Desert Flower won Sunday’s Group 1 English 1000 Guineas at Newmarket Racecourse in Britain to complete an unprecedented trans-Atlantic sweep of four classic races for Godolphin Racing in less than 48 hours.

On Friday, Godolphin’s Good Cheer won the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs. On Saturday, the stable’s Ruling Court won the Group 1 English 2000 Guineas more than eight hours before Sovereignty won the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs.

Godolphin is owned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum of Dubai.

After racing on the inside for the first mile and rallying wide through the stretch, the improving colt Redentor won his first Grade 1 race in Sunday’s $3.9 million spring running of the Tenno Sho at Kyoto Racecourse in Japan for his fourth win in his last five starts.

Ridden by Damian Lane, Redentor was sixth or seventh for the first mile of the two-mile race, stalking the pace. On the backstretch for the final time, Lane moved Redentor off the inside and closer to the front.

Ruling Court pulled a rare Guineas double when capturing the English 2000 Guineas on Saturday at Newmarket, his first start since an overwhelming victory at Meydan Racecourse in the Jumeirah 2000 Guineas – and looked like a special horse doing it.

Held near the back of the field in the straight-mile Guineas, Ruling Court, a Godolphin homebred, cruised into contention with about three furlongs to run before deploying superior acceleration in the penultimate furlong that winged him to the lead and on to victory.

The only thing that has kept the Japanese colt Redentor from a four-race winning streak since June was a second in the Group 1 Japanese St. Leger last October.

Redentor is a distance specialist, which makes him the favorite to win the spring running of the Grade 1 Tenno Sho at two miles at Kyoto Racecourse in Japan on Sunday.

Paul Lally: 
R1 1-6-4-9 
R2 2-5-11-12 
R3 9-1-4-7 
R4 5-4-6-8 
R5 2-6-9-5 
R6 8-3-7-2 
R7 3-6-11-13 
R8 6-4-2-5 
R9 5-1-4-9 
R10 9-11-2-7 
R11 2-1-9-7 
Best Bet R9 N5 Dazzling Fit 
Longshot R3 N9 Team Team Folks 
Play R6  QQP 3-7-8 

A lot has changed for the Australian-bred 3-year-old Statuario since he finished 14th of 15 in the Group 1 Australian Guineas at a mile at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne on March 1.

Three weeks later, he was a good third in the Group 2 Alister Clark Stakes at about 1 1/4 miles at Moonee Valley and then won the longest race of his career in a minor stakes at 1 1/2 miles at Caulfield on April 5.

The results in longer races have made Statuario an early 2-1 favorite for Friday’s Group 1 South Australian Derby at Morphettville Racecourse in Adelaide.

Sha Tin Selections
(Sunday, May 4, 2025)

Mark Newnham’s ascent of the training ranks in Hong Kong has been swift and significant. The jockey-turned-handler has already eclipsed his first season total of 31 wins to currently sit on 37 in only his second campaign and he has big targets in mind when his exciting four-year-old stable star My Wish returns next season.