Some famous colours were carried to victory at Newbury on Tuesday when Gaye Legacy came with a late run to win the Ray Dalfsen Mares’ Handicap Hurdle.

Gaye Legacy’s dam Gaye Memories was out of a half-sister to Gaye Brief and Gaye Chance, the former famously winning a Champion Hurdle and the latter a Stayers’ Hurdle for Mercy Rimell, who took over at the famous Kinnersley yard that was put on the map by her husband, Fred.

Upon her retirement Rimell still owned horses, arguably the most famous of which was Simon, brother of Gaye Memories, trained by John Spearing, and it was those claret with blue spots silks that were on show at Newbury.

Gaye Legacy is owned by the Chase The Dream partnership and Mrs Robin Knipe, otherwise known as Scarlett Knipe, daughter of Fred and Mercy.

Scarlett’s late husband Robin also bred the likes of Master Oats and Thistlecrack so it is a family steeped in racing history, which winning trainer Tom Symonds was well aware of.

“It’s wonderful and the mare was really tough today under a good ride by Ben (Poste), I thought she was unlucky at Kempton last time and she proved that today,” said Symonds after the 11-2 success.

“Given there is stamina in abundance like it is in her pedigree you have lots of options. She’s still a novice and there’s the Listed race at Doncaster on March 2, so depending how she rates after today we’ll see. Three miles is easy enough for her. She’s not very big, but I think she will jump fences.”

He added: “It’s thrilling for Scarlett to keep her eponymous family going. When Scarlett lost Gaye Memories, the sister to Simon and Gaye Legacy’s mother, her own mother Mercy not long after died so she bought this mare in her memory, hence the name.”

The card began with two divisions of a two-mile maiden hurdle, sponsored by BetVictor.

The opener saw a very nice performance from Dan Skelton’s Be Aware (11-1), who was making his debut but looked the part under Harry Skelton.

“That was a lovely performance, he’s a horse we’ve liked since we got him but to be honest we’ve been trying to keep the lid on him as he’s by Martaline and he can be immature a bit at home,” the jockey told Sky Sports Racing

“We’ll see how we go. You do try to turn them into chasers and he’s got size and scope. We’ve just got to look after him, he’s got a lot of talent.”

The second division went to Into The Park (9-4 favourite), trained by Philip Hobbs and Johnson White.

Warren Greatrex’s Abuffalosoldier (10-1) defied top-weight in the Remembering Bob Olney Novices’ Handicap Chase, while Gary Moore’s Issar d’Airy (11-10 favourite) followed up a recent win at the track but found life tougher under 8lb more, beating I’d Like To Know by a short head.

Ben Pauling’s Roysse (6-1) looks to have a future given how strongly he travelled in the concluding bumper before tiring a little late on, beating previous winner Jurancon by two and a half lengths.

One-time Derby hope Reach For The Moon could yet have a starring role for the royal family after being entered for the Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.

The five-year-old had been viewed as a potential Classic contender for the late Queen in 2022 after winning the Group Three Solario Stakes as a juvenile, but an injury dashed those hopes and the son of Sea The Stars struggled to regain his form.

Out of luck in five subsequent starts, Reach For The Moon was last seen when beating just three horses in last year’s Royal Hunt Cup at Royal Ascot, on what transpired to be his final start for John and Thady Gosden.

Now with Jamie Snowden, Reach For The Moon has yet to jump a hurdle in public, but his trainer feels his Flat rating of 105 merits at least having the Festival option, should things fall into place ahead of the March 12 feature.

Snowden said: “He was obviously a very good horse for John and Thady Gosden and he was a leading contender at one stage for the 2022 Derby.

“He had a few little issues on the Flat hence the reason why he has ended up jumping with us as opposed to doing anything else.

“With a horse that has that kind of rating on the Flat, we have to give him an entry in the Supreme, but we will see how he takes to everything over the next month to six weeks.

“Racing is steeped in the tradition of the royal family. The Queen Mother loved it, and the late Queen was a big supporter of the sport.

“It is wonderful that the King and the Queen are supporting racing as much as ever before.

“They have got a nice team on the Flat, and it was great to see them have a Royal Ascot winner last year in Desert Hero, who won the King George V Stakes.

