Rizeena, who has won three stakes since May, can win her second consecutive Group 1 race in Friday’s $272,000 Fillies’ Mile at Newmarket Racecourse in England.

Trained by Clive Brittain for Sheikh Rashid Dalmook al-Maktoum, Rizeena won the Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes over seven furlongs at The Curragh in Ireland on Sept. 1, a victory that ended a two-race losing streak in group races. Rizeena was third against males in the Group 1 Prix Morny at Deauville, France, on Aug. 18, losing to the American-trained No Nay Never.

If preview day for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe served as any guide, we are in for a cracking edition of the Arc itself next month at Longchamp.

The Prix Niel, Prix Foy, and Prix Vermeille all were contested over 1 1/2 miles on Sunday at Longchamp, and all the races provided plenty of fodder to digest before the Oct. 6 Arc. The Niel, for 3-year-olds, was by far the most hotly contested of the three races, with Japanese Derby winner Kizuna edging Epsom Derby winner Ruler of The World by the slimmest of margins.

Aidan and Joseph O’Brien and the Coolmore group behind them were denied an English Triple Crown when Encke handed Camelot a surprise defeat last year in the Leger Stakes, but with less on the line the same connections won the 2013 St. Leger with Leading Light on Saturday at Doncaster in England.

How hot a race is this year’s Prix Niel? Put it this way: The Epsom Derby winner, Ruler of the World, is a distant third choice in ante-post wagering. That’s due mainly to the imposing presence of Flintshire, who not only is favored to win the Niel, but is accorded a good chance of giving trainer Andre Fabre an eighth Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe next month.

The racing world trained its collective eyes toward Doncaster for the 2012 English St. Leger Stakes, where Camelot was defeated by Encke in his attempt to win a rare English Triple Crown. This year’s Group 1 St. Leger – restricted to 3-year-olds, contested over a little more than 1 3/4 miles, and dating to 1776 – includes neither winner of the first two English classics, the 2000 Guineas and the Epsom Derby, and attention will wane accordingly.

Four-year-old filly The Fugue, winning her first big race against males, overhauled pace-setting Trading Leather and outfinished Al Kazeem to win the Group 1 $570,000 Irish Champion Stakes on Saturday at Leopardstown.

The near certainty of a rainy Friday night and Saturday on the eastern coast of Ireland means Al Kazeem will cross the Irish Sea from England to contest the Group 1 Irish Champion Stakes on Saturday at Leopardstown.

Novellist won his third consecutive Group 1 race in Sunday’s $330,000 Grosser Preis Von Baden but had to work a little harder than expected to win Germany’s top race for older horses.

Novellist, winner of consecutive Group 1 races in June and July, can solidify his claims as a leading contender for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in France in October when he starts favored in Sunday’s Group 1 Grosser Preis Von Baden at Baden-Baden in Germany.

Astaire won his first group stakes in Saturday’s $306,127 Gimcrack Stakes for 2-year-olds at York, England, leading throughout the six-furlong turf race.

Ridden by Ryan Moore, Astarie held off a late run from Wilshire Boulevard (4-1) to win the Group 2 race by a neck. Parbold, the 11-4 favorite, in the field of seven, finished third, a half-length behind the winner.