Polytechnicien proved a comfortable 2.20-1 winner of the Group 3, $111,000 Prix Exbury at Saint-Cloud on Saturday. The 5-year-old son of Royal Academy came from just off the pace to defeat the 5-2 Cirrus des Aigles by a half-length under Olivier Peslier, clocking 2:10.50 for the 1 1/4 miles on soft ground.
Long Run confirmed 7-2 favoritism to land a thrilling renewal of the $807,000 Cheltenham Gold Cup on Friday, defeating three previous winners of steeplechasing’s most coveted prize in the process.
The Group 3 Prix Exbury at Saint-Cloud on Saturday, at $111,000 and 1 1/4 miles the first group race of the European season, has attracted a highly competive field of nine.
All 13 American-based horses running on Dubai World Cup Night, March 26, arrived safely in Dubai on Wednesday night.
Three former winners of the $804,000 Cheltenham Gold Cup Chase will line up for Friday’s 3 5/16-mile renewal, but the baton could pass to the young and improving Long Run, like so many of England’s best jumpers, a French-bred originally trained in France.
There will be 14 American-trained horses, led by Gio Ponti, running on Dubai World Cup Night at Meydan on March 26 with at least one American in each of the seven Thoroughbred races on the $26 million card.
Hurricane Fly put a smile into Irish eyes at Cheltenham on Tuesday when he won the $598,000 Champion Hurdle on opening day of the Cheltenham Festival.
On Tuesday the Japan Racing Association (JRA) announced that all four of the remaining meetings at Nakayama this month had been canceled. Last weekend’s two meetings at the track east of Tokyo had previously been canceled.
Trainer Christophe Clement confirmed Monday that Gio Ponti would be on the flight that was scheduled to depart for Dubai from south Florida on Tuesday to compete in the $10 million World Cup on March 26.
The four-day Cheltenham Festival – the world’s preeminent jumps racing meeting – gets under way on Tuesday with the $590,000 Stan James Champion Hurdle as the opening day highlight.
