Sarafina, the winner of the 2010 French Oaks who was later third in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe last fall, will make her first start of 2011 in Saturday’s Group 1 Prix Ganay at Longchamp in Paris.
Four-year-old Xtension won for just the second time in his career when he rallied from mid-pack behind a slow pace to capture the Group 1, $1.54 million Champions Mile on Monday at Sha Tin Racecourse in Hong Kong.
Orfevre won his second consecutive stakes in the Japanese 2000 Guineas at Tokyo Racecourse on Sunday, weaving his way through traffic in early stretch to win the $2.3 million race by three lengths.
Dick Turpin, looking like a major player in the European mile division, easily won the Group 2 Bet365 Mile on Saturday at Sandown in England.
Fresh off a determined victory in the $5 million Dubai Duty Free, Presvis will try a new trick Monday at Sha Tin in Hong Kong. Typically raced between nine and 10 furlongs, Presvis is the highest-rated horse among 14 entered in the Champions Mile, Presvis’s first start at less than 1 1/8 miles in almost three years.
Grand Vent, third in stakes in his last two starts for trainer Andre Fabre, and Genzy, who won his first start of the year on March 28, are two leading contenders in Sunday’s Group 2 Prix Noailles at Longchamp, France.
Two Group 1-winning milers, Dick Turpin and Music Show, are set to make their 4-year-old debut in the Group 2 Sandown Mile on Saturday.
A record 10 American-based runners have been nominated to the Group 1 races at Royal Ascot from June 14-18, and some of the runners will have prep races as soon as Saturday.
The two-time stakes winner Sadamu Patek is expected to be favored in Sunday’s Group 1 Japanese 2000 Guineas, the Satsuki Sho.
Wootton Bassett, unraced since winning the Group 1 Prix Jean Luc-Lagardere in France last fall, will not start in the English 2000 Guineas at Newmarket on April 30 after trainer Richard Fahey said on Tuesday that the colt was too far behind in his training.
