Magician validated his dominant victory in the Dee Stakes on May 8 at Chester in England with a similarly convincing win Saturday at The Curragh in the Group 1 Irish 2000 Guineas. His trainer, Aidan O’Brien, required no such validation but got more anyway, winning the Irish 2000 Guineas for the third year in a row, the fifth in the last six, and for the ninth time overall.

Epaulette, who won the Group 1 Golden Rose Stakes last September and was second to the famous sprinter Black Caviar last month, won his first major race of 2013 in Saturday’s $630,500 Doomben 10,000 at Doomben Racecourse in Australia.

Ridden by Kerrin McEvoy for trainer Peter Snowden, Epaulette (5-1) rallied from off the pace to win the Group 1 Doomben 10,000 over 6 1/2 furlongs by two lengths over Sea Siren, a 16-1 chance. Buffering finished a nose behind Sea Siren for third in the field of 15. Your Song, the 2-1 favorite, finished sixth.

Grace Lady, a 4-year-old filly by Muhtathir, won the most prestigious race of her career with a 10-1 upset in Friday’s Group 2 Prix Corrida for fillies and mares at Saint-Cloud, France.

Ridden by Gerard Mosse, Grace Lady closed from the back of a field of 10 to win the $167,700 Prix Corrida over 1 3/8 miles on very soft turf by 3 1/2 lengths ahead of Fate, a 5-1 chance. Romantica, the 14-5 favorite, finished third, a short neck behind Fate.

Camelot’s 4-year-old debut May 6 in the Group 3 Mooresbridge Stakes didn’t establish him as an elite older horse, and even another victory on Sunday at The Curragh in the Tattersalls Gold Cup might not show where Camelot stands in the grand scheme of European middle-distance racing.

Planteur heads a field of eight older runners in the Prix d’Ispahan, one of two Group 1 races along with the Prix Saint-Alary on the Sunday card at Longchamp in Paris.

Trained by Marco Botti, Planteur has only one win in his last nine starts, but has regularly faced some of the stiffest competition in the world, and his connections were well pleased with his third-place finish behind Animal Kingdom on March 30 in the $10 million Dubai World Cup.

Trainer Aidan O’Brien has won four of the last five editions of the Irish 2000 Guineas, and with four of the 10 horses among the final entries for the Group 1 race Saturday at The Curragh, one would think O’Brien stands a decent chance of adding to the streak. But O’Brien’s quartet of Magician, George Vancouver, Gale Force Ten, and Flying the Flag lacks anything approaching a standout performer, and Van Der Neer, raiding from England for trainer Richard Hannon, might stand a better chance than any of the O’Briens.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum has signed a decree making the use of anabolic steroids in racehorses a criminal offense in Dubai, the home of Meydan Racecourse and the Dubai World Cup.

Maktoum issued a statement on Thursday saying the decree will go into effect immediately. The decree prohibits “the import, sale, purchase, or use of anabolic steroids in horse sports” in Dubai. The drugs are currently banned for use in racing, but running afoul of the regulations is not a criminal offense.

Logotype, the dominant 2- and 3-year-old colt in Japan since last fall, will be favored to win Sunday’s $4,088,050 Japanese Derby over about 1 1/2 miles on turf at Tokyo Racecourse.

Logotype is unbeaten in two starts this year, including the first leg of the Japanese Triple Crown, the Grade 1 Japanese 2000 Guineas at Nakayama Racecourse on April 14. The Grade 1 Japanese Derby is the second leg of the Triple Crown.

On Saturday, May 18, Farhh won the Group 1 J.T. Lockinge Stakes at Newbury in England. Briefly, dark clouds parted for Godolphin, the international racing powerhouse conceived and headed by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai.

The Lockinge was Godolphin’s first Group 1 stakes victory of the English flat-racing season, and Farhh, a product of Sheikh Mohammed’s breeding wing, Darley, looked formidable. It was the first time in a month that Godolphin headlines didn’t involve the word “doping.”

Romantica, a 4-year-old filly by Galileo out of Eclipse Award champion Banks Hill, makes her second start of 2013 in Friday’s Group 2 Prix Corrida for fillies and mares at Saint-Cloud, France.

Owned by breeder Khalid Abdullah’s Juddmonte Farms, Romantica is part of a field of 10 in the $167,700 Prix Romantica, which is run over about 1 3/8 miles on turf. Trained by Andre Fabre, Romantica won her first start of 2013, the Grade 3 Prix Allex France at Chantilly, France, on April 29. A filly by Galileo, Romantica won the Group 2 Prix de la Nonette last summer.