Harp Star, who rallied from last in a field of 18 to win the Japanese 1000 Guineas at Hanshin Racecourse in April, will be favored to win her third consecutive stakes in Sunday’s $2,204,393 Japanese Oaks at Tokyo Racecourse.

Harp Star, by Deep Impact, is part of a field of 18 in the Grade 1 Japanese Oaks, run over 1 1/2 miles on turf. Trained by Hiroyoshi Matsuda, Harp Star will be ridden by regular jockey Yuga Kawada, who was aboard for the win in the Japanese 1000 Guineas and the filly’s first start of the year, the Group 3 Tulip Sho in March.

There is Group 1 racing in Ireland both Saturday and Sunday, but the big European race of the weekend is the Group 1 Prix d’Ispahan on Sunday at Longchamp, in which Olympic Glory ships from England to face the ageless French gelding Cirrus des Aigles.

Heavily favored Olympic Glory easily won his 4-year-old debut in the Group 1 J.T. Lockinge Stakes at Newbury in England on Saturday, as Verrazano, making his turf debut and first start for trainer Aidan O’Brien, finished a creditable third.

Haskell Stakes winner Verrazano’s first start in Europe comes in an ambitious spot, the Group 1 J.T. Lockinge Stakes on Saturday at Newbury in England.

The Coolmore ownership group initially announced Verrazano would be retired to stud following his 3-year-old campaign, but instead he was shipped from trainer Todd Pletcher to Aidan O’Brien in Ireland to prepare for a European grass campaign. The Lockinge, which is contested over one mile, will be Verrazano’s first race on grass.

Mikki Isle led throughout Sunday’s $1,883,693 NHK Mile for 3-year-old colts and fillies at Tokyo Racecourse in Japan, the colt’s fifth consecutive win and first in a Grade 1 stakes.

Mikki Isle was timed in 1:33.20, finishing a neck in front of the 113-1 Tagano Burg. Kings of the Sun, a 77-1 shot, was third in the field of 18.  The first seven finishers were separated by a length.

The favored Karakontie added the Group 1 Poule d’Essai des Poulains (French 2000 Guineas) to his Group 1 tally in the Jean-Luc Lagardere last fall, outlasting Prestige Vendome by a neck to win the French classic on Sunday at Longchamp.

Karakontie was the best 2-year-old based in France last year, and despite being defeated in his 3-year-old debut, he’s widely favored to win the Group 1 Poule d’Essai des Poulains (French 2000 Guineas) on Sunday at Longchamp, where the going is described as good to soft.

The Group 3 Chester Vase, a trial for the Epsom Derby, will get more attention than usual this year since the race’s 2013 winner, Ruler of The World, went on to an upset victory in the Derby. Ruler of The World, however, was the first horse to score a Vase-Derby double since Shergar in 1981.

Legendary French horseman Andre Fabre won the English 1000 Guineas for the first time in a decades-long training career when Miss France captured the first fillies classic of the European season by a neck over fast-closing Lightning Thunder on Sunday at Newmarket.

Miss France, a daughter of Dansili, won for the third time in five races and made her second successful raid on England, having captured the Group 3 Oh So Sharp Stakes last September, a race also run at Newmarket in which she beat Lightning Thunder by a head.

Fenomeno won the spring running of the $2,695,686 Tenno Sho for the second consecutive year Sunday at Kyoto Racecourse in Japan, a victory that confirms his status among Japan’s leading older horses.

Fenomeno was fifth in the 2012 Japan Cup but had a limited campaign in 2013 because of tendon inflammation. After winning the 2013 Tenno Sho, Fenomeno made one more start, finishing fourth in the Grade 1 Takarazuka Kinen last June.