Shimrano, a Group 2 winner in Cologne, Germany, last month, is the probable favorite in Sunday’s $721,500 German Derby at Hamburg Racecourse.
Shimrano, by Monsun, is owned by Australia Racing Stables and trained by Paul Harley. The colt is owned by an Australian racing syndicate and could race in that country later this year.
Lovely Day won his first Grade 1 race and his fourth stakes in Sunday’s $2,347,348 Takarazuka Kinen at Hanshin Racecourse in Japan, earning a fees-paid berth for the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Keeneland on Oct. 31.
The Takarazuka Kinen, run at 1 3/8 miles on turf, is part of the Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In program, offering a fees-paid berth for the BC Turf to the winner if nominated to the Breeders’ Cup program.
Treve was the future-book favorite for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in Paris in October before Sunday’s $448,000 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud. After she won the Group 1 race over a strong field, she became a standout favorite.
Ridden by Thierry Jarnet, Treve rallied from fourth in a field of nine to win the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud at 1 1/2 miles by 1 1/4 lengths over Flintshire, the runner-up in the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Santa Anita last November. Sent off at 3-5, Treve took the lead in the final furlong.
Jack Hobbs, second in the English Derby on June 6, was the dominant winner of Saturday’s $1,288,000 Irish Derby at The Curragh, giving trainer John Gosden a third classic win of the month.
On June 6, Gosden won the $2.2 million English Derby at Epsom Downs with Golden Horn. On June 14, Gosden won the $1.1 million French Oaks at Chantilly Racecourse with Star of Seville.
Gold Ship won the biggest race of his 2014 campaign in the Grade 1 Takarazuka Kinen at Hanshin Racecourse in Japan last June, the highlight of a season that included a 14th place finish in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in Paris last October.
This year, Gold Ship has rebounded from that loss, winning his last two starts, including the Grade 1 spring running of the Tenno Sho at Kyoto Racecourse on May 3. The recent win makes Gold Ship the favorite to win the Takarazuka Kinen for the second consecutive year when the $2,347,348 race is run on Sunday.
Treve already has earned a place in racing history as the winner of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris in 2013 and 2014. On Sunday, the 5-year-old Treve will start at a racecourse a matter of miles from Longchamp when she runs in the $448,000 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud against males.
The Group 1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, run at 1 1/2 miles on turf, will be the second start of the year for Treve. She won the Group 2 Prix Corrida Stakes at Saint-Cloud by four lengths May 29.
It’s a fair assumption that no Group or Grade 1 race anywhere in the world has been dominated by a trainer to the extent Aidan O’Brien has owned the Irish Derby. O’Brien won the race seven years in a row before fellow Irishman Jim Bolger won in 2013 with Trading Leather, but O’Brien was back on top last season with Australia, giving him eight wins in nine years and 10 in the last 14.
Wesley Ward did it again, taking down his biggest Royal Ascot prize yet as Undrafted won the Group 1 Diamond Jubilee Stakes on the closing-day card of the 2015 meeting.
The Diamond Jubilee was worth almost $473,000 but glory ran a close second to the money. Ward, who somewhat out of the blue brazenly began sending 2-year-olds to the Royal Ascot meeting in 2009, had won juvenile races of some consequence there, and No Nay Never had captured the Group 1 Prix Morny in France, but this was his first truly major win at the Royal Ascot meeting.
Ervedya and Muhaarar won Group 1 races for 3-year-olds at Royal Ascot on Friday, a day in which five American-trained runners failed to finish in the top three in their respective races.
Muhaarar, ridden by Dane O’Neill for trainer Charles Hills, won the $592,500 Commonwealth Cup for 3-year-olds at six furlongs in a 10-1 upset. Limato, a 9-2 shot, finished second, missing by 3 3/4 lengths. Hootenanny, the winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Santa Anita last October, was 11th of 18 as the 9-4 favorite for American trainer Wesley Ward.
