Ed de Giles to contest stewards' demotion of Fitzrovia for 'intimidation'

Connections of Fitzrovia have decided to appeal against the decision of Chepstow stewards to reverse the placings in the track's opening race on Friday, having ruled that first-past-the-post Fitzrovia had intimidated Greg The Great on the way to scoring by a nose.

Fitzrovia's trainer Ed de Giles said: "We've thought about it, talked to people and discussed it among ourselves and, having watched it several times over, we feel we should appeal."

Ridden by Luke Morris, Fitzrovia hung across the track to the left, moving sharply away from his rivals, before then switching back towards Greg The Great.

There was no crossing or contact but, while noting that interference was accidental, the stewards determined the incident had "improved the placing of Fitzrovia as the gelding had ducked sharply right-handed before being corrected, intimidating Greg The Great off its intended line at the time as the gelding appeared to be gaining on the winner".

The stewards decided the momentum lost by Greg The Great equated to more than the margin of defeat, a decision Newmarket trainer Stuart Williams questioned on Twitter. Mike Cattermole, broadcasting for Sky from Chepstow, said he felt officials had got it wrong.

Amoola Gold stripped of Listed victory after positive test

Amoola Gold has been stripped of his victory in a Listed handicap chase at Ascot last October after testing positive for a prohibited substance.

Trained by Dan Skelton, Amoola Gold defied in-running odds of 999-1 to run down Monsieur Lecoq to win by a head under Bridget Andrews in a dramatic finish to the 2m1f contest.

However, a post-race urine sample returned positive for the banned raceday anti-inflammatory piroxicam, which was found to have been accidentally transmitted to the horse by a stand-in member of stable staff who was “a regular user of the prescribed gel unknown to the yard management and had not scrubbed her hands after administration to herself”.

'He can take a while to warm up' - Amoola Gold hits 999-1 in dramatic win

An inspection of Skelton’s stable found “proper induction on drugs was in place and adequate facilities were in place around the yard”, with the disciplinary panel cautioning the trainer alongside disqualifying Amoola Gold via a fast-track procedure.

A BHA spokesman refused to comment on a separate investigation into Skelton regarding the disputed sale of a horse named George Gently to a syndicate of owners, which the regulator had indicated in December would result in charges of two breaches of the trainers’ code of conduct being brought against the handler.

“The BHA does not comment on investigations or speculation surrounding possible investigations,” the spokesman said.

Santa Anita to host Breeders' Cup for 11th time in 2023

The Breeders' Cup will be held at Santa Anita in 2023, the 11th time the two-day championship meeting has been staged at the California track.

Next year will mark the 40th anniversary of the Breeders' Cup, which is to be run between November 3-4. The meeting is held at a different track each season, but Santa Anita has been the most frequent host. This year it is in Keeneland.

British and Irish-trained runners have enjoyed a fair amount of success at Santa Anita, with Raven's Pass' win in the Breeders' Cup Classic for John Gosden in 2008 among the most notable.

Four years ago, the last time it was at Santa Anita, Iridessa was the sole European-trained winner while Queen's Trust and Highland Reel struck in 2014.

The fixture is estimated to bring in $100m to the Southern Californian economy and Santa Anita holds the attendance record across the two days, with 118,484 racegoers visiting in 2016.

HRI clarifies sponsorship figure error in six-month statistics

Horse Racing Ireland has clarified an error in statistics published on Thursday regarding race sponsorship levels for the first six months of 2022.

Figures released by HRI showed a worrying drop of €1.1 million in sponsorship for the beginning of this year compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019.

However, the 2022 figure of €3.1 million referred solely to commercial sponsorship and incorrectly did not include contributions from the Irish European Breeders' Fund of €1.1 million.

HRI clarified on Friday that the correct level for overall race sponsorship during the first six months of 2022 is €4.2 million – exactly as it was for the same period in 2019.

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