Fresh off a major triumph Saturday in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, trainer John Gosden goes for another with Kingman in the Group 1 Sussex on Wednesday at Goodwood in England.
Gosden won the 1 1/2-mile King George with the 3-year-old filly Taghrooda and will try to take the one-mile Sussex with the 3-year-old colt Kingman. Kingman’s major rival is Toronado, who won the straight-course Sussex last year for trainer Richard Hannon and Al Shaqab Racing.
Another horse has tested positive for morphine in England, according to the Racing Post, and Michael Stoute, who trains a horse for Queen Elizabeth II that tested positive, has revealed that a second horse in his stable also tested positive for the drug.
Telescope, a 4-year-old who never has started in a Group 1 race, is the favorite for one of the most prestigious races in England, the Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes on Saturday at Ascot.
Such is the sway held by trainer Michael Stoute, who has won the King George five times, first in 1981 with Shergar and most recently in 2010 with Harbinger.
The 3-year-old filly Bracelet is beginning to live up to the lofty reputation established by her family. Her fourth win from six starts produced her first success at the Group 1 level as Bracelet scored a narrow victory over Tapestry and Volume in the Irish Oaks on Saturday at the Curragh.
The biggest news regarding Saturday’s Group 1 Irish Oaks at The Curragh pertains not to who’s running, but to who is not.
Taghrooda would have been heavily favored in the Irish Oaks after a sharp last-start win in the Epsom Oaks, but the John Gosden-trained, Hamdan al Maktoum-owned filly was taken out of Irish Oaks consideration to instead test older males in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes on July 26 at Ascot.
Irish trainer Edward Lynam has the very good sprinter Sole Power for five-furlong fast-ground races, but when rain softened the Newmarket course for Saturday’s Group 1 July Cup over six furlongs, Lynam scratched the horse. Fortunately for Lynam, he has an even better six-furlong sprinter who comfortably handles soft going, and Slade Power blew away his rivals in the July Cup.
The Grey Gatsby and Prince Gibraltar, the first and third finishers of the Group 1 French Derby on June 1, lead a field of 11 in Sunday’s $816,480 Grand Prix de Paris at Longchamp Racecourse.
Trained by Kevin Ryan for Frank Gillespie, The Grey Gatsby, by Mastercraftsman, has won his last two starts, including the Group 2 Dante Stakes at York, England, in May. In the French Derby, The Grey Gatsby won by three lengths over Shamkiyr, who was a head in front of Prince Gibraltar.
The Group 1 Grand Prix de Paris is run over about 1 1/2 miles. Ryan Moore rides The Grey Gatsby.
Late-developing Integral is evolving into one of the better older fillies in Europe, and she scored her first Group 1 victory on Friday at Newmarket, comfortably defeating 3-year-old Rizeena by two lengths in the Falmouth Stakes.
Trainer Edward Lynam’s powerful pair of sprinters, Sole Power and Slade Power, meet several rising 3-year-olds, including the Spanish horse Noozhoh Canarias, in the Group 1 July Cup on Saturday at Newmarket in England.
The field includes an American horse, Undrafted. Owned by Wes Welker and trained by Wesley Ward, Undrafted exits a good win the Jaipur Stakes over six furlongs on June 7 at Belmont.
