Shareta, runner-up in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe last October, won for the first time this year in Thursday’s Group 1 Yorkshire Oaks at York, England.
Ridden by Christophe Lemaire, Shareta fought off a stubborn challenge from The Fugue, the 7-4 favorite, to win by a neck in the race over 1 1/2 miles.
Frankel seems capable of accomplishing anything on a racecourse.
Wednesday, in the Group 1 Juddmonte International Stakes at York, England, Frankel raced at about 1 5/16 miles, the first time in his career he had gone beyond a mile, and won by an easy seven lengths, extending his unbeaten streak to 13 races.
For all he has accomplished in his unbeaten 12-race career, Frankel has only run two distances – seven furlongs and a mile.
That will change Wednesday, when the 4-year-old Frankel starts at a middle distance for the first time in the Group 1, 1 5/16-mile Juddmonte International Stakes at York, England.
While the distance may be different, other trends are the same: Frankel will be a very heavy favorite. As of Monday, Frankel was 1-8 with British bookmakers to win the Juddmonte. The race is sponsored by Khalid Abdullah, the owner of Juddmonte Farms and the owner of Frankel.
Snow Fairy won the sixth Group 1 race of her career in Sunday’s Prix Jean Romanet at Deauville, France, a victory that trainer Ed Dunlop described as “one of the biggest highlights of my career.”
The Prix Jean Romanet was Snow Fairy’s first start since the Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative Cup in Japan last November. Snow Fairy was in Hong Kong training for a start in the Hong Kong Vase last December when she sustained an injury.
Lethal Force, a 25-1 outsider, led throughout Saturday’s Group 2 Hungerford Stakes at Newbury Racecourse, holding off a late threat from top contender Strong Suit in the seven-furlong race.
Ridden by Adam Kirby, Lethal Force led by as many as five lengths in the straightaway race and was fully extended to win by a neck over Strong Suit, the 9-4 second choice in the field of nine. Alanza, a 9-1 chance, finished third. Soul, the 2-1 favorite, was sixth after racing as close as second with a quarter-mile remaining.
The return of five-time Group 1 winner Snow Fairy highlights the Group 1 Prix Jean Romanet on Sunday at Deauville in France, but Snow Fairy has found a difficult spot to make her first start since last November.
Five-year-old Snow Fairy finished third in the 2011 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe before embarking on her second trip to Asia for late-season racing. She won the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Kyoto in Japan on Nov. 13 but was injured during a training session days before she was to start in the Group 1 Hong Kong Vase at Sha Tin.
Strong Suit, a multiple group stakes winner in 2011 but winless in two starts this year, will be favored to win Saturday’s Group 2 Hungerford Stakes over seven furlongs on turf at Newbury, England.
Trained by Richard Hannon, Strong Suit, a 4-year-old Arkansas-bred colt by Rahy, was eighth of 12 in the Group 1 July Cup at Newmarket on July 11, a race run on a heavy turf course. The turf course is projected to be good at Newbury on Saturday.
Even when Frankel doesn’t participate in a Group 1 one-mile race in Europe, his long shadow falls across the proceedings. Such was the case Sunday at Deauville in France, where Excelebration won a strong renewal of the Group 1 Jacques Le Marois by 1 1/4 lengths over Cityscape.
Excelebration has gotten away from Frankel but appears to be stepping into a hornet’s nest when he ships from Ireland to the French coast to start in the Group 1 Jacques Le Marois on Sunday at Deauville.
Trained by Aidan O’Brien, Excelebration has won six of his 12 career starts, and five of his six losses have come at the hands of fellow 4-year-old Frankel. Excelebration won his seasonal debut at The Curragh in April, but then ran into Frankel in the J.T. Lockinge Stakes and the Queen Anne Stakes, finishing second by five lengths in the former and second by 11 in the latter.
The undefeated Australian mare Black Caviar’s reputation was dinged when she squeaked out a win in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot, but that slim victory took on a rosier appearance when the Diamond Jubilee runner-up Moonlight Cloud crushed eight foes in the Group 1 Prix Maurice de Gheest on Sunday at Deauville.
