The undefeated Hungarian sprinter Overdose bids farewell to Budapest’s Kincsem Park on Sunday when he faces eight rivals in the Eletbiztosito Dij, a five-furlong Hungarian listed race worth $18,300. The Budapest Bullet, as he is affectionately known, Overdose is using this minor event as a springboard to bigger things in Germany and France in an attempt to prove that he is the best sprinter in Europe.
Vision d’Etat returns to the races at Deauville on Saturday in the $103,000 Prix Gontaut-Biron, a 1 1/4-mile, Group 3 contest for older horses that will be his first start since finishing a dull 12th in the Dubai World Cup on March 27.
Andreas Suborics, one of the leading riders in Germany for the past two decades, has announced his retirement. Best known in America for winning the Arlington Million aboard Silvano in 2001, the 39-year-old Austrian had been kicked in the head by a horse in the paddock at Sha Tin in Hong Kong in March, since when doctors have advised against his return to the saddle.
Harbinger, recently named the highest rate horse in the world by the World Thoroughbred Rankings, was officially retired on Monday, two days after having suffered a condylar fracture to his left front cannon bone in a workout at Newmarket, England.
Richard Hannon's incredible streak of luck with 2-year-olds this season came to an end at the Curragh on Sunday, when 4-9 favorite Strong Suit finished third behind the Aidan O’Brien-trained Zoffany in the Group 1, $262,000, Phoenix Stakes.
Regal Parade garnered his second Group 1 sprint title at Deauville on Sunday, when he held off Joanna to win the 6 1/2-furlong, $327,000 Prix Maurice de Gheest by a neck.
Harbinger, whose 11-length victory in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes last month made him the highest-rated horse in the world, has probably run his last race after he suffered a condylar fracture to his near fore cannonbone in a routine work on the Newmarket gallops Saturday evening.
Richard Hannon, Strong Suit, Phoenix Stakes, Curragh
The $330,000, Group 1 Prix Maurice de Gheest on Sunday is a wide-open affair over a straight 6 1/2 furlongs at Deauville. Among the 15 entries, there is no standout like Marchand d’Or, who won the race three times in a row from 2006 to 2008, but in Planet Five, trainer Pascal Bary may have the horse to beat.
Harbinger sits lordly above the rest of the world on the latest list produced by the World Thoroughbred Rankings committee. The 11-length winner of the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes is pegged at 135, or seven pounds higher than three-time Group 1 mile winner Canford Cliffs and eight pounds better than the leading American horse, Donn Handicap and Metropolitan Handicap winner Quality Road.
