First foals for

Bolshoi Ballet

THE first foals by dual Grade 1 Belmont Derby and Grade 1 Sword Dancer Stakes winner Bolshoi Ballet are now arriving.

Two quality fillies out of well-related mares were born at The Beeches in the past week.

One is out of Moon Over Thefirth (Flemensfirth), an own-sister to last season’s star novice hurdler Ballyburn, now a short-priced favourite for the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase at Cheltenham next week.

The other is out of Roses Of Summer (Gold Well), a half-sister to graded-winning chaser Emily Gray and to the dam of recent Thyestes and Bobbyjo Chase winner Nick Rockett (Walk In The Park).

“They’re two outstanding fillies with plenty of size and strength,” said Robert McCarthy who has nine more mares due to Bolshoi Ballet including a half-sister to the aforementioned Nick Rockett and a half-sister to Grade 1 winners Thisthatandtother and Carlingford Lough who has already produced blackytype hurdler Miss Fairfax.

Capital sponsors

at Curragh again

CAPITAL Stud in Bennetsbridge, Co Kilkenny, will again sponsor the opening two-year-old race of the season at the Curragh on Sunday week, March 16th. Recent winners include Breeders’ Cup runner-up Arizona Blaze, Group 1 winner Buccanero Fuerte, and champion two-year-old and classic winner Dawn Approach. The stud will also sponsor a fillies’ maiden.

Capital Stud stallion Alkumait, a Group 2-winning son of Showcasing, will have his first runners on the track this year and the stud is set to award €50,000 to the breeder and €25,000 to the trainer and owner of his first blacktype winner.

RaceiQ metrics free

METRICS from RaceiQ are now available for free to view on racingtv.com and Racing TV apps. RaceiQ data provides in-depth analysis on each runner and their performance throughout the race.

The full suite of RaceiQ metrics will be available minutes after every race in Britain and Ireland.