Unbeaten and untested in four starts, Germany’s best horse since Danedream, and the summer favorite to follow in Danedream’s footsteps and win the Prix de l’Arc d’Triomphe, Sea the Moon makes a greatly anticipated return to the races Sunday at Baden-Baden in the Group 1, $325,000 Grosser Preis von Baden.
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DRF Past Performances
There are 18 horses entered in the Group 1 Sprint Cup on Saturday at Haydock in England, and there are questions to ask about race’s two perceived major players, Sole Power and Gordon Lord Byron.
Sole Power has the stronger recent form, entering Saturday’s race after three straight wins, the last two at the Group 1 level. But Sole Power probably prefers a distance at least slightly shorter than the Sprint Cup’s six furlongs, while Gordon Lord Byron won this race last summer and probably is at his best at distances between six and seven furlongs.
The Wow Signal beat Hootenanny by a half-length Sunday in the Group 1 Prix Morny at Deauville, denying American trainer Wesley Ward his second straight victory in the prestigious French race for 2-year-olds.
The Wow Signal, scoring a first Group 1 win for English trainer John Quinn and ridden by Frankie Dettori, ran his career mark to 3 for 3. A length behind Hootenanny came the French filly Ervedya, who lost for the first time in four starts.
Sole Power won his second Group 1 sprint of the year in England in Friday’s $432,000 Nunthorpe Stakes at York Racecourse, rallying between horses in the final 50 yards to lead at the wire of the five-furlong race.
Sole Power (11-4) was behind runners with a furlong remaining before jockey Richard Hughes found the needed space. Sent off favored, Sole Power showed a sharp turn of foot to reach the front, winning by a half-length over 20-1 Stepper Point. Extortionist (14-1) finished a nose behind Stepper Point in the field of 13.
Tapestry, who lost four consecutive Group 1 races from last September to July, rallied from last to beat 1-5 favorite Taghrooda in Thursday’s $545,000 Yorkshire Oaks for fillies and mares at York Racecourse in England.
While Tapestry (8-1) won her first Group 1 race in the Yorkshire Oaks, the race was the first career defeat for the 3-year-old Taghrooda, who beat males in the Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot in July. Taghrooda won her first four starts, including the English Oaks in June.
Australia staked his claim as one of the best horses in Europe, 3 years old or otherwise, with a last-to-first two-length win Wednesday at York in the Group 1, $754,735 Juddmonte International Stakes.
Australia, facing older horses for the first time after winning the English and Irish derbies in his two most recent races, overpowered the pacesetters a quarter-mile from home and had little trouble seeing off the French Derby winner, The Grey Gatsby, who ran well in his own right to comfortably claim second. Telescope was third, followed by Mukhadram, Arod, and Kingfisher.
Sole Power, the winner of the Group 1 King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot in June, will make his fourth career appearance in the $432,000 Nunthorpe Stakes at York Racecourse in England on Friday, a race he won as a 100-1 shot in 2010.
On Friday, Sole Power is expected to be around 5-2 as the favorite in a field of 15. The Group 1 Nunthorpe is run on a straightaway five-furlong course.
Taghrooda will be an overwhelming favorite to extend her unbeaten streak to five races in Thursday’s $545,000 Yorkshire Oaks for fillies and mares at York Racecourse in England.
A 3-year-old filly, Taghrooda won the English Oaks at Epsom Downs in June and the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes against older horses at Ascot on July 26 in her last start. She returns to action against females in the Group 1 Yorkshire Oaks, which is run over 1 1/2 miles and is open to fillies and mares.
The Group 1 Juddmonte International on Wednesday at York in England is a Win and You’re In race for the Breeders’ Cup Turf, offering the winner an automatic berth in the big race this November while waiving entry fees and covering travel expenses. And unlike some of the international races in the Breeders’ Cup Challenge series, the Juddmonte International really could have BC Turf implications.