Love

Foaled on April 13, 2017, Love is a regally-bred filly, by Galileo out of a Pivotal mare, who is owned by Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith and Mrs. Susan Magnier and trained by Aidan O’Brien at Ballydoyle in Co. Tipperary, Ireland. Love made her racecourse debut in a fillies maiden at Leopardstown in June, 2019 and went on to win three of her seven starts as a juvenile, including the Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes at the Curragh.

However, it was during her three-year-old campaign, in 2020, that Love came to the attention of the wider racing public. She reappeared in the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket, for which she was sent off 4/1 joint second-favourite behind Quadrilateral, who had beaten her in the bet365 Fillies’ Mile, over the same course and distance, the previous October. Love reversed that form, though, winning the 1,000 Guineas by 4¼ lengths and bettered that effort with an impressive 9-length win in the Oaks at Epsom the following month. She was almost as impressive when winning the Yorkshire Oaks by 5 lengths a month later and finished the season 3-3, all at Group 1 level.

With connections keen to avoid testing conditions, Love made her belated reappearance, as a four-year-old, in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot in June, 2020. She once again justified favouritism, making all the running and keeping on gamely in the closing stages to win by three-quarters of a length. At the time of writing, Love is rated 126 by Timeform, making her the highest-rated older filly, and the joint-ninth highest-rated older horse of either sex, in Europe. In her career, so far, she has won seven of her eleven races and approximately £1.14 million in prize money.

Charles II: Father of the English Turf

Following his return from nine years’ exile and the Restoration of the Stuart monarchy in 1660, King Charles II breathed new life into horse racing in Britain, which had previously been banned by Oliver Cromwell, and the sport became an abiding passion. Charles II was instrumental in the development of Newmarket as the ‘Home of Horse Racing’ and, in 1666, inaugurated the Newmarket Town Plate, which is still contested annually, by amateur riders, over three-and-three-quarter miles on the Newmarket Round Course.

Indeed, the older of the two racecourses in Newmarket, the Rowley Mile, takes its name from ‘Old Rowley’, a red-blooded stallion owned by the King and a nickname after applied to the King, himself, who was a notorious philanderer. What remains of the original Palace of Newmarket, which dates from the time of Charles II, is now known as Palace House and, fittingly, is the home of the National Horse Racing Museum.

The ‘Father of the English Turf’, as Charles II became known, was also responsible for establishing the Twelve-Stone Plate, later known as the King’s Plate, and laying down official rules for horse racing, which were adopted first in Newmarket and later nationwide. The Twelve-Stone Plate was contested by 6-year-olds carrying, as the name suggests, 168lb, or 12st 0lb, and the winner was the first horse to win two 4-mile heats.

Coolmore Syndicate

There are many forms of being ‘in it together’ gambling wise. For some cheering on friends playing the best online casino australia may tick that box. For others they prefer more real world action. Coolmore syndicate was established in Co. Tipperary in the mid-Seventies, when legendary trainer Vincent O’Brien, his son-in-law John Magnier and wealthy owner Robert Sangster, the son of Vernons Pools founder Vernon Sangster, joined forces. They bought expensive yearlings at the Keeneland Sales in Kentucky, which were trained, with no little success, by O’Brien and subsequently syndicated to stud for commanding fees. This approach helped develop Ballydoyle Stables and Coolmore Stud into the world-class training and breeding facilties that they are today.

Following the retirement of Vincent O’Brien in 1994, Magnier acquired both facilities and approached his unrelated namesake Aidan O’Brien to take over as private trainer at Ballydoyle Stables. Robert Sangster died of pancreatic cancer in 2004 but, by that stage, Magnier had been joined in the Coolmore syndicate by bookmaker-turned-business-tycoon Michael Tabor, to whom he was introduced by mutual friend John Patrick ‘J.P.’ McManus, and Derrick Smith. Smith, too, hails from a bookmaking background, having worked for Ladbrokes for two decades or more, but amassed his fortune by investing in the property and leisure sectors. Tabor and Smith have their own racing colours, but most of their horses are owned in partnership with Magnier and/or his wife Susan. Much like hearing of a  big win on the best nz online casino sites, there’s nothing like forming  syndicate and experiencing the highs and lows of that together.