Goldikova makes her 20th and final French start Sunday in the Prix de la Foret, attempting to win the 15th Group or Grade 1 race of her career in her Paris finale. Before being retired, Goldikova is expected to race once more following the Foret when she tries for a fourth straight Breeders’ Cup Mile win Nov. 5 at Churchill Downs.
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DRF Past Performances
Two fees-paid berths to Breeders’ Cup races at Churchill Downs next month are at stake for the winners of Sunday’s Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere and Prix de l’Opera on the undercard of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe program at Longchamp in Paris.
Overall, there are eight Group 1 races on the nine-race program. Aside from the Arc and the Prix de la Foret, which is led by three-time Breeders’ Cup Mile winner Goldikova, there are two Group 1 races for 2-year-olds, as well as one for sprinters, fillies and mares, marathoners, and even Arabian-bred horses.
Sunday’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris will have a maximum field of 16 after the 2011 Group 1 winners Danedream, Masked Marvel, and Meandre were supplemented to the race for approximately $136,000 on Thursday.
The supplemental entries are not among the favorites with British bookmakers. As of Thursday, So You Think, the winner of the Group 1 Irish Champion Stakes last month, and Sarafina, who beat males in the Group 1 Grand Prix de Saint Cloud in the summer, shared the role of favorite, at 7-2, for the race over about 1 1/2 miles.
Timing-wise, the Arc meeting and the Breeders’ Cup always have meshed. Arc Day, Europe’s premier race day, falls on the first Sunday in October, roughly one month before the Breeders’ Cup, the Western Hemisphere’s best racing event since its establishment in 1984. And since the Arc meeting is upon us, with many of the best horses in Europe converging upon Paris this weekend for six Group 1 races, it means the Breeders’ Cup cannot be far below the horizon.
Nathaniel, the winner of the Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes in England in July, will not start in Sunday’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp in Paris because of expected firm ground, trainer John Gosden told the English press on Wednesday.
Instead, Gosden’s stable could start Masked Marvel, the winner of the Group 1 English St. Leger on Sept. 11, in the Arc, which is run over about 1 1/2 miles on turf. Masked Marvel would have to be supplemented for approximately $136,000 on Thursday.
The Emirates Racing Authority this week announced upgrades to group stakes races to be held during 2012 in Dubai, with three Group 2 races attaining Group 1 status next year.
The Al Quoz Sprint, part of the Dubai World Cup, was boosted from Group 2 to Group 1 by the local racing authority, giving World Cup Night five Group 1 races. Also moved from Group 2 to Group 1 classification were the the Al Maktoum Challenge Round III and the Jebel Hatta, both of which are part of Meydan’s Super Saturday program, the March 10 lead-in to the March 31 World Cup in 2012.
Campanologist won his first stakes of 2011 and his third Group 1 race in Germany in the last 15 months in Sunday’s Preis Von Europa at Cologne, Germany.
The 6-year-old Campanologist faced just five rivals and rallied from fifth under jockey Frankie Dettori to finish 1 1/4 lengths in front of the German 3-year-old Ibencio. Earl of Tinsdal, another Germany-based 3-year-old and the 9-10 favorite, finished third, three lengths behind Campanologist. The Preis Von Europa was run over 1 1/2 miles and was worth approximately $210,800.
French raider Sahpresa captured the Sun Chariot Stakes for the third year in a row, winning the Group 1 race by one length over Chachamaidee on Saturday at Newmarket in England.
A horse winning the same stakes three straight years is impressive, but Sahpresa’s task was made easier by the abject failure of three main rivals. Second choice Alanza finished a one-paced sixth, fourth choice Together checked in seventh, and third-favorite Timepiece, who had beaten Sahpresa at Newmarket in July, was last of eight.
The Godolphin-owned Campanologist will have jockey Frankie Dettori aboard in Sunday’s Group 1 Preis Von Europa at Cologne, Germany.
Trained by Saeed bin Suroor, Campanologist, 6, will be after his third Group 1 win in Germany in the last 14 months, and his first win of 2011 after losses in his first six races this year. In his most recent start, Campanologist was second in the Group 2 Bosphorus Cup in Turkey on Sept. 4.