnut mare called Cubana, an “Off-the-Track Thoroughbred” (OTTB). In fact, over half of Nic’s current string are OTTBs. His horses Tulsa, Ducati, Cohiba and Cubana are all OTTBs. In all facets, Argentina has the monopoly on polo, and players breed copious amounts of polo ponies on the pampas plains. However, Stateside, people often look to the racetrack as an essential source of their ponies.

Read more: Racehorse California Chrome meets Polo Player Nic Roldan

PLEASANTON, CA — Sand Victor was all by himself as he circled the racetrack at Alameda County Fairgrounds early Wednesday morning for one last workout before the horse flew to Abu Dhabi to compete in the richest Arabian horse race in the world.

All other horses had cleared the oval for the handsome 5-year-old grey stallion — one of the best horses ever to come from the Pleasanton stables — so he could learn to run clockwise, the opposite direction of American equine races, for his international contest. Read more here...

Nick Ratings (or why nick ratings are the bane of my existence), by Anne Peters

It's important that people understand what a nick is, and the difference between a nick and a nick rating. Nicks are a fact, but nick ratings are a statistic, and we all know statistics can be very misleading. Unfortunately, ratings are what people want nowdays because it's easier to read a score and blindly accept it, than to reason out the intricate process of properly mating your mare.

The word "nick" has become distorted in breeding jargon due to the proliferation of the ratings, so that many people have come to use it as a verb. "What stallions nick with my mare?" or "I want you to nick my mares." When I hear that, my skin crawls. The nick ratings have created this quick and dirty method of matching stallions and mares to the demise of well rounded matings. I don't think this is what the creators of either popular nick rating system intended, but that's what has happened. Nick ratings have done more to take down real mating analysis than anything I've ever seen.

What is a nick? In my article "Nicks or Not," I explain that a nick is a real live genetic term describing a cross of two bloodlines that produces superior results a surprising amount of the time. It's not guaranteed, but it has a serious track record. The A.P. Indy/Mr. Prospector cross is a good modern example. Some of A.P. Indy's most important offspring are the result of this nick including Horse of the Year Mineshaft, and his good sire sons Pulpit and Malibu Moon, all sons of A.P. Indy out of mares sired by Mr. Prospector. That's a nick. It's rare, and it's very specific.

A.P. Indy on a mare by Mr. Prospector represents a very specific pedigree alignment accounting for 75% of the same pedigree on paper. If the mare is not by Mr. Prospector, we're not talking about the same nick. Bernardini is by A.P. Indy and out of a mare by Quiet American. Quiet American, by Fappiano, by Mr. Prospector, is a male line grandson of Mr. Prospector. It's a similar cross, but technically, it's not the same nick, because Mr. Prospector's influence is diluted 2 generations further back.

Since we know full siblings in actuality share only about 50% of their genes, theoretically, the chances of genetic similarity based on three-quarter relatives, relatives with 75% similar parentage, are half of that, or 37.5%. A.P. Indy crossed with a mare by a son of Mr. Prospector reduces the influence of Mr. Prospector by even more, down to 62.5% on paper, or 31.25% in terms closer to probability. The further back the key ancestor is along the mare's male line, it's potential influence decreases dramatically every generation.

Read more: Pedigree Theories and Selection Techniques: Nick Ratings

EquineInfoExchange.com strives to present revolutionary platforms which leverage technology to benefit equine business owners. Here, we introduce you to TLore , an equine software management service.

Like many of us who have worked around horses, especially race horses, we have experienced a few scary moments. TLore founder Tracy Attfield has had a lifetime of such moments - starting at the age of 10.

Nothing equaled the exhilarating feeling she got when sitting astride racehorses every morning for over 20 years. A close second were those extreme highs when watching those horses win races. Those were fun, exciting, electrifying and sometimes frightening moments which solidified her obsession with horses and horse racing.

For those in the business of training racehorses, the ‘other’ scary moments rear their head. This includes a long list - make that a very, very long list - of day to day "panics."

To minimize these moments of anxiety, Tracy created TLore. As an internet based management program, accessible by phones, tablets and computers, TLore is an organizational tool that shares data with employees and owners, powers information on trainers' and owners' websites and enhances communication within the business.

TLore is an online business solution for training professionals and can help:

• Organize your racing stable quickly and efficiently
• Manage day-to-day operations of your stable
• Save valuable time and yet maintain a high level of communication
• Manage billing and invoicing, record and document training and set lists, racing history, health records, Lasix history, inventory, stakes nominations and more.

EquineInfoExchange.com sits down with Tracy as she shares more about herself and how her product is a tremendous asset to trainers.

Read more: Leverage Technology for Better Business - EIE Introduces TLore Equine Management Services