ARCADIA, Calif. – Isla Bonita won his third consecutive graded stakes in Sunday’s $1,973,447 Japanese 2000 Guineas at Nakayama Racecourse, a victory likely to lead to a start in the Japanese Derby at Tokyo Racecourse on June 1.

Isla Bonita, the 4-1 second choice, won the Grade 1 Japanese 2000 Guineas by 1 1/4 lengths over 5-2 favorite To the World. Win Full Bloom, a 23-1 shot, was third in the field of 18. Isla Bonita rallied from mid-pack to reach contention in early stretch. Ridden by Masoyashi Ebina, Isla Bonita took the lead in the final furlong.

It’s a Dundeel earned a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Santa Anita in November with a victory in Saturday’s $3.67 million Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Royal Randwick in Sydney, Australia.

But a trip to California for the BC Turf was not foremost on the mind of It’s a Dundeel’s majority owner, John Messara of Arrowfield Stud, after the race. He mentioned the Queen Anne Stakes and Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot in England in June as possibilities for It’s a Dundeel, stopping short of committing to those races.

Harp Star closed from last in the final half-mile to win Sunday’s $1,820,078 Japanese 1000 Guineas for 3-year-old fillies at Hanshin Racecourse.

It was not until the final strides that Harp Star, the 1-5 favorite, looked like a winner. Jockey Yuga Kawada had Harp Star more than 15 lengths behind pacesetter Fukuno Dream, who led by as many as eight lengths.

Harp Star was guided wide entering the stretch and took the lead in the final strides, winning the one-mile race by a neck over 6-1 Red Reveur. Nuovo Record, a 29-1 outsider, finished third in the field of 18.

The Australian stakes winners Lankan Rupee and Sacred Falls earned fees-paid berths to Breeders’ Cup races at Santa Anita this fall with wins in Group 1 races at Royal Randwick in Sydney, Australia, on Saturday.

Sacred Falls won the $2.77 million Doncaster Mile on heavy turf. The victory gives Sacred Falls a berth in the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Santa Anita.

Kingman vaulted to the fore of the future book for the English 2000 Guineas on May 3 with an easy win in Saturday’s $100,200 Greenham Stakes for 3-year-olds at Newbury, England.

Kingman won the Group 3 Greenham Stakes over seven furlongs on a straightaway course by 4 1/2 lengths over Night of Thunder. Ridden by James Doyle, Kingman stalked the pace before taking the lead in the final furlong. Night of Thunder, an 11-4 shot, finished 2 3/4 lengths in front of 80-1 Master Carpenter in the field of 10.

Berkshire and Kingman, two leading contenders for the English 2000 Guineas in May, make their first starts of 2014 in Saturday’s $100,200 Greenham Stakes for 3-year-olds at Newbury, England.

The Group 3 Greenham is run over seven furlongs on turf on a straightaway course.

Berkshire, a colt by Mount Nelson trained by Paul Cole, won two stakes in 2013 – the Chesham Stakes at Royal Ascot in June and the Group 2 Royal Lodge Stakes at Newmarket in September in his final start of the year.

Trainer Jamie Osborne on Tuesday made official what he and owner Michael Buckley had insinuated for the past week: Toast of New York, the winner of the United Arab Emirates Derby, will not travel to the United States for the May 3 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs.

Jockey Leighton Aspell had a plan for riding Pineau De Re in Saturday’s $1.66 million Grand National over 4 7/16 miles at Aintree Racecourse in England.

Aspell, who once retired from racing and later made a comeback, did not want to reach the front too soon in the grueling steeplechase race over 30 fences. So, he waited 3 1/2 miles into the race before asking Pineau De Re, who took the lead two fences from the finish. Pineau De Re responded to the patient approach and pulled away to win the Grand National by five lengths as a 25-1 shot in the field of 40.

Teaforthree had run four miles in the 2013 Grand National when he reached the front with two fences remaining in the famous steeplechase race. Going over the last fence, the gelding was caught by Auroras Encore, a 66-1 shot who went onto a nine-length win.

Teaforthree finished third in the field of 40, one of 17 finishers.

This year, the campaign for the 10-year-old Teaforthree has been geared toward a return to Saturday’s $1.66 million Grand National at Aintree Racecourse in England and winning the rigorous race over 4 7/16 miles and 30 fences.

Toast of New York has returned to his yard in Great Britain following his victory Saturday in the United Arab Emirates Derby, but whether he’ll venture across the ocean in a few weeks to try dirt for the first time in the May 3 Kentucky Derby is a decision his trainer, Jamie Osborne, is not ready to make just yet.