HAPPY VALLEY SELECTIONS
(Wednesday, July 8, 2020)

Fancy Blue won a four-horse blanket finish and gave 21-year-old trainer Donnacha O’Brien a quick victory in the Group 1 Prix de Diane.

O’Brien is the son of trainer Aidan O’Brien, whose epic career includes zero wins in the Prix de Diane, the French Oaks, but Donnacha, who retired from the saddle due to his size less than a year ago, won the French classic in his first try.

Ghaiyyath galloped them into the ground Sunday at Sandown, winning the Group 1 Eclipse Stakes by two lengths, and among “them” was the two-time Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Enable, who never looked a threat to Ghaiyyath while grinding out a second-place finish.

The free-running filly Hyannis Port may prove impossible to catch in a six-furlong handicap Tuesday at Newcastle Racecourse in Australia.

In her last two starts in May and June, Hyannis Port raced on or near the front and finished second, beaten a length in both races.

In Tuesday’s race, Hyannis Port may not face significant pressure in a field of 12. Many of the other runners are stalkers or race from the back of the field.

A three-race winning streak in recent months has left Jungle Book in a precarious situation in a handicap at 1 9/16 miles at Wagga Wagga Racecourse in Australia on Monday.

A 4-year-old Australian-bred gelding, Jungle Book has understandably risen in the official handicap ratings through the winning streak, resulting in higher weight assignments. Monday, Jungle Book is the 133-pound topweight in a field of 12. Jungle Book was assigned 140 pounds, but the presence of apprentice jockey Georgina McDonnell reduced the weight.

​If Serpentine was meant to be a pacemaker for a more highly regarded Aidan O’Brien-trained runner in the Epsom Derby, they forgot to tell him.

Serpentine snaked out to a large early advantage and as furlong after furlong of the 1 ½-mile English classic unfurled, it became more and more apparent he wasn’t stopping. Clear a half-mile out, well in front a quarter-mile from the finish, and home a 5 1/2-length winner, Serpentine gave O’Brien an eighth Derby but very much a first for 30-year-old Irish jockey Emmet McNamara, riding his first Derby.

The sensational 3-year-old filly Love has developed a passion for winning big races.

A month after she ran off with the English 2000 Guineas, Love put in an even better performance in the Oaks on Saturday at Epsom.

Mark McNamara:

R1 – 3.1.4.2

R2 – 7.10.9.4.

R3 – 2.7.13.1.

R4 – 1.10.4.6.

R5 – 4.9.8.2

R6 – 12.2.5.7

R7 – 3.4.1.13

R8 – 4.7.5.8

R9 – 1.5.8.4

R10 – 13.4.2.9

R11 – 11.10.8.2

Best Bet R8 N4 California Concord

Longshot R9 N5 Sun of Makfi

Play R8 – Q/QPL – 4.5.7

Tom Wood:

R1:      4-8-3-1

R2:      7-6-1-11

R3:      2-3-7-9

R4:      1-10-4-5
R5:      7-6-4-9

R6:      12-2-5-9

R7:      3-8-2-1

R8:      4-6-3-5

An American owner landed the Group 1 Prix du Jockey Club in 2019, and an American stallion could produce this year’s winner.

Owner Peter Brant watched Sottsass triumph last summer, and while Brant has no runner in Sunday’s renewal of France’s Derby, Ocean Atlantique, a prime player for trainer Andre Fabre, was sired by American Triple Crown winner American Pharoah.

The great mare Enable dives right into the deep end of the pool when she makes her 6-year-old debut Sunday at Sandown in a crackling renewal of the Group 1 Eclipse Stakes over 1 1/4 miles.

Enable began her 2019 season winning the Eclipse over the excellent filly Magical, but principal rival Ghaiyyath could pose an even greater challenge Sunday.

The question for Enable is whether she’s had too much time between starts, this being her first race since finishing second to Waldgeist on Oct. 6 in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.