Recent starts at prominent Australian tracks such as Caulfield and Flemington were not successful ventures for the gelding Sagarra.
Prior to losses at those tracks, Sagarra won handicaps at Sale Racecourse and Sandown Park. When the 5-year-old Australian-bred starts in a handicap at 5 1/2 furlongs on turf at Ballarat Racecourse on Sunday, he appears to be well-suited to the conditions.
Siskin was as brave as he was brilliant winning a rough-and-tumble renewal of the Irish 2000 Guineas on Friday at The Curragh.
A colt whose stamina was in question coming into the Guineas, Siskin came out of it allaying those concerns and showing all the heart in the world.
Want to know which runners came up trumps in the Group races? What section of the draw proved most profitable on both the Straight and Round Course? Which trainer holds the best record in handicaps? Then, the 2020 Trendspotting Guide covers it all, including key jockeys, breeding, profiles and betting.
Frank Gabriel Jr. has resigned his position as executive director of racing at the Dubai Racing Club.
Gabriel issued a brief statement and said he was leaving Dubai and “returning to the U.S. with my wife, Christine, to enjoy our time and our home in Bonita Springs, Florida.
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Albigna traveled all the way from Ireland to Southern California for her final start at age 2 last fall but has a much shorter trip ahead of her Saturday to begin her 3-year-old season as the favorite in the Group 1 Irish 1000 Guineas.
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A quiet Sunday card at Sha Tin in Hong Kong features a pair of Class 2 handicaps for horses rated 100 to 80.
The 11-race program, which starts with a griffin race for unrated horses, features race 4, a Class 2 over 1,600 meters, and race 8, a Class 2 over 1,200 meters. Both races drew relatively short fields that lack both standouts and horses clearly on the rise.
A three-race winning streak, which included two minor stakes, and a fine record of six wins in nine career starts will make Vanna Girl the favorite in her group stakes debut in Saturday’s Group 2 The Roses Stakes at Eagle Farm Racecourse in Australia.
Vanna Girl, trained by Toby and Trent Edmonds, is part of a field of 14 in the $120,225 The Roses Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/8 miles. This will be a distance test for Vanna Girl, who won two listed stakes at a mile at Doomben Racecourse on May 9 and May 30.
Trainer Aidan O’Brien has won the Irish 2000 Guineas 11 times. There are 11 runners in Friday’s belated 2020 renewal of race. O’Brien trains six of them. O’Brien, whose first Irish 2000 Guineas winner came in 1997, is winning the numbers game, but he doesn’t have the favorite to win Friday’s race.
