Jockey A.P. McCoy, who became the first steeplechase jockey to surpass 4,000 career wins earlier this month, rides the American-bred Tap Night in Saturday’s $256,000 Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham Racecourse, the first major race of the 2013-14 jump season.
The brilliant French 3-year-old filly Treve has been named Cartier Horse of the Year, roughly the European equivalent of North America’s Horse of the Year award. Treve and the other Cartier award winners were formally announced at the annual Cartier Awards ceremony on Tuesday night in London. Another French female, Moonlight Cloud, was named the leading older horse in Europe. Christian Head-Maarek trains Treve, while her brother, Freddie Head, trains Moonlight Cloud, who was bred and is owned by George Strawbridge, a Pennsylvanian.
Australian racing authorities announced Tuesday the creation of a lucrative Breeders’ Cup-style, year-end race meeting to be called The Championships. The two-day event, scheduled for Saturday, April 12, and Saturday, April 19, in 2014, will include 10 races with purses worth a combined $16.8 million, and will be held at Royal Randwick Racecourse in suburban Sydney.
Fiorente gave favorite backers and trainer Gai Waterhouse reasons to celebrate with his win in Tuesday’s $5,658,000 Melbourne Cup at Flemington Racecourse in Australia.
Fiorente’s experience will make him the favorite to win Tuesday’s $5,658,000 Melbourne Cup at Flemington Racecourse in Australia, a race in which he was second by a length in 2012. A two-mile handicap run on turf, the Melbourne Cup has drawn a maximum field of 24, including eight runners trained in the Northern Hemisphere.
Just a Way, a 14-1 outsider, scored an upset win in Sunday’s $2,824,157 Tenno Sho at Tokyo Racecourse, the first Grade 1 win of his career.
Kingston Hill, skipping over soft ground, scored a 4 1/2-length victory in the Group 1 Racing Post Trophy Stakes on Saturday at Doncaster in England.
Somewhat is the most accomplished horse among 11 entrants in the Group 1 Racing Post Trophy Stakes on Saturday at Doncaster in England, but that doesn’t mean he has a discernible edge in the one-mile race for 2-year-olds.
Fiorente, second in the 2012 Melbourne Cup, can solidify his status as the favorite for this year’s Melbourne Cup on Nov. 5 with a win in Saturday’s $2,880,000 Cox Plate at Moonee Valley Racecourse in Australia.
Farhh, making his first start since May, ended his career with a hard-fought win in Saturday’s $2,093,000 Champion Stakes at Ascot.
