The European classic season belatedly starts Monday in France with the French 2000 and French 1000 Guineas, one-mile races usually run around a right-handed turn at Longchamp but moved this year to the straight course at Deauville.
Contrail won Sunday’s Grade 1 Japanese Derby by an easy three lengths at Tokyo Racecourse to leave the undefeated champion one win away from a sweep of the Japanese Triple Crown.
Racing returns to England on Monday with a 10-race program over the Tapeta Footings surface at Newcastle, the first card since the coronavirus pandemic shuttered the sport in mid-March. Monday and Tuesday are quiet from a quality standpoint, but that will change this weekend, with big races scheduled Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at Newmarket.
Carabinier and Sirius Magic won minor handicaps a little more than an hour apart at Ascot Racecourse in Perth, Australia, on May 13. Neither has won consecutive races in their brief careers, but have excellent chances to do so in the Northam Traders’ Sprint, a handicap at 6 1/2 furlongs at Northam Racecourse on Monday.
Hong Kong selections for Sha Tin on Sunday, May 31, 2020.
Way To Paris in a typical year would be racing Sunday not far north of Paris in the Grand Prix de Chantilly, but Chantilly was among the racecourses French authorities shut down a second time because of coronavirus, and this year’s Grand Prix de Chantilly will be run at Deauville.
The 5-year-old mare Brimm looks in a good spot for her first start of the year, a seven-furlong handicap at Ballarat Racecourse in Australia on Sunday.
Contrail, the undefeated champion 2-year-old male of 2019, will be an odds-on favorite to win his fifth race in Sunday’s Grade 1 Japanese Derby at Tokyo Racecourse.
The powerful stables of Chris Waller and Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott have the leading contenders in two Group 3 races at Doomben Racecourse in Australia on Saturday.
It's a quiet day in European racing Friday, but much busier times are just around the corner. The French guineas races are to be held Monday at Deauville, while racing in England also comes back on line Monday for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic forced its cessation.
