Seventh Heaven led an Aidan O’Brien-trained sweep of the top two placings Thursday in the Group 1 Yorkshire Oaks at York Racecourse, beating her favored stablemate, Found, by 2 3/4 lengths. Queen’s Trust finished third, and another O’Brien-trained filly, Pretty Perfect, was fourth, and none of these fillies is even rated the top female in the O’Brien stable, a position presently occupied by Minding.
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Limato, the winner of the Group 1 July Cup last month, is a mild favorite to win Friday’s $445,400 Nunthorpe Stakes at York Racecourse in northern England, a race that could have implications for the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Santa Anita in November.
The Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes is part of the Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In program, offering a fees-paid berth for the winner in the BC Turf Sprint, if the winner is nominated to the program.
Postponed already has proven himself among the very best 1 1/2-mile horses in the world, and on Wednesday at York he will try to expand his Group 1 repertoire to 1 1/4 miles in the Group 1 Juddmonte International Stakes.
Postponed has 12 rivals and is part of a strong group, but his task was made easier when Time Test was taken out of consideration for the International due to what his connections called a “flat” final workout for the race. Time Test, more proven over 1 1/4 miles, last out beat Mondialiste, who returned to win the Arlington Million.
The Gurkha, one of Europe’s leading 3-year-olds, has been sidelined with an undisclosed injury, his owners announced on Twitter on Saturday.
The Gurkha underwent surgery at a clinic in Fethard, Ireland, on Friday and has returned to trainer Aidan O’Brien’s nearby training center. The announcement was made on the Twitter feed of Coolmore, the powerful Irish stallion farm whose main investors – Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, and Susan Magnier – own The Gurkha.
The lightly raced longshot Richard Pankhurst won his first group stakes in Saturday’s $194,325 Hungerford Stakes for sprinters at Newbury Racecourse in England.
Richard Pankhurst (11-1) overcame a touch of trouble in the final furlong to finish a length in front of 5-4 favorite Home of the Brave. The first two finishers are owned by Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin Racing. Richard Pankhurst is trained by John Gosden. Home of the Brave is trained by Hugo Palmer.
Galileo Gold and Ribchester, second and third in the Group 1 Sussex Stakes at Goodwood Racecourse on July 27, can win their first stakes away from England in Sunday’s $781,000 Prix Jacques le Marois for turf milers at Deauville Racecourse in France.
The Group 1 Prix Jacques le Marois may have implications for the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Santa Anita on Nov. 5. The race is part of the Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In program, offering a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Mile for nominated horses.
Home of the Brave can win the most prestigious race of his career and his fourth stakes race when he starts favored in Saturday’s $194,325 Hungerford Stakes for sprinters at Newbury Racecourse in England.
The Group 2 Hungerford Stakes is run at seven furlongs on a straightaway turf course.
Home of the Brave won the King Richard III Stakes at Leicester in April and the Group 3 Timeform Jury Stakes at Haydock Park in May before finishing second in the Group 2 Lennox Stakes at Goodwood on July 26.
Dutch Connection, fifth in the Grade 1 Shadwell Turf Mile at Keeneland last October, can win his second stakes in less than two weeks in Sunday’s $421,600 Prix Maurice de Gheest for sprinters at Deauville, France.
The Prix Maurice de Gheest is one of three Group 1 races in Europe on Sunday.
Qemah won her second consecutive Group 1 race, and first against older fillies and mares, in Sunday’s $334,800 Prix Rothschild at Deauville Racecourse in northwest France.
The win gave trainer Jean Claude-Rouget his fifth Group 1 race with a 3-year-old filly since mid-May. Qemah won the Group 1 Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot in June. The stable’s La Cressonniere won the French 1000 Guineas and French Oaks in May and June. Jemayel won the Group 1 Prix Saint-Alary in France in May and was third in Saturday’s Group 1 Nassau Stakes at Goodwood Racecourse in England.
Qemah has been part of a spectacular spring and early summer for French trainer Jean Claude-Rouget with 3-year-old fillies.
Qemah won the Group 1 Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot last month. The stable’s La Cressonniere won the French 1000 Guineas and French Oaks in May and June.