Romanised won his first Group 1 in nearly 15 months in Sunday’s $1.12 million Prix Jacques le Marois at a mile at Deauville, France, a victory that may lead to a start in the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Santa Anita on Nov. 2.
Ridden by Billy Lee for trainer Ken Condon, Romanised (7-2) closed from fifth in a field of eight to win the one-mile turf race on a straightaway by 1 1/4 lengths over the 3-year-old Shaman, who was second in the French 2000 Guineas at Longchamp Racecourse in May.
Watch Me, the 20-1 surprise winner of the Group 1 Coronation Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Royal Ascot in June, will face older males for the first time in Sunday’s Group 1 Prix Jacques le Marois at a mile at Deauville, France.
Watch Me is expected to be favored in a field of eight. The winner receives a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Santa Anita on Nov. 2. Last year, the 3-year-old filly Alpha Centauri won the Prix Jacques le Marois as an odds-on favorite.
Siskin repelled a sustained challenge from Monarch of Egypt to win Friday’s Group 1 Phoenix Stakes for 2-year-olds at the Curragh in Ireland and remain undefeated after four starts.
Ridden by Colin Keane for trainer Ger Lyons, Siskin closed from fourth in a field of five to take the lead in the final furlong. Siskin, the odds-on choice at 10-11, and Monarch of Egypt (3-2) were side by side in deep stretch before Siskin prevailed by three-quarters of a length.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Saudi Arabia will host a $20 million race in February next year on the dirt course at King Abdul Aziz racetrack in Riyadh, the country’s racing authority and members of the ruling family announced on Wednesday, instantly making the country a player on the international racing stage with the promise of the richest purse in the world.
Siskin, who has won all three of his starts by at least two lengths, will be favored against four rivals in Friday’s Group 1 Phoenix Stakes for 2-year-old colts and fillies at the Curragh Racecourse in Ireland.
Trained by Ger Lyons for Juddmonte Farms, Siskin was a winner at the Curragh on June 29 in the Grade 2 Railway Stakes. He won that six-furlong race by 2 1/2 lengths over Monarch of Egypt, a colt by American Pharoah trained by Aidan O’Brien who is part of the field for the $336,360 Phoenix Stakes.
Too Darn Hot, the champion 2-year-old male of Europe in 2018 and the winner of consecutive Group 1 races in July, has been retired after recently undergoing surgery for a hairline fracture in the cannon bone of a rear leg, according to a statement issued by owner Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s Watership Down Stud.
Too Darn Hot emerged from the surgery without complications and is scheduled to stand at Dalham Hall Stud in England next year.
Advertise gave jockey Frankie Dettori his third Group 1 win in the last week in Sunday’s $422,066 Prix Maurice de Gheest at 6 1/2 furlongs on turf at Deauville Racecourse in France.
Sent off as the 2-1 favorite, Advertise was always near the front in the straightaway race. He stalked the pace to the final quarter-mile before taking the lead from Fox Champion. Advertise was challenged in the final furlong by 48-1 Brando and prevailed by a neck. Space Blues (5-1) finished third.
Advertise, winner of Group 1 races in England and Ireland in the last year, will be favored to win his first excursion to France in Sunday’s Group 1 Prix Maurice de Gheest at 6 1/2 furlongs on turf at Deauville Racecourse.
Advertise won the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup for 3-year-olds at Royal Ascot in June and was second to fellow 3-year-old Ten Sovereigns in the Group 1 July Cup at Newmarket on July 13 in his debut against older horses.
The Japanese mare Deirdre upset the Group 1 Nassau Stakes on Thursday at Goodwood under a sweet rail-skimming ride from Oisin Murphy.
Murphy, hugging the far-side fence through the homestretch, got late-running Deirdre into full stride about three-sixteenths of a mile from the finish of the 1 1/4-mile Nassau and his mount overhauled pacesetting Mehdaayih in the final furlong and was going away as she crossed the line 1 1/4 lengths to the good.
After a cold start to his 3-year-old campaign, the mercury is rising in Too Darn Hot, who fired home with an electric burst to win the Group 1 Sussex Stakes on Wednesday at Goodwood Racecourse.
After a cloudy start to his 2019 season, Europe’s champion 2-year-old of 2018 has warmed to the task in recent weeks. He captured the Prix Jean Prat over a straight seven furlongs at Deauville on July 5 and Too Darn Hot radiated class and talent against a stronger group in the one-mile Sussex.