Gleneagles won his second Guineas of the spring, overcoming traffic trouble to win the Irish 2000 Guineas by three-quarters of a length Saturday at The Curragh.
Heavily favored Saturday after winning the May 2 English 2000 Guineas in his first start at 3, Gleneagles found himself buried down along the rail in behind horses much of the one-mile trip as Ivawood, third in the English 2000 Guineas, set the pace.
Let’s Go Donki can become the first filly to complete the Japanese 1000 Guineas and Japanese Oaks double in three years Sunday at Tokyo Racecourse.
The Grade 1 Japanese Oaks has a purse of approximately $1,663,457 and is run at 1 1/2 miles on turf. The race drew a field of 18 3-year-old fillies, 13 of which ran April 12 in the Japanese 1000 Guineas at Hansin Racecourse. Culminar and Contessa Thule, second and third in the Japanese 1000 Guineas, are part of the Japanese Oaks field, a race also known as the Yushun Himba.
When Cirrus des Aigles made his career debut in 2008, Solow was two years away from being born, yet those two geldings – 9-year-old Cirrus des Aigles and 5-year-old Solow – are the principals Sunday at Longchamp in the Group 1 Prix d’Ispahan.
Dan Excel became the first horse to win consecutive runnings of the $3.95 million Singapore Airlines International Cup at Kranji Racecourse in Singapore on Sunday, leading throughout for a half-length win over Military Attack, the winner of the race in 2013.
Dan Excel (13-5) was ridden by Tommy Berry and gave Hong Kong-based trainer John Moore his third consecutive win in the race, first run in 2000. Moore trained Military Attack in 2013, but the 7-year-old gelding is now trained by Caspar Fownes of Hong Kong.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Dan Excel, a 7-year-old Irish-bred gelding, returns to the location of his latest win in Sunday’s $3.95 million Singapore International Cup at Kranji Racecourse in Singapore.
Dan Excel, based in Hong Kong, is one of two former winners of the Group 1 race in a field of 11 set to go 1 1/4 miles on turf, along with 2013 winner Military Attack.
The Group 1 Lockinge Stakes on Saturday at Newbury in England did not draw American Horse of the Year California Chrome, who when he first arrived in England after the Dubai World Cup, was announced as a probable runner, but he may be one of the few high-quality older horses in England not entered in the race.
The Lockinge, at one mile over a straight course, drew 18 entrants, the most in the race’s history, vast numbers lured by a purse increase from about $338,000 last year to about $552,000 this year, thanks to new sponsor Al Shaqab Racing.
Clarity Sky rebounded from a fifth-place finish in the Japanese 2000 Guineas in April to win Sunday’s $1,600,400 NHK Mile for 3-year-olds at Tokyo Racecourse over the previously unbeaten Kentucky-bred filly Albiano.
Clarity Sky, the 5-1 third choice, closed from fifth in a field of 18 to win by a length over Albiano, the 5-1 fourth choice. Musee Sultan, the 9-2 second choice, finished third, with Grand Silk, the 3-1 favorite, running fifth.
Make Believe led from start to finish and gave trainer Andre Fabre his first win since 2010 in the Poule d’Essai des Poulains, the French 2000 Guineas, on Sunday at Longchamp.
Fabre also trains the second-place New Bay, who rallied from last at the top of the homestretch to beat 16 rivals while still falling three lengths short of the impressive Make Believe.
The Poule d’Essai des Poulains, or French 2000 Guineas, had a direct bearing on U.S. racing last year, as its victor, Karakontie, would go on the upset the Breeders’ Cup Mile late in the season, but if there is a horse of Karakontie’s quality in this year’s edition of the Poulains, to be run Sunday at Longchamp, he has not yet shown himself.
