First Sitting won the first group stakes of his career in Tuesday’s Group 3 Gontaut-Biron Hong Kong Jockey Club at Deauville, France, beating a field that included Almanzor, the top-rated horse in Europe in 2016.
Al Wukair took the lead in the last stride of Sunday’s Group 1 Prix Jacques le Marois for turf milers at Deauville Racecourse in France, prevailing in a three-horse photo for the first major win of his career.
Almanzor, Europe’s top-rated horse of 2016, will have his long-awaited 2017 debut against five overmatched rivals in Tuesday’s Group 3 Prix Gontaut-Biron Hong Kong Jockey Club at 1 1/4 miles at Deauville, France.
Taareef takes a three-race winning streak into Sunday’s Group 1 Prix Jacques le Marois for turf milers at Deauville Racecourse in France on Sunday.
Brando won his first start outside of Great Britain, and his first Group 1, in Sunday’s $449,500 Prix Maurice de Gheest for sprinters at Deauville, France.
Bound for Nowhere had a rude introduction to European racing at Royal Ascot in June, finishing a troubled fourth in the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup for 3-year-old sprinters.
We shall see about the fall, but the spring and summer have revealed the 3-year-old filly Winter to be exceptional.
A waterlogged course helped the unheralded 7-year-old Here Comes When upset Ribchester in the Group 1 Sussex Stakes on Wednesday at Goodwood Racecourse in England.
Stradivarius, who won the Group 2 Queen’s Vase Stakes at Royal Ascot in June in his stakes debut, scored an upset in Tuesday’s Group 1, $686,800 Goodwood Cup at Goodwood Racecourse, finishing 1 3/4 lengths in front of 3-2 favorite Big Orange.
The 3-year-old filly Winter hasn't raced in more than five weeks this summer, but during her down time her stock has gone up, and she figures a solid favorite Thursday at Goodwood, where Winter meets older rivals for the first time while stretching out to 1 ¼ miles in the Group 1, $449,000 Nassau Stakes.