“We have got some nice horses for them and hopefully Reach For The Moon can fly the flag high. We are lucky to have a horse of his talent and hopefully we can do him justice.”

Snowden has been satisfied with Reach For The Moon’s recent progress but has yet to decide on a starting point over obstacles for the gelding, who is owned by the Queen and former Arsenal chairman Sir Chips Keswick.

Snowden added: “He is a very talented individual and has taken well to his jumping. He did a lot of jumping when he came in off the Flat and then he went for a bit of a break back at Sandringham.

“He worked around the bowl (a gallop in Lambourn) nicely and his jumping is great. Hopefully he will be ready to run mid-February.

“We will see how he progresses and runs first time out over hurdles and then we will make a decision.

“We don’t need to make any big decisions just yet, but we have stuck the Supreme entry in as if you aren’t entered, you can’t run.

“He is a very exciting horse to have in the yard and it is great to have the support of the royal family.”

Para swimmer Tully Kearney has been commended for speaking out over her concerns about the process which led to her being reclassified last year.

The BBC has reported that Kearney, who won S5 100 metres freestyle gold at the Tokyo Games in 2021, has raised a formal complaint over how she felt she was treated during the classification process administered by World Para Swimming (WPS).

Kearney described the process which led to her being reclassified as “inappropriate, insulting and at times humiliating”.

The British Elite Athletes Association (BEAA), the independent representative body for Olympic and Paralympic athletes, praised Kearney for raising her concerns.

“Confidentiality is vital in our work for elite athletes, so while we won’t comment on whether an individual has used our support or not, we commend athletes’ decisions to speak out about their experiences,” a BEAA spokesperson told the PA news agency.

“While we recognise the complexities of the classification process, athlete welfare should remain paramount throughout, as at all times in their careers.

“Our support remains available for all World Class Programme athletes undergoing classification, including for their mental health, and we encourage them to reach out when they need to.”

Kearney, who was born with cerebral palsy and has developed generalised dystonia, had been classified as S5 since 2018 but said the review in 2023 led to her classification being “unexpectedly changed” to S6.

The intention of classification in Paralympic sport is to ensure fair competition, but Kearney’s complaint, as reported by the BBC, said the change to S6 meant she was now required to compete against athletes with a much lower degree of impairment.

“As I have two neurological conditions, one stable and one progressive, it is irrational and unreasonable to reach a conclusion on my classification status that states my disabilities have actually ‘improved’. This is a medical impossibility,” Kearney said.

Kearney also highlighted other examples of the process being “inherently flawed”, claiming the classifiers’ paperwork stated she walked with crutches. Kearney says she has been a wheelchair user since 2016.

The BBC reports that she also made the classification team aware at the time of the review that she was recovering from a concussion, but that they failed to take this into account.

A British Swimming spokesperson said: “British Swimming have provided full support and advice to Tully throughout this process as one of our World Class Programme athletes, and will continue to do so.”

The BBC has reported that Kearney has asked WPS to permit an appeal, even though the two-week window to do so has elapsed.

PA has contacted WPS for comment.

Equinox has been crowned the world’s best racehorse of 2023 – and with it the highest-rated Japanese horse of all time.

A year that started with a brilliant three-and-a-half-length beating of Westover in the Dubai Sheema Classic featured another three Group Ones, culminating in his farewell to the track in the Japan Cup.

Trained by Tetsuya Kimura, Equinox was only beaten twice in his 10-race career, winning six Group Ones in total.

He was given a rating of 135 in the Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings, which are compiled by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities.

His figure is 5lb below the 140 awarded to Flightline 12 months ago, which equalled the benchmark under the current system set by Frankel in 2012, but he sits 7lb ahead of last year’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Ace Impact and dual Group One victor Mostahdaf, who were both rated 128.

Christophe Lemaire rode Equinox in every start and he attended a glittering ceremony in London on Tuesday afternoon to celebrate the son of Kitasan Black’s achievement.

Asked what it was like to ride Equinox, Lemaire joked: “To be honest it was quite enjoyable!

“Each time he ran there were big expectations, but I had so much confidence in the horse that I had no fear. To ride him, it was just a pleasure to be on a galloping horse.

“The way he ran was just amazing. Of course, I tried to do my job as well as possible and it was a great journey – I will miss him a lot.

