Liber Nauticus will have a perfect record when she starts in the English Oaks at Epsom Downs on May 31.

On Wednesday, Liber Nauticus made her first start of 2013 and her stakes debut in the $112,870 Musidora Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at York Racecourse, winning by 1 1/2 lengths in the Group 3 race over about 1 5/16 miles.

Ridden by Ryan Moore, Liber Nauticus (4-6) stalked the pace for the first mile, took the lead with a quarter-mile remaining, and held off 11-1 Romantic Settings, who finished second. Woodland Aria was third in the field of six.

Indian Chief can join trainer Aidan O’Brien’s crew of Epsom Derby hopefuls with a strong showing Thursday at York in the Group 2 Dante Stakes, one of England’s major Derby preps.

While Kingsbarns, O’Brien’s leading 2-year-old of 2012, is behind schedule and doubtful to make the Epsom Derby, the stable still has three horses – Battle of Marengo, Ruler of the World, and Mars – priced at odds of about 10-1 or less in antepost Derby betting.

Liber Nauticus, a maiden race winner in her only start, will make her stakes debut in Wednesday’s $112,870 Musidora Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at York Racecourse in England.

Trained by Michael Stoute, Liber Nauticus, by Azamour, races for owner and breeder Ballymacoll Stud. Even though she’s made only one start, Liber Nauticus is as low as 5-1 for the English Oaks on May 31.

Verxina, second in the Japanese Oaks and three other Grade 1 races in 2012, got her first Grade 1 win in Sunday’s $1,908,722 Victoria Mile for fillies and mares on turf at Tokyo Racecourse, holding off a late threat from defending champion Whale Capture.

Verxina, the 2-1 favorite ridden by Hiroyuki Uchida, finished a nose in front of Whale Capture, who was sent off at 43-1. Meine Isabel (12-1) was third, a half-length behind Whale Capture, in the field of 18.

The Breeders’ Cup turf races for 2-year-olds would be considered second-class Group 1 fare by Europhile racing fans, but the 2012 BC Juvenile Fillies is churning out European classic winners this spring.

Last weekend, Sky Lantern, eighth in the Juvenile Fillies Turf, won the English 1000 Guineas, and on Sunday at Longchamp, it was Flotilla, the Juvenile Fillies Turf heroine, who captured the French version of that race, the Group 1 Poule d’Essai des Pouliches.

Secret Gesture won her first start of the year in Saturday’s Betfred Oaks Trial Stakes at Lingfield Racecourse in England to join the list of leading contenders for the English Oaks at Epsom Racecourse on May 31.

Ridden by Jim Crowley, Secret Gesture, the even-money favorite, overwhelmed six rivals to win the race over 1 7/16 miles by 10 lengths. Secret Gesture stalked the pace before taking the lead a quarter-mile from the finish.

Miss You Too (9-2) was second, 1 1/2 lengths in front of 10-1 Whippy Cream.

Gary Stevens and Rosie Napravnik will represent the United States in the Shergar Cup jockey’s competition at Ascot, England, on Aug. 10, it was announced on Saturday.

Napravnik, 25, will be part of the Girls Team along with Lisa Allpress of New Zealand and Hayley Turner of Britain. Allpress, 37, has won more than 1,000 races and was the leading rider in New Zealand last year. Turner, 30, has won Group 1 races in Britain in recent years, and will captain the Girls Team.

It has been only three years since Andre Fabre won the Poule d’Essai des Poulains (French 2000 Guineas) and two years since he won the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches (French 1000 Guineas), and Fabre appears to have a chance to sweep both French classic races Sunday at Longchamp in Paris.

Animal Kingdom, the Kentucky Derby and Dubai World Cup winner, will start in the Queen Anne Stakes rather than the Prince of Wales’s Stakes when he races at the Royal Ascot meet in England next month, his connections announced Friday.

Ruler of the World was a moderately impressive six-length winner of the Group 3 Chester Vase on Thursday in England, but it says much about the state of the prospective Epsom Derby field that his win over three unproven opponents vaulted Ruler of the World near the top of antepost betting on the Epsom Derby.