Camelot found a gear in the final quarter-mile of the race that none of his eight rivals could dream of hitting, and he powered home to a five-length victory in the English Derby on Saturday.
A day after the Epsom Derby in England was to run with Camelot as an overwhelming favorite in a short field, the Prix du Jockey Club, or French Derby, presents an entirely different look, with 20 horses, none of them anything like an apparent standout.
Most in the European racing realm have all but crowned Camelot the winner of the Group 1 Epsom Derby before the race is even run.
Maybe, only third as the favorite in the English 1000 Guineas on May 6 in her first start of 2012, is one of six runners trained by Aidan O’Brien in Friday’s Group 1 English Oaks at Epsom Downs.
Black Caviar, the undefeated Australian sprinter, will not face the unbeaten miler Frankel in England this summer.
The stallion Deep Impact continued his domination of the Japanese classics this spring when the colts Deep Brillante and Tosen Homareboshi finished first and third in Sunday’s $3.9 million Japanese Derby at Tokyo Racecourse.
Golden Lilac’s 4-year-old debut Sunday at Longchamp in the Group 1 Prix d’Ispahan produced a three-quarters length victory over top-class Cirrus des Aigles and pointed the filly out as one of the best middle-distance runners in Europe.
Power, ridden by Joseph O’Brien for his father, trainer Aidan O’Brien, captured the Group 1 Irish 2000 Guineas on Saturday at the Curragh.
Frankel and Black Caviar, those towering unbeatens, dominate international racing headlines, but how can there be a more admirable racehorse than Cirrus des Aigles? On Sunday at Longchamp, the best older middle-distance horse in Europe will try to win his third Group 1 in a row, and he’ll be favored to beat seven rivals in the Group 1 Prix d’Ispahan.
Bogeyman is part of a field of 14 in Friday’s Gran Premio 25 at San Isidro Racecourse in Buenos Aires, Argentina which offers an automatic Win and You're In berth to the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Santa Anita on Nov. 3.
