Former champion jockey Frankie Dettori returned to riding at Epsom on Friday after a six-month suspension for a drug positive.

Dettori, 42, was winless with three mounts on the English Oaks undercard.  He had hoped to return to riding on May 20, but his comeback was delayed by French racing officials. Dettori tested positive for cocaine in France last September, and was suspended last November. He was cleared to ride on Thursday and received a license that day from the British Horseracing Authority.

Champion British jockey Richard Hughes won the second classic race of the year, and second of the month, aboard 20-1 shot Talent  in Friday’s $600,000 English Oaks at Epsom Downs.

Hughes, the leading rider in England last year, won the English 1000 Guineas on May 5 aboard Sky Lantern.

He rode Talent for trainer Ralph Beckett, who also finished second with Secret Gesture, the 3-1 second choice in the field of 11.

The Epsom Derby is the most famous race in England, but in the 2013 edition of a race first run in 1780, England’s primary role is playing host. Among the 12 horses entered in the Derby, only three are trained in England, with seven Irish invaders, one from Germany, and one from France. Five of the Ireland-based horses are trained by Aidan O’Brien, but the Derby focus is on a different Irish shipper, undefeated 2-year-old champion Dawn Approach.

Lord Kanaloa, the top sprinter in Japan and Hong Kong in the last year, will attempt to carry his speed to a mile in Sunday’s $2.06 million Yasuda Kinen at Tokyo Racecourse.

The Grade 1 Yasuda Kinen is the top turf mile in the first half of the year in Japan and has drawn a strong field.

Animal Kingdom, the winner of the $10 million Dubai World Cup at Meydan Racecourse on March 30, worked a half-mile on soft turf at Ascot Racecourse on Wednesday, preparing for the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes there June 18.

The 5-year-old Animal Kingdom was timed for the final quarter-mile in 24.6 seconds by trainer Graham Motion. Animal Kingdom was ridden by John Velazquez, who flew from New York for the workout.

Former Godolphin trainer Mahmood Al Zarooni has withdrawn an appeal of an eight-year suspension for administering steroids to runners in his stable in England earlier this year, the British Horseracing Authority announced Wednesday.

The eight-year suspension was announced April 25 and Al Zarooni announced days later that he planned to appeal. Wednesday, his lawyers said he would not pursue the appeal.

Everyone seemed to want a part of Secret Gesture earlier this week, in advance of Friday’s $600,000 English Oaks at Epsom Downs.

On Tuesday, Sheikh Fahad Al Thani of Qatar bought a 50 percent share of Secret Gesture from owner and breeder Newsells Park Stud. On Wednesday, when the field of 11 was finalized for the Group 1 English Oaks, Secret Gesture was made the 5-2 favorite.

The English Oaks, run over 1 1/2 miles on turf, figures to be a battle of lightly raced fillies.

Veteran jockey Yutaka Take won the $4,088,050 Japanese Derby at Tokyo Racecourse for a record fifth time Sunday aboard Kizuna, the 9-5 favorite in the race over about 1 1/2 miles on turf.

Take, 44, rode a colt well-suited to the distance. Kizuna had started in the Grade 2 Shimbun Hai over about 1 3/8 miles on turf at Kyoto Racecourse on May 4, bypassing a start in the Japanese 2000 Guineas over about 1 1/4 miles on turf at Nakayama in April.

Maxios maintained his strong form while running Planteur into a second-place finish for the second straight year in the Group 1 Prix d’Ispahan on Sunday at Longchamp in France.

The 5-year-old Maxios, a Niarchos family homebred by Monsun, had a lost 3-year-old season in 2011 and only reached the Group 3 level last year at 4, but he has put together a three-race string of peak performances this spring, winning the Group 2 Prix d’Harcourt and finishing second in the Group 1 Prix Ganay before posting his first Group 1 win Sunday.

There are two ways of looking at Camelot’s loss in the Tattersalls Gold Cup to Al Kazeem, a 5-year-old horse making his Group 1 debut Sunday at The Curragh in Ireland.

In one telling, Camelot is on a slow incline leading up to peak form this season, and in his second start of 2013, he happened to meet a sharp, improving performer with a fitness edge.