Trainer Wesley Ward plans to have eight starters at the Royal Ascot meeting in England from Tuesday through June 18, and considers the 2-year-old filly Judy the Beauty to be his best chance for his first winner since 2009 at the prestigious meeting.
Ward has seven 2-year-olds and the 3-year-old filly Holiday for Kitten currently training in France.
Reliable Man’s stakes debut produced the same result as his first two races – victory. The unbeaten Alain de Royer-Dupre colt captured the Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby) on Sunday at Chantilly with a strong rally under Gerald Mosse.
Pour Moi came from last to trigger a series of firsts Saturday at Epsom, winning the English Derby by a head over Treasure Beach in a thrilling edition of the race.
Pour Moi’s victory gave legendary trainer Andre Fabre the first Epsom Derby win of his career, while the young jockey Mickael Barzalona won the Derby with his first mount in the race. The win was the first by a French-trained horse since 1976.
Dancing Rain, the lone front-runner in a field of 13, held off a late threat from Wonder of Wonders to pull a 20-1 upset in Friday’s English Oaks at Epsom Downs, giving jockey Johnny Murtagh his first Oaks win.
The day was one to forget for the world-class jockey Frankie Dettori. He rode 9-4 favorite Blue Bunting to a fourth-place finish, but was slapped with a 10-day suspension after he eased down his mount in the final strides and was nipped for third by the 25-1 shot Izzi Top.
Champion filly Apapane should be solidly favored to win the Group 1, $2.57 million Yasuda Kinen on Sunday at Tokyo Racecourse in Japan. In her most recent start, the Victoria Mile on May 15, Apapane beat top-class Buena Vista by a neck, and there appears to be no horse of that quality among her rivals Sunday.
The lead-up to the $1.16 million Epsom Derby feels a bit like the days preceding this year’s Kentucky Derby, with the potential race favorite’s health in question. In Kentucky, it was Uncle Mo and his enzymatic issues under the microscope. In England, scrutiny focuses on the left front leg of Carlton House, the derby favorite off his solid last-start win in the Dante Stakes.
Since October, Blue Bunting has been ranked as a top candidate for Friday’s Group 1 English Oaks by Sheikh Mohammed’s powerful Godolphin Racing stable. Her recent victory in the English 1000 Guineas has made Blue Bunting an even stronger favorite for the Oaks, which is run over about 1 1/2 miles on turf at Epsom Downs and carries a purse of approximately $533,000.
Goldikova has been booked for a return trip to the Queen Anne Stakes on June 14 at Royal Ascot, setting up a greatly anticipated meeting with top miler Canford Cliffs.
Freddie Head, Goldikova’s trainer, would not commit the mare to the Queen Anne after Goldikova won her 2011 debut in the Prix d’Ispahan on May 22, but Head said this past weekend that the Queen Anne would be the next stop for Goldikova, a winner of 14 Group or Grade 1 races – including the Breeders’ Cup Mile three years running – during her historic career.
Orfevre rallied wide in the final three furlongs to win Sunday’s Group 1 Japanese Derby at Tokyo Racecourse, confirming his status as that nation’s leading 3-year-old a month after winning the Japanese 2000 Guineas.
