The Falmouth Stakes, a Group 1, $280,000 mile for fillies and mares, opens Newmarket’s July meeting with a bang on Wednesday when two-time 1000 Guineas winner Special Duty squares off against Lillie Langtry, winner of Royal Ascot’s Coronation Stakes. Two other group race winners at the Royal meeting, Strawberrydaiquiri and Rainfall, make this a special race in which the eight runners all sport Racing Post Ratings as high as 117 but none lower than 113.

A pair of prominent Breeders’ Cup runners add an American flavor to the $143,000 Princess of Wales’s Stakes at Newmarket on Thursday. BC Marathon winner Man of Iron makes his second start for new trainer Luca Cumani in the 1 1/2-mile contest, while Spanish Moon, fourth in the Turf, drops into a Group 2 contest after three narrow misses at the top level at far-flung locales around the world.

Behkabad held off even-money favorite Planteur to win the Group 1, $765,000 Grand Prix de Paris at Longchamp on Wednesday, rewarding his Bastille Day backers to the tune of 8.80-1. Never worse than third under Gerald Mosse, the 3-year-old Behkabad, a son of Cape Cross, led at the quarter pole and found something extra when challenged by Planteur to prevail by three-quarters of a length, clocking 2:33.30 for the 1 1/2 miles on very soft ground.

The sprinter Sacred Kingdom was named Horse of the Year by the Hong Kong Jockey Club on Sunday. A two-time Group 1 winner going six furlongs at Sha Tin this past season, the Ricky Yiu-trained 7-year-old was also named Hong Kong's champion sprinter for the third year in a row.

An Australian-bred gelding by Encosta de Lago, Sacred Kingdom swept the three best sprints in Hong Kong: the Hong Kong Sprint, the five-furlong Centenary Sprint Cup, and the Chairman's Sprint Prize. Owned by Sin Kang Yuk, he has won 15 of 23 starts to date for earnings of $4,791,273.

Planteur heads a contentious field of nine 3-year-olds going 1 1/2 miles in the Group 1, $754,000 Grand Prix de Paris at Longchamp on Wednesday. France's Bastille Day feature has drawn three horses from the Prix du Jockey-Club, which, at 1 5/16 miles, serves as the French Derby.

Planteur finished the best of those three on June 6 when three lengths second to runaway winner Lope de Vega. Trained by Elie Lellouche for Ecurie Wildenstein, the Danehill Dancer colt had previously landed the 1 5/16-mile, Group 2 Prix Noailles but could be vulnerable at 12 furlongs.

Date With Destiny, the only offspring of the late champion miler George Washington, made her juvenile debut a winning one at Newbury on Friday with a comfortable victory in a seven-furlong maiden. Ridden by Richard Hughes, she broke slowly but recovered quickly to be seventh after a furlong and led just inside the eighth pole, running out a 1 1/2-length winner over Zanazzi as the 9-2 second choice. The winning time on good to firm ground was 1:26.73

Starspangledbanner emerged the gritty winner of the Group 1, $605,000 July Cup at Newmarket on Friday, with the speedy Australian-bred prevailing by a neck over the game pacesetting Equiano. American hopes went up in smoke, however, as Kinsale King weakened to finish 12th after having tracked the early pace in third.

Sans Frontieres sprung a 14-1 surprise in the Group 2, $144,000 Princess of Wales's Stakes at Newmarket on Thursday. The lightly raced Jeremy Noseda-trained son of Galileo rallied from seventh to lead at the three-sixteenths pole, handing Khalid Abdullah's second-string 16-1 shot Redwood a 2 1/2-length defeat.

Kinsale King flies the American flag in the Group 1, $605,000 July Cup at Newmarket on Friday, but it is the Australian-bred, Irish-trained Starspangledbanner they all have to beat in a scintillating renewal of this six-furlong dash. A 4-year-old son of Choisir, Starspangledbanner went wire to wire in beating Kinsale King into third in the six-furlong, Group 1 Golden Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot three weeks ago, and while Kinsale King is expected to improve for that effort, there is a feeling that Starspangledbanner may be something special.

Music Show turned European filly form on its head on Wednesday with an impressive victory in the Group 1, $280,000 Falmouth Stakes over the Newmarket July Course, leaving Coronation Stakes winner Lillie Langtry and dual Guineas winner Special Duty far behind while recording a two-length victory over Spacious.