Believe the hype.
Desert Crown, with only two previous runs, both sharp wins but neither above the Group 2 level, more than justified his solid favoritism for the Derby on Saturday at Epsom Downs in England. Desert Crown paid $6.40 on the American tote board but won like he should’ve been odds-on.
Joao Moreira and Zac Purton, locked in another battle to be leading rider during the Hong Kong racing season, which ends next month, might be on the right horses in the featured 10th race on Sunday at Sha Tin.
Moreira takes the mount on Master Delight, last seen finishing 11th in the Hong Kong Classic Mile for 4-year-olds on Jan. 30. Purton rides Lucky With You, who was eighth in that race and has run three times since.
Six furlongs may be the maximum trip for the Australian 3-year-old Elteecee.
A front-runner, Elteecee won at that distance in February and won last year at 5 1/2 furlongs. His success at the shorter trip make Elteecee the runner to catch in a handicap at 5 1/2 furlongs at Geelong Racecourse outside of Melbourne on Sunday.
Friday was Tuesday’s day at Epsom Downs in England, where the filly won the Group 1 Oaks – even if she probably wasn’t the best horse on the day.
Tuesday, who was foaled on this day, June 4, in 2019, was home in the Oaks by a desperate nose over race favorite Emily Upjohn, who put in a withering late and wide run after a terrible start badly compromised her chances.
Schnell Meister, a Grade 1 winner in Japan in 2021 but eighth in the Group 1 Dubai Turf in the United Arab Emirates in March in his lone start this year, is the expected favorite in Sunday’s Grade 1 Yasuda Kinen at a mile at Tokyo Racecourse in Japan.
The winner receives a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Keeneland on Nov. 5.
Charlie Appleby, private trainer for Godolphin, over the last several years has won nearly every major race in Europe, and on Sunday at Chantilly he sends out likely favorite Modern Games trying to win his first Prix du Jockey Club.
The Prix du Jockey Club, France’s derby, is run right-handed over 1 5/16 miles. This year’s renewal (post time 10 a.m. Eastern, wagering at DRFBets.com) drew a field of 15. The Chantilly course on Friday was rated good.
At the beginning of May, Aravene was days removed from a fifth-place finish in a sprint handicap at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Australia.
A month later, her status in that country has change remarkably. Aravene is a key contestant in Saturday’s Group 1 Queensland Oaks for 3-year-old fillies at Eagle Farm Racecourse in Brisbane.
At first glance you think it’s crazy that twice-started Desert Crown, who has no more than a Group 3 win, is heavily favored to in the Derby at Epsom on Saturday. Then you watch those two races and start to understand.
The Wellington Cup was rained out at Wellington Racecourse in Australia last Sunday.
Rescheduled for Friday’s program at Dubbo Racecourse, the Wellington Cup has a slightly different distance because of course configurations, but the same favorite in Sibaaq, a second-time starter in Australia who appears to be a standout in a field of 14.
The field has grown because of the relocation. A maximum of 12 would have started at Wellington, but Dubbo can accommodate 14. There are two runners on the also-eligible list for the rescheduled race.