“As have most top athletes, he had a combination of physical strength and mental strength. His physical allowed him to run fast and further using his beautiful stride, very well balanced and also he was very clever, so he understood very quickly what he had to do to win the race.

“My job was just to take a good start and put him in the right position to let him express his talent.

“He was nearly the perfect racehorse and we have to congratulate the breeder (Northern Farm) who could produce such a beautiful horse and the trainer for getting him mature to compete at the best level.

“Just after his debut, I could feel he was special, the way he moved, his acceleration, his attitude on the track – I could feel very quickly he would become a very good horse. Most other people discovered him in Dubai, but in Japan he was already a rising star.”

Equinox officially retired at the end of November, with thousands of people attending a ceremony for the horse in mid-December before he headed to his new role at Shadai Stallion Station, where he will stand for ¥20 million – just over £106,000.

Speaking through a translator, Kimura said: “I wasn’t prepared for it all (the praise he received after Dubai), I feel like I’ve still been in a dream since then.

“The expectations were very high (before the Japan Cup) and it was very difficult to stay calm, but Equinox showed an amazing start and he has the most beautiful stride in the world and he managed to beat all his rivals with his amazing stamina, so I have nothing else that I wanted from him at all.”

To add to the Japanese laurels, the Japan Cup was named the best race in the world for the first time, with a rating assigned on the first four finishers.

Paisley Park is in rude health as he prepares to go in search of an unprecedented fourth success in the McCoy Contractors Cleeve Hurdle at Cheltenham on Saturday.

Emma Lavelle’s veteran 12-year-old has won the Grade Two three times, just like Lady Rebecca at the turn of the century.

Third behind the French Raider Gold Tweet last season, Paisley Park has run two huge races in defeat already this campaign when just touched off at Newbury and Ascot, most recently in the Long Walk.

When asked if Paisley Park was in the same form as for his two meritorious runs this season, Lavelle told Sky Sports Racing: “I think so.

“He seems very well at home, he schooled this morning. He’s jumped more hurdles than I’ve had hot dinners at home so he’s in great order.

“He’s his own man so it’s fingers crossed he brings to the table what he has in both races so far this season.

“He loves Cheltenham, he’s got a great record there and we’ve just got to keep everything crossed.”

Paisley Park’s old adversaries Champ and Dashel Drasher are likely to take him on again, with 2022 Grand National winner Noble Yeats and Marie’s Rock other notable entries.

In what might be an ominous portent of what is to come, City Of Troy “should have no problem over a range of distances” this season, according to Aidan O’Brien.

The unbeaten Justify colt enters his Classic year with a sky-high reputation and ranked second only to Johannesburg – a four-time Group One-winning juvenile – among O’Brien’s 13 champion two-year-olds to date with a rating of 125 following the unveiling of the European classifications.

“He looks very exciting, obviously, and he looks like he’ll have no problem going up in distance,” said O’Brien of the Dewhurst winner, who is favourite for the 2000 Guineas and Derby and has even been talked of as a potential Triple Crown horse.

“I suppose from the first time he ran he looked something different and we always felt that he was a horse who should go forward from two to three, so he’s very exciting from that point of view.

“Johannesburg was more of a two-year-old, he was a small horse. This horse has a massive big, long stride, a bigger horse and obviously he looks very exciting.

“He’s made good physical progress, we’re very happy with him. He’s not too big a horse, he’s not too small, he’s medium-sized and a lovely, well-balanced horse, he’s got a lovely mind. He’s moving very well and he looks like a horse who should have no problem over a range of distances.

“I suppose what makes him different is the tempo he goes in a race and then he just kicks into another gear at halfway, really.

“We didn’t have a horse as exciting ever as City Of Troy as a two-year-old, probably.”

O’Brien enjoyed notable success from a relatively small sample with offspring of American Triple Crown hero Justify, and he floated the idea of taking some of them out to the States to race on dirt.

“We will definitely consider taking the Justifys to America. I would imagine they will be made for the dirt, Justify was a big dirt sprinter who got a mile and a half, but that is why he’s so exciting, they are as good on turf as dirt,” said O’Brien.

“The Kentucky Derby is unlikely as we might not have anything forward enough for that, but after that, once the Classics are out of the way, there’s every chance we could travel over with some of them.”

