Minding, the winner of the English 1000 Guineas earlier this month, and Found, who won the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Keeneland last October, will be favored to win Group 1 races at The Curragh in Ireland on Sunday.
Minding will be odds-on to win the $336,300 Irish 1000 Guineas for 3-year-old fillies at a mile on turf. Minding has won her last three starts, all in Group 1 races, including the Moyglare Stud Stakes in Ireland last September and the Fillies’ Mile at Newmarket in England last October.
The Gurkha is growing up rapidly for trainer Aidan O’Brien.
A month after beating maidens in Ireland, The Gurhka won his first stakes in Sunday’s Group 1 French 2000 Guineas at Deauville, France. The victory may lead to a start in the English Derby at Epsom Downs for The Gurkha, a colt by Galileo.
Belardo went winless in seven starts in 2015 but won for the second time in three races this year while capturing his first Group 1 since the Dewhurst in October 2014 when he beat Euro Charline by one length in the J.T. Lockinge Stakes on Saturday at Newbury in England.
Racing from well behind the pacesetters in the straight-course mile, Belardo surged down the middle of the course in the last-quarter mile, running past Euro Charline in the final furlong to win going away. Andrea Atzeni rode the winner for trainer Roger Varian and owners Godolphin and Prince Faisal.
The French 3-year-olds Come Alive and Zarak are on the exact same career path.
They won maiden races in their first starts on the same program at Deauville on Oct. 22, 2015, and returned this year to win allowance races on the same day at Maisons-Laffitte on April 19. Sunday, they will make their first starts in stakes as leading contenders in the French 1000 and 2000 Guineas at Deauville.
Nyquist, on the strength of his Kentucky Derby win, is tied for the third highest-rated Thoroughbred in the world in the latest edition of the World Thoroughbred Rankings released Thursday.
Nyquist’s Derby was rated 124, trailing only the 126 given California Chrome’s Dubai World Cup and Winx’s Doncaster Mile win in Australia. American Pharoah got the same 124 rating winning the 2015 Kentucky Derby.
The World Thoroughbred Rankings are compiled several times annually by a panel assembled by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities.
Solow has been taken out of consideration for the Queen Anne Stakes June 14 at Royal Ascot, his connections announced this week.
Solow won the Queen Anne last year as part of a brilliant undefeated championship campaign, but after winning his first start of 2016, Solow suffered an injury a week before a trip to Dubai for the Dubai Turf, causing him to miss that race.
Cloth of Stars may be supplemented to the Group 1 English Derby at Epsom Racecourse on June 4 after winning his second group stakes of the year in Sunday’s $148,400 Prix Greffulhe at Saint-Cloud Racecourse in Paris.
Cloth of Stars (13-10) won the Group 2 Prix Greffulhe by 2 1/4 lengths over Robin of Navan, the winner of the Group 1 Gran Criterium de Saint-Cloud last November. Cloth of Stars was second in the Gran Criterium, and won the Group 3 Prix La Force at Chantilly on April 3.
Major Emblem, Japan’s champion 2-year-old filly of 2015, can rebound from a fourth-place finish in the Japanese 1000 Guineas on April 10 in Sunday’s $1,744,700 NHK Mile Cup against 3-year-old males at Tokyo Racecourse.
Major Emblem, by Daiwa Major, is one of four fillies in a field of 18 colts and fillies. Geldings are not eligible to start. Earlier this year, Major Emblem won the Grade 3 Daily Hai Queen Cup at Tokyo before finishing fourth in the 1000 Guineas at Hanshin, beaten 2 1/4 lengths by Jeweler.
Maurice, the Japanese Horse of the Year in 2015, scored his seventh consecutive victory in Sunday’s $1,804,867 Champions Mile on turf at Sha Tin Racecourse in Hong Kong.
The Group 1 Champions Mile was the first start for Maurice since a win in the Group 1 Hong Kong Mile at Sha Tin last December.
