Verxina, second in the Grade 1 Japanese Oaks in 2012, will be favored to win the first Grade 1 of her career in Sunday’s $1,908,722 Victoria Mile for fillies and mares on turf at Tokyo Racecourse.
Godolphin plans to have longtime trainer Saeed bin Suroor take over the Newmarket training yard of suspended trainer Mahmood al Zarooni.
A month after the retirement of unbeaten superstar Black Caviar, the Australian sprint division carries on with two Group 1 races Saturday.
This year’s Chester Vase runs only five deep, and there is not anything close to a proven Group-level stakes runner in the bunch. Ruler Of The World and Feel Like Dancing have made but one start apiece, though this pair should attract attention since both won at first asking.
Camelot, the 2012 Epsom Derby winner, made a successful 2013 debut winning the Group 3 Mooresbridge Stakes by 1 3/4 lengths Monday at The Curragh in Ireland.
Sky Lantern, who finished eighth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita last November, gave British champion jockey Richard Hughes his first British classic win in Sunday’s $620,000 English 1000 Guineas at Newmarket Racecourse in England.
Dawn Approach began his 3-year-old season Saturday at Newmarket in the Group 1 English 2000 Guineas the same way he blasted through his 2-year-old campaign, looking like a dominant member of his generation.
Escado, a 13-1 outsider, rallied on the inside in the stretch to score an upset win in Saturday’s $520,000 South Australian Derby at Morphettville Racecourse, the first Group 1 win for the gelding.
The unbeaten Hot Snap, the winner of the Group 3 Nell Gwyn Stakes last month, will be favored to win Sunday’s $620,000 English 1000 Guineas at Newmarket Racecourse and give trainer Henry Cecil his seventh career win in the one-mile classic for 3-year-old fillies.
At Newmarket in England, 13 3-year-olds are set to contest the Group 1 English 2000 Guineas on Saturday, the first European classic of the 2013 flat-racing season, and the assembled group, headed by the undefeated pair of Dawn Approach and Toronado, appears at least to be a solid one.
