If sheer numbers act as a guide, Europeans are in for a memorable 2011 Breeders’ Cup. Twenty-six of them are here for the Cup’s 15 races, with eight horses scheduled to run on Friday’s program, 18 on Saturday.
Most of the shippers arrived Saturday, with Aidan O’Brien – as is his habit – bringing his stock from Ireland as late as possible. O’Brien’s eight Saturday runners only arrived Tuesday and will not train until Friday.
Black Caviar will attempt to stretch her unbeaten streak to 16 races when she starts as a prohibitive favorite in Saturday’s $1.03 million Patinack Farm Classic at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Australia.
Australia’s reigning Horse of the Year, Black Caviar has six rivals in the Group 1 Patinack Farm Classic, which is run over about six furlongs on turf. Trainer Peter Moody told the Herald-Sun newspaper in Australia that the 5-year-old Black Caviar has maintained excellent composure as her undefeated streak continues.
Dunaden, a Group 3 stakes winner at Longchamp in April, continued the recent domination of foreign horses in the $6.1 million Melbourne Cup on Tuesday with a nose victory over the British invader Red Cadeaux.
Dunaden won the 23-runner race for his second consecutive win, having won the Geelong Cup in Australia on Oct. 19 under jockey Craig Williams. Williams could not ride Dunaden in the Melbourne Cup, having lost an appeal of a recent suspension in Australian court on Monday.
French Fifteen won Sunday’s Group 1 Criterium International for 2-year-olds colts and fillies at Saint-Cloud, France, and in doing so flattered the chances of a European invader in Friday’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Churchill Downs.
The influence of French racing, and even a longshot from the United States, will be strongly felt in Tuesday’s Group 1 Melbourne Cup at Flemington Racecourse, Australia’s most famous horse race.
Defending champion Americain will be favored for French trainer Alain de Royer-Dupre. A 6-year-old Kentucky-bred horse by Dynaformer, Americain won the Group 2 Drake International Stakes at Mooney Valley Racecourse on Oct. 22, his first start in Australia since the 2010 Melbourne Cup.
In front of a crowd of over 100,000 on a glorious day, many of Australian racing's biggest heroes were in action on the first day of Flemington's Spring Carnival. The four Group 1s contested at the Melbourne oval, resulted in mixed performances by the betting favorites.
Emerging star Atlantic Jewel ($2.80), a 3-year-old filly owned by Ireland's Coolmore Stud, put forth a breathtaking display when dusting her own generation in the Group 2, $300,000 Wakeful Stakes at 1 1/4 miles. Atlantic Jewel is now 5 for 5.
The French stakes winners French Fifteen and Kendam make their first starts in a Group 1 in Sunday’s Criterium International for 2-year-olds colts and fillies at Saint-Cloud, France.
They pose a home-country threat to Irish invader Learn, who was fourth in the Group 1 Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster, England, on Oct. 22. By Galileo, Learn is trained by Aidan O’Brien, who has won the last two runnings of the Criterium International, which is worth approximately $350,000 and is run over a mile. O’Brien won the race in 2009 with Jan Vermeer, and last year with Roderic O’Connor.
Four Group 1 races, including the Mackinnon Stakes, the last prep for the Melbourne Cup, are part of Saturday’s program at Flemington Racecourse in Australia, the first day of that track’s famous spring carnival.
Orfevre became the first horse in six years to sweep the Japanese Triple Crown with an impressive victory in Sunday’s Group 1 Japanese St. Leger, the Kikuka Sho, at Kyoto Racecourse.
Ridden by Kenichi Ikezoe, Orfevre, the 2-5 favorite, rallied from the middle of the 18-horse field to win by 2 1/2 lengths over Win Variation, a 6-1 shot who closed from last. Tosen Ra, the 11-1 third choice, finished third.
Orfevre’s win could lead to a start against older horses in the $6.1 million Japan Cup over 1 1/2 miles at Tokyo Racecourse on Nov. 27.
