Another horse has tested positive for morphine in England, according to the Racing Post, and Michael Stoute, who trains a horse for Queen Elizabeth II that tested positive, has revealed that a second horse in his stable also tested positive for the drug.
Telescope, a 4-year-old who never has started in a Group 1 race, is the favorite for one of the most prestigious races in England, the Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes on Saturday at Ascot.
The 3-year-old filly Bracelet is beginning to live up to the lofty reputation established by her family. Her fourth win from six starts produced her first success at the Group 1 level as Bracelet scored a narrow victory over Tapestry and Volume in the Irish Oaks on Saturday at the Curragh.
Taghrooda would have been heavily favored in the Irish Oaks after a sharp last-start win in the Epsom Oaks, but the John Gosden-trained, Hamdan al Maktoum-owned filly was taken out of Irish Oaks consideration to instead test older males in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes on July 26 at Ascot. It perhaps is no coincidence that Sheikh Hamdan still has the ante-post Irish Oaks favorite, a Dermot Weld-trained filly named Tarfasha.
Irish trainer Edward Lynam has the very good sprinter Sole Power for five-furlong fast-ground races, but when rain softened the Newmarket course for Saturday’s Group 1 July Cup over six furlongs, Lynam scratched the horse. Fortunately for Lynam, he has an even better six-furlong sprinter who comfortably handles soft going, and Slade Power blew away his rivals in the July Cup.
The Grey Gatsby and Prince Gibraltar, the first and third finishers of the Group 1 French Derby on June 1, lead a field of 11 in Sunday’s $816,480 Grand Prix de Paris at Longchamp Racecourse.
Late-developing Integral is evolving into one of the better older fillies in Europe, and she scored her first Group 1 victory on Friday at Newmarket, comfortably defeating 3-year-old Rizeena by two lengths in the Falmouth Stakes.
Trainer Edward Lynam’s powerful pair of sprinters, Sole Power and Slade Power, meet several rising 3-year-olds, including the Spanish horse Noozhoh Canarias, in the Group 1 July Cup on Saturday at Newmarket in England.
Integral, Sky Lantern, and Rizeena head the seven fillies and mares entered in the Group 1 Falmouth Stakes on Friday at Newmarket in England.
After two good losses to start his 2014 campaign, Mukhadram broke through with a big win Saturday at Sandown in the Eclipse Stakes, winning the first Group 1 race of his career by two lengths over Trading Leather.
