The Fugue will attempt to repeat her brilliant performance last month winning the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot when she starts Saturday in the Group 1 Eclipse Stakes at Sandown.
A pair of older horses, Spiritjim in France and Thistle Bird in Ireland, notched Group 1 victories for the first time Sunday.
Gold Ship became the first horse to win two runnings of the $2.7 million Takarazuka Kinen at Hanshin Racecourse in Japan on Sunday, a victory that could lead to a start in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in Paris in October.
Australia gave trainer Aidan O’Brien his 11th career win in the Irish Derby at The Curragh on Saturday, a race that lacked a competitive feel. Australia was the 1-8 favorite against four rivals in the $1,687,500 Irish Derby and was not tested, winning by 2 1/2 lengths over stablemate Kingfisher. Another O’Brien-trained runner, Orchesta, finished third, followed by Ponfeigh and Fascinating Rock.
There is Group 1 action in France and Ireland on Sunday, with The Curragh hosting the Pretty Polly Stakes and the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud carded at Saint-Cloud just west of central Paris.
Australia and Kingston Hill, first and second in the English Derby on June 7, meet for the second time in a month in Saturday’s $1,687,500 Irish Derby at The Curragh.
Treve, the 4-year-old French filly rated one of the world’s best runners after a rousing win in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe last fall capped an unbeaten season, won’t race again until September.
Slade Power won his first Group 1 race in Saturday’s $894,705 Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot, giving owner Sabena Power and trainer Ed Lynam a sweep of the two Group 1 sprints during the five-day race meeting, which ended on Saturday.
Azarenka, a 4-year-old Kentucky-bred filly by Street Hero, is part of a field of 12 in Sunday’s $200,000 Clasico Cesar Del Rio at Hipodromo de Monterrico in Peru, a race that offers an automatic berth for the winner to the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Santa Anita this fall through the Breeders’ Cup’s Win and You’re In series.
Rizeena rebounded from a disappointing seventh-place finish in the English 1000 Guineas, her 3-year-old debut, to capture the Group 1 Coronation Stakes, the feature on Friday’s Royal Ascot card.
