Golden Horn remained unbeaten after four starts with an impressive win in Saturday’s $2,204,058 English Derby at Epsom Downs south of London, leading a sweep of the first two positions for trainer John Gosden.
Golden Horn, supplemented to the race earlier in the week for $115,275 by owner Anthony Oppenheimer, won by 3 1/2 lengths over Jack Hobbs. Storm the Stars, a 16-1 outsider trained by William Haggas, finished third in the field of 12.
Real Impact, the Japan-based runner who won the Group 1 George Ryder Stakes in Australia on March 21, will have his third start of the year in Sunday’s $1,554,918 Yasuda Kinen at a mile on turf at Tokyo Racecourse in Japan.
The 7-year-old Real Impact will have his fourth appearance in the Grade 1 Yasuda Kinen, which he won as a 3-year-old in 2011. Real Impact was third in 2012 and 13th last year.
Golden Horn, unbeaten in three career starts, was supplemented to Saturday’s $2,204,058 English Derby this week for $115,275 by owner Anthony Oppenheimer.
The steep fee might be more of an investment than a gamble.
Trained by John Gosden, Golden Horn won his group stakes debut in the Group 2 Dante Stakes at York last month, moving to the fore of the division. He was the 3-2 favorite with British bookmakers as of Thursday for the Group 1 English Derby. The race is run at 1 1/2 miles on turf with a stern uphill finish at Epsom Downs, south of London.
Legatissimo is the antepost favorite for the Group 1 Investec Oaks on Friday at Epsom Racecourse in England, but she has no insurmountable edge over several other fillies in what might prove to be a wide-open edition of the 1 1/2-mile classic for 3-year-old fillies.
Duramente continued his domination of Japan’s 3-year-old division with his second classic win of the year in Sunday’s $3,351,865 Japanese Derby at Tokyo Racecourse.
The victory stirred discussions about a potential trip to the $5.4 million Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in Paris on Oct. 4. Duramente is listed at 12-1 with British bookmakers for the Arc. Treve, the winner of the Arc in 2013 and 2014, is the 7-2 favorite over 8-1 New Bay, who won Sunday’s French Derby.
New Bay, making just his fourth career start and winning for only the second time, powered down the center of the Chantilly homestretch Sunday and won the Group 1 Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby) by 1 1/2 lengths over Highland Reel.
The Juddmonte Farms homebred by Dubawi, out of Cinnamon Bay, provided trainer Andre Fabre his fourth win in the race, while Vincent Cheminaud, a champion jumps rider in France, easily took home the biggest prize of his flat-racing career.
Duramente, the winner of the Japanese 2000 Guineas on April 19, and Satono Rasen, the winner of the Grade 2 Shimbun Hai at Kyoto Racecourse earlier this month, are two leading contenders for Sunday’s $3,351,865 Japanese Derby at Tokyo Racecourse.
The Grade 1 Japanese Derby is run at 1 1/2 miles on turf and drew a full field of 18.
Treve, so slow to find herself last year at 4, returned for her 5-year-old season with an emphatic win Friday at Saint-Cloud in the Group 2 Prix Corrida. Her 2015 campaign began with a resounding victory, and her connections hope to cap it with a third straight win in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
Treve, the two-time winner of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, makes her 2015 debut on Friday at Saint-Cloud in the Group 2 Prix Corrida.
The 5-year-old mare scored a smashing victory in the 2013 Arc, and after a slow start to her 4-year-old season, she bounced back into form and won her second Arc last fall. Shortly afterward, owner Sheikh Joaan al Thani’s Al Shaqab Racing made the surprising announcement that Treve would remain in training for a 2015 campaign.
