The NHK Mile, worth about $2.19 million and to be contested over about one mile at Tokyo Racecourse on Sunday, has nothing like a standout – nor any of the best Japanese 3-year-olds - among the 18 horses entered.
Skip to main content
Create Your DRF Account
New to DRF?
Everything you could possibly
need in one place
need in one place
Register
Don't have an account?
Register Here
DRF Past Performances
His only start was a maiden win, way back in September, but Marhaba Malyoon could reach the Epsom Derby on June 4 if he runs well in Saturday’s Group 3 Derby Trial Stakes at Lingfield Park, south of London.
Supplemented to the Epsom Derby last month for approximately $13,100, Marhaba Malyoon is part of a field of seven in the Derby Trial, which is run over 1 7/16 miles on turf. Last September, Marhaba Malyoon won a maiden race over 1 1/4 miles on turf at Bath, England.
Wonder of Wonders won her second race in a week in Wednesday’s Cheshire Oaks at Chester Racecourse in England, and is now likely to make her Group 1 debut in the English Oaks at Epsom on June 3.
Ridden by Ryan Moore, Wonder of Wonders, the 6-5 favorite, won the Cheshire Oaks over about one mile and three furlongs by 2 3/4 lengths over 16-1 Blaise Chorus in the field of nine.
Frankel, the brilliant 3-year-old whose win last weekend was rated one of the best ever in the English 2000 Guineas, will be pointed to the St. James Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot rather than the Epsom Derby, the Daily Mail in England reported Tuesday.
Confirming what had become increasingly apparent on the heels of Frankel’s front-running Guineas win, trainer Henry Cecil said that running in the derby “would not be doing the right thing” with Frankel.
“At this point, he is telling me not to go a mile and a half,” Cecil said, referring to the Epsom Derby distance.
The Keeneland 2-year-old maiden winners Everyday Dave and Judy the Beauty won allowance races over five furlongs on turf at Chantilly, France, on Monday for American trainer Wesley Ward, giving Ward three winners in France in a little more than 48 hours.
Saturday at Longchamp, Ward won with his first-ever French starter, Tiz Terrific.
Monday, Everyday Dave won by eight lengths as the 6-5 favorite, while Judy the Beauty won by a neck at 3-5. Jeffrey Sanchez rode all three of Ward’s winners.
Wonder of Wonders, who won a maiden race in her 2011 debut at Tipperary, Ireland, last Thursday, will make her a quick turnaround for her stakes debut in Wednesday’s Cheshire Oaks at Chester Racecourse in England.
A win in the Chesire Oaks, run over about 1 3/8 miles, could lead to a start in the English Oaks at Epsom on June 3. Wonder of Wonders is by Kingmambo out of All Too Beautiful, by Sadler’s Wells. All Too Beautiful was second as the favorite to Ouija Board in the 2004 English Oaks and won two stakes in her career.
Blue Bunting’s strong late rally carried her to a three-quarters length victory over Together in the Group 1 Quipco 1000 Guineas on Sunday at Newmarket, England. The performance made the Godolphin-owned Blue Bunting into one of the favorites for the English Oaks, and gave second-year trainer Mahmood al Zarooni his first victory in an English classic race.
Ambitious Dragon capped an ambitious and successful Hong Kong season with a comfortable victory Sunday at Sha Tin in the Group 1, $1.8 million Audemars Piguet Queen Elizabeth II Cup. Away slowly under jockey Douglas Whyte, Ambitious Dragon was 10th along the fence with a half-mile to run in the 2,000-meter race, but Whyte guided Ambitious Dragon outside and between horses before the final 400 meters, and Ambitious Dragon, the 2.3-1 favorite, accelerated strongly to win by three-quarters of a length over fast-finishing California Memory.
Two years after he became the first American trainer to saddle a winner at Royal Ascot, Wesley Ward is bound for the royal meeting again in June, and is taking a unique path to get there.
Saturday, Ward saddled Tiz Terrific to win a maiden turf race for 2-year-olds over about five furlongs at Longchamp in Paris, the trainer’s first winner in France.