Golden Horn remained unbeaten after four starts with an impressive win in Saturday’s $2,204,058 English Derby at Epsom Downs south of London, leading a sweep of the first two positions for trainer John Gosden.
That Aidan O’Brien won the Investec Oaks on Friday at Epsom came as no surprise. O’Brien had won the race four times previously and had three entrants this year. But that he won with the filly Qualify? Now, that was a surprise.
Real Impact, the Japan-based runner who won the Group 1 George Ryder Stakes in Australia on March 21, will have his third start of the year in Sunday’s $1,554,918 Yasuda Kinen at a mile on turf at Tokyo Racecourse in Japan.
Golden Horn won his group stakes debut in the Group 2 Dante Stakes at York last month, moving to the fore of the division. He was the 3-2 favorite with British bookmakers as of Thursday for the Group 1 English Derby.
Legatissimo is the antepost favorite for the Group 1 Investec Oaks on Friday at Epsom Racecourse in England, but she has no insurmountable edge over several other fillies in what might prove to be a wide-open edition of the 1 1/2-mile classic for 3-year-old fillies.
Duramente continued his domination of Japan’s 3-year-old division with his second classic win of the year in Sunday’s $3,351,865 Japanese Derby at Tokyo Racecourse.
New Bay, making just his fourth career start and winning for only the second time, powered down the center of the Chantilly homestretch Sunday and won the Group 1 Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby) by 1 1/2 lengths over Highland Reel.
Duramente, the winner of the Japanese 2000 Guineas on April 19, and Satono Rasen, the winner of the Grade 2 Shimbun Hai at Kyoto Racecourse earlier this month, are two leading contenders for Sunday’s $3,351,865 Japanese Derby at Tokyo Racecourse.
Treve, so slow to find herself last year at 4, returned for her 5-year-old season with an emphatic win Friday at Saint-Cloud in the Group 2 Prix Corrida. Her 2015 campaign began with a resounding victory, and her connections hope to cap it with a third straight win in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
Treve, the two-time winner of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, makes her 2015 debut on Friday at Saint-Cloud in the Group 2 Prix Corrida.
