Epsom Oaks winner Talent and Ribblesdale Stakes winner Riposte head an eight-horse field entered in Saturday’s Group 1, $303,688 Irish Oaks at The Curragh.

Four-year-old Lethal Force won only once in his first nine starts during 2011 and 2012, but he has figured things out now. Winning his second straight Group 1 on Saturday, Lethal Force staked a claim as Europe’s best sprinter with a front-running, 1 1/2-length victory in the $815,000 July Cup at Newmarket in England.

Elusive Kate won Friday’s Group 1 Falmouth Stakes for fillies and mares at Newmarket, England, a result that was not confirmed until a stewards’ inquiry reviewed whether the winner bothered 4-7 favorite Sky Lantern in the final quarter-mile.

Elusive Kate (3-1) set the pace under jockey William Buick, but began to drift to her left in the final furlong, forcing jockey Richard Hughes and Sky Lantern across the track. Buick even struck Sky Lantern twice with his whip.

No Nay Never, the American-trained undefeated winner of the Group 2 Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot on June 20, remains on schedule for a return to Europe for the Group 1 Prix Morny at Deauville, France, on Aug. 18, trainer Wesley Ward said.

The Prix Morny is run over a six-furlong straightaway and is worth approximately $455,000.

“I’ve been watching the race for a number of years,” Ward said Wednesday. “I’ve wanted to take something over for that. A horse that is a little precocious and has a little stamina has a chance there. I think we have a big chance.”

There is Group 1 action on both sides of the English Channel on Saturday in the Grand Prix de Paris at Longchamp and the July Cup at Newmarket.

The July Cup, run down a six-furlong straightaway, is among the top sprint races in England. A field of 12 was entered, including the top three finishers – Lethal Force, Society Rock, and Krypton Factor – from the Group 1 Diamond Jubilee Stakes at the Royal Ascot meet.

Sky Lantern, winner of the English 1000 Guineas and Coronation Stakes in recent months, will have just three rivals when she makes her first start against older fillies and mares in Friday’s Group 1 Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket, England.

Trained by Richard Hannon for Ben Keswick, Sky Lantern will be ridden by leading rider Richard Hughes in the $253,000 Falmouth Stakes. Hughes, who led British riders in wins in 2012, was aboard Sky Lantern for her victories in the English 1000 Guineas on Newmarket’s Rowley Mile course on May 5 and the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot on June 21.

Grandeur, last seen winning the Hollywood Turf Cup in December, was among the seven final declarations for the Group 2 Princess of Wales’s Stakes on Thursday at Newmarket.

A 4-year-old Jeremy Noseda-trained gelding, Grandeur was shipped from England to California last fall for a three-start North American campaign that worked out very well: Before his win in the Turf Cup, Grandeur finished second of 14 in the Hollywood Derby and won the Grade 2 Twilight Derby on Breeders’ Cup weekend at Santa Anita.

The British Horseracing Authority full report on suspended trainer Mahmood al Zarooni’s use of anabolic steroids is nearing completion, but the full report will be shared only with al Zarooni’s former employer, Godolphi, the Authority announced Tuesday.

Lucky Speed (9-2) gave jockey Andreas Starke a sixth career win in the $640,000 German Derby at Hamburg on Sunday.

Closing from the back of a field of 19, Lucky Speed took the lead in the final sixteenth and won the Group 1 race by three-quarters of a length over 14-1 Tres Blue. Nordvulkan, a 51-1 shot, finished third, beaten a length.

Ivanhowe, a Group 2 winner in Cologne on June 16, finished eighth as the 2-1 favorite. The first seven finishers in the race over 1 1/2 miles on turf were separated by 2 1/4 lengths.

Al Kazeem continued his surprising unbeaten 2013 campaign, winning his third straight Group 1 race when beating Declaration of War by two lengths in the Eclipse Stakes on Saturday at Sandown Park in England.