American trainer Wesley Ward captured the Group 2 Norfolk Stakes with No Nay Never; Queen Elizabeth II’s horse Estimate was an exciting victor of the Group 1 Ascot Gold Cup; and Jane Cecil notched her first win since taking over the string of her late husband, trainer Henry Cecil, when Riposte won the Group 2 Ribblesdale Stakes during Thursday's card at Royal Ascot.
Gentildonna, the 2012 Japanese Horse of the Year, makes her first start of the year in that country in Sunday’s $2,834,639 Takarazuka Kinen at Hanshin Racecourse, a turf marathon with a strong field of older horses.
On Friday in Argentina, Soy Carambolo is a leading contender in the Group 1 Premio Clasico General Belgrano over about 1 9/16 miles. The Clasico Belgrano offers a fees-paid berth to the Breeders' Cup Marathon at Santa Anita in November.
Al Kazeem caught pacesetter Mukhadram in the final strides to win his second consecutive Group 1 race, and third straight stakes, in Wednesday’s $775,000 Prince of Wales’s Stakes on the second day of the Royal Ascot meeting.
A half-length separated Sky Lantern and Just the Judge when they finished first and second in the Group 1 English 1000 Guineas at Newmarket on May 5, and they are rematched in Friday’s Group 1 Coronation Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Royal Ascot.
The long and short of Thursday’s card at Royal Ascot, respectively, are the Group 1 Gold Cup and the Group 2 Norfolk Stakes. The Gold Cup, for older horses, is contested over 2 1/2 miles, while the Norfolk is a five-furlong dash for 2-year-olds.
Animal Kingdom won the 2011 Kentucky Derby in his first dirt start, and he traveled halfway around the globe to capture the $10 million Dubai World Cup in March, but he could not conquer his latest new world, England, clunking home 11th of 13 on Tuesday at Royal Ascot as Declaration of War won the Group 1, $311,000 Queen Anne Stakes.
Al Kazeem was a 9-4 choice when he upset the heavily favored Camelot in the Group 1 Tattersalls Gold Cup in Ireland on May 26. When they meet for a rematch in Wednesday’s Group 1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot, it is Al Kazeem who will be the strong favorite.
Treve made the third start of her career in Sunday’s $1.32 million French Oaks at Chantilly Racecourse but ran like a filly with considerable experience, winning the Group 1 race by four lengths to remain unbeaten.
The Queen Anne, a Group 1 going a mile, is run down a straight, undulating Royal Ascot course far different from anything Animal Kingdom has encountered in a race.
