Rhododendron and Hydrangea gave trainer Aidan O’Brien a sweep of the exacta in Sunday’s Group 1 Prix de l’Opera for fillies and mares at Chantilly, France.
O’Brien said afterward that both 3-year-old fillies are candidates for the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 4. Rhododendron earned a fees-paid berth for the BC Filly and Mare Turf through the Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In program with the victory.
It is one thing for a horse to have a truly top-class finishing burst in 1 1/2–mile turf races. It’s another to also possess the athleticism and tactical pace to get into perfect position to use that burst. And it is yet another thing again to have a jockey perfectly suited to deploying this array of weapons.
Enable was the horse with the tools, and Frankie Dettori was just the jockey to use them, as the pair swept to an impressive and satisfying victory Sunday at Chantilly in the Group 1, $5.9 million Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
Trainer Aidan O’Brien’s 2-year-old filly in the female-restricted Prix Marcel Boussac, Magical, faltered and finished fourth, but his filly in the open Prix Jean Luc-Lagardere, Happily, beat five males at Chantilly.
Happily became the first filly to win the Group 1 Lagardere since 1986 while becoming O’Brien’s 21st Group 1 winner of 2017. That leaves the master of Ballydoyle just four wins short of Bobby Frankel’s record 25 Group or Grade 1 wins in a calendar year.
Roaring Lion’s narrow win Saturday at Newmarket in the Group 2 Royal Lodge Stakes for 2-year-olds made him undefeated in three starts, earned him a fees-paid automatic berth into the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, and got him on the scoreboard in the new European Road to the Kentucky Derby.
Vazirabad won his 11th group stakes and third Group 1 in Saturday’s $353,670 Prix du Cadran for marathoners at Chantilly, France.
The assignment was made easier with the withdrawal of Big Orange, the winner of the Group 1 Ascot Gold Cup in June, because of soft turf.
Ridden by Christophe Soumillon, Vazirabad (1-5) won the Prix du Cadran at 2 9/16 miles by a half-length over 8-1 Mille et Mille. The race drew only six starters. Vazirabad, a 5-year-old gelding by Manduro, races for the Aga Khan and trainer Alain de Royer-Dupre.
Red Falx will be favored to win the Grade 1 Sprinters Stakes for the second consecutive year at Hanshin Racecourse in Japan on Sunday.
Red Falx is among 16 in the $1,702,887 race at six furlongs on turf. The winner receives a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at five furlongs at Del Mar on Nov. 4.
This could be a good weekend for English trainer John Gosden. It certainly has started that way.
On Friday at Newmarket Racecourse, Juliet Capulet (9-1) edged 2-1 favorite Nyaleti by a head in the Group 2, $146,000 Rockfel Stakes over seven furlongs. On Sunday at Chantilly Racecourse in France, the Gosden-trained Enable is favored in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, Europe’s top race.
Go ahead, poke and prod, but don’t be surprised if you’re unable to find holes in Enable.
The chance to play against an even-money favorite in an 18-horse Group 1 race absolutely should motivate bettors to probe Enable for soft spots. They’re not easy to find, and Enable stands an excellent chance of giving trainer John Gosden his second Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and owner Khalid Abdullah his fifth.
Enable, a winner of four consecutive Group 1 races in England and Ireland since early June, will be an odds-on favorite to win Europe’s most prestigious race, the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, at Chantilly, France, on Sunday.
If Enable prevails against as many as 17 rivals, she will be the first 3-year-old filly to win the Arc since Treve in 2013 and the seventh female to win the race in the last 10 runnings.
Enable was supplemented to the Arc for approximately $141,000 this week.
