Freddy Head’s name has been associated with great milers throughout his decorated career as both jockey and trainer and the Frenchman is hoping to shine with yet another specialist at the eight-furlong distance this weekend.
This is the season, Breeders’ Cup time, when European horses and their human connections begin traveling in numbers across the Atlantic and to the U.S. Through the summer and fall, even before the Breeders’ Cup, a west-flowing pipeline, funneling European runners to lucrative stakes in North America, stays open. But that pipeline tends to flow just one direction. The number of Europeans racing in North America dwarfs that of North Americans venturing east across the Atlantic to race.
Lucia Valentina, a two-time stakes winner in Australia in the last six weeks, and Bande, a stakes winner from Japan, are two leading contenders in Saturday’s $2,634,000 Caulfield Cup at Caulfield Racecourse, a race that could provide vital clues for the Melbourne Cup next month.
David O’Meara has made a huge breakthrough at the highest level this year, and the 37-year-old trainer is aiming to add further polish with two solid contenders on this weekend’s Qipco British Champions Day at Ascot.
The French veteran Cirrus des Aigles, Europe’s all-time leading money earner, heads to Ascot with a favorite’s chance of winning the QIPCO Champion Stakes once again.
News reports out of Great Britain revealed that Arc winner Treve would not, as previously had been announced, be retired to life as a broodmare. Instead, her connections said Treve will race again as a 5-year-old in 2015, her goal a third straight victory in the Arc.
Three months after winning the Group 1 Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket, Integral won Saturday’s $318,718 Sun Chariot Stakes under jockey Ryan Moore. Integral led throughout the mile, finishing a length in front of Miss France. Fintry, the winner of three consecutive group stakes in England and France prior to the Sun Chariot, finished third, a neck behind Miss France and 1 1/2 lengths in front of Esoterique.
The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe is wide-open this year, the 20-horse field a captivating mix of 3-year-olds and older horses, fillies and colts, French, English, German, and Japanese runners.
Tarfasha, the winner of the Group 2 Blandford Stakes in Ireland last month and the runner-up in the English Oaks in June, is a lukewarm favorite in a field of 11.
Fintry, the winner of three consecutive group stakes in England and France this year, will be favored to win her first Group 1 race in Saturday’s $318,718 Sun Chariot Stakes at Newmarket, England.