City Of Troy was rated 5lb clear of Bucanero Fuerte, trained by Adrian Murray, while just 1lb behind him was another O’Brien inmate, Henry Longfellow, also unbeaten in three races.

“We always thought they were two very good colts but we never put them together,” said O’Brien.

“Both travel very well and quicken very well. City Of Troy has a lower action, while Henry Longfellow bends his knee a little bit.

“Henry Longfellow was impressive in his three runs but what City Of Troy did, he always looked different.

“We were thinking at the moment, although obviously it can change, of starting City Of Troy at Newmarket and we’re thinking of maybe starting Henry Longfellow in France.”

The leading two-year-old filly for 2023 was another Ballydoyle inmate, Opera Singer, a five-length winner of the Prix Marcel Boussac.

“I think we’ll probably start her in the English Guineas. Physically she’s done very well, she’s at the same stage as City Of Troy at the moment,” said O’Brien.

“We’ll probably split them up, one might go to France and one might go to England, her and Ylang Ylang (Fillies’ Mile winner), that’s what we’re thinking at the moment.

“She’s a Justify and they are very versatile but she’s out of a Sadler’s Wells mare (Liscanna) and we didn’t think she’d have any problems handling an ease in the ground. We were hoping good ground would bring out the best in her.”

Opera Singer is a half-sister to Hit It A Bomb and Brave Anna, who both won Group Ones at two but failed to train on at three.

“I suppose she’s by Justify which is the massive thing and Justifys improve a lot a three, that’s what we’re thinking. She’s much bigger than they were, scopier, so I think the Justify factor will make a massive difference to her,” said O’Brien.

“When you look at a horse you can tell physically if they have changed from two to three, first impressions is always the thing. Some might get heavier but physically they don’t change.

“They’ve done all their strength and conditioning now and their canters are starting to build up so you want them to be looking like three-year-olds now.”

Mark Bird, the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board’s handicapper, has spoken of a “slightly worrying trend” as the number of horses to make the juvenile classifications dropped to a new low in 2023.

Horse have to achieve a mark of at least 110 to feature on the coveted list, which was this year dominated by the 125-rated City Of Troy.

While Bird lauded the champion, he believes the fact that only 36 contenders made the cut last term is a concern, with the number of British and French-trained runners both taking a notable dip.

He said: “We have 36 horses in the classification this year, 27 colts and nine fillies. That is the lowest total there’s ever been in terms of the international classifications for two-year-olds since it began in 1978. Our previous low was 40.

“Looking at the trends going back over the years, the average even starting this century back in 2000, was about 48 and we’re down this year, so that’s a 25 per cent drop. That begs the question are the horses still around, are they not being campaigned and what is the reason behind that.

“The decline has been marked and notable, particularly in the last decade when the numbers have slipped. That’s something we noticed, certainly in the last number of years and particularly this year where it is a record low.

“In terms of identifying where the fall off has been, I think the number of Irish-trained two-year-olds largely thanks to Ballydoyle has remained relatively stable. There has been a drop off, certainly over the last 20 years in France, and more recently there has been quite a drop off in British-trained two-year-olds.”

Seeking to explain the trend, Bird highlighted the lacklustre campaign endured by Charlie Appleby’s team, with the Godolphin trainer usually a powerhouse in the division, but also highlighted the commercial opportunities for a well-regarded maiden winner on the international market.

He added: “Obviously we have a lack of Godolphin-owned horses on the classification this year, John and Thady Gosden have two horses on it but there are gaps this year that might perhaps explain why it’s so low, but in overall terms I suppose it’s a slightly worrying trend.

“We have a high-class champion this year and there are a number of good horses, particularly in terms of Ballydoyle, but the overall landscape may give some cause for concern given the low numbers.

“This century the average number of French runners to now has been about seven and it’s down to four this year, the average of British-trained runners in the classification is 24 down to 17 this year, the average Irish representation since 2000 has been about 15 and it’s 15 this year, so certainly a fall in terms of numbers in France and Britain.

“I think what is essentially keeping Ireland afloat is Coolmore and their strong representation.

“It does bring up the issue of whether the two-year-olds are there, are they not being campaigned or are they being sold to the Middle East or Hong Kong. Domestically, a maiden winner in Ireland, almost immediately you get a call asking what it’s going to be rated because somebody wants to sell it or buy it.

“Over the course of the last 20 years I think that does have an impact in terms of the number of horses we have in this classification and it’s just the reality of life really.”

Graeme Smith, the British Horseracing Authority’s handicapping team leader, is inclined to think the contraction of British-trained stars is a “blip”, pointing to wide-margin big-race winners having an impact.

He said: “I do wonder if this year is a blip for Britain because the last few years we have had 21, 26 and 25, it’s just 17 this year. The obvious absence of Godolphin two-year-olds, I think Charlie Appleby has got one on the list in Ancient Wisdom, there’s got to be a lot of talent bubbling under in that stable and the same with John and Thady Gosden.

“We have had some wide-margin winners of some of our biggest races which enables us to rate the winners high, but the placed horses, it’s difficult to get a big rating on them when they have been beaten so far.

“We have also had a lot of races with really condensed finishes as well and when you start putting elevated figures on the winner and the second, all of sudden you have the seventh and eighth rated 110 which is unrealistic.”

Aidan O’Brien has indicated last year’s star three-year-old Auguste Rodin could begin his 2024 campaign in the Dubai Sheema Classic.

Winner of the Derby, Irish Derby, Irish Champion Stakes and the Breeders’ Cup Turf, he was expertly handled by O’Brien to bounce back from bitter disappointments in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket and the King George at Ascot.

To win four times at the highest level in three different countries confirmed O’Brien’s long-held view that Auguste Rodin, who is by Japanese superstar Deep Impact, is a little out of the ordinary.

As such it was a bold decision by connections to keep him in training, and O’Brien is clearly not going to wrap him up in cotton wool, with the first part of his season potentially already mapped out and a crack at the world’s best dirt races possible later in the year.

Speaking on a media call regarding the 2023 European Classifications, which saw his City Of Troy lead the way, O’Brien said: “I suppose with Auguste Rodin this year we are going to start off probably in Dubai (March 30), then he might come back to the Curragh for the Tattersalls (Gold Cup), then he could go to Ascot for the Prince of Wales’s.

“Then after that it is possible we could have a look at dirt and see what happens because when we cantered him on the dirt at the Breeders’ Cup he was loving it.”

City Of Troy has been rated just 1lb lower than the figure achieved by the mighty Frankel as a two-year-old after being officially crowned the champion juvenile of 2023.

The son of American Triple Crown hero Justify carried all before him in each of his three starts last season, landing a Curragh maiden and the Group Two Superlative Stakes before putting the seal on a memorable campaign with a scintillating Group One success in the Dewhurst at Newmarket.

With a rating of 125, the colt becomes the 13th European champion juvenile trained by Aidan O’Brien and puts him only marginally behind Frankel and the Ballydoyle handler’s highest-rated two-year-old to date in Johannesburg, who were both given a mark of 126 following their respective debut seasons.

In the immediate aftermath of City Of Troy’s Dewhurst triumph, O’Brien said: “He is the best two-year-old we’ve trained, there’s no doubt”, while part-owner Michael Tabor described the hugely-exciting colt as “our Frankel”.

Reflecting on City Of Troy’s achievements, the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board’s handicapper Mark Bird said: “City Of Troy proved himself the cream of the two-year-old crop in Europe this year with three impressive performances between July and October.

“His rating of 125 places him alongside high-class horses such as Zafonic and Fasliyev at the same stage of their careers and behind only four-time Group One-winning juvenile Johannesburg among his own stable’s illustrious roll call of European Champion Two-Year-Olds.”

City Of Troy finished clear of his rivals in the final classification, with Phoenix Stakes hero Bucanero Fuerte best of the rest with a figure of 120.

City Of Troy’s stablemate Henry Longfellow, who defeated Bucanero Fuerte to land the National Stakes at the Curragh in September, achieved a mark of 119 to take joint-third honours alongside Simon and Ed Crisford’s Middle Park Stakes victor Vandeek, who is the highest-rated British-trained juvenile.

Graeme Smith, the British Horseracing Authority’s handicapping team leader, said of Vandeek: “He posted the best two performances by a British-trained juvenile in 2023.

“His narrow defeat of the excellent French filly Ramatuelle came in one of the strongest renewals of the Prix Morny (118) in recent years and he was marginally better again when winning the Middle Park with authority on his final start (119).”