A pair of Group 2 contests for 2-year-olds highlights the third day of Doncaster’s St. Leger Meeting on Friday with Zebedee and Meow vying for favoritism in the $122,000, five-furlong Flying Childers Stakes, while White Moonstone is the odds-on choice in the one-mile May Hill Stakes for juvenile fillies.

Kane Hekili, perhaps the best dirt horse in the history of Japanese racing, has been retired after suffering yet another debilitating injury.

An 8-year-old son of Fuji Kiseki, Kane Hekili bowed tendons in both of his forelegs and will now take up stud duties at the Yushun Stallion Station in Hokkaido.

Doncaster’s stamina-laden St. Leger meeting presents its first group race on Thursday when English Oaks runner-up Meeznah should start a lukewarm favorite in the Group 2, $153,000 Park Hill Stakes, at 1 3/4 miles, 132 yards, a race often referred to as the “fillies St. Leger.”

Beaten a neck at Epsom by the St. Leger Stakes-bound Snow Fairy, Meeznah has since finished fourth to the same filly in the Irish Oaks and fourth behind Midday in the Yorkshire Oaks. Kieren Fallon will ride for trainer David Lanigan.

Dar Re Mi, the 5-year-old mare who beat males in the $5 million Dubai Sheema Classic in March, has been retired from racing because of an accumulation of unspecified minor ailments.

The daughter of Singspiel and a half-sister to Group 1 winner River Dancer, Group 2 winner Darazari, and current St. Leger favorite Rewilding, Dar Re Mi is a three-time Group 1 winner herself, having also won last year’s Pretty Polly Stakes and the Yorkshire Oaks.

Fuisse upset more fancied opponents in the Group 1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp, as hot favorite Paco Boy was a listless fourth of six.

Fuisse, sent off at 9.90-1, was badly behaved before the race, unseating his jockey, Stephane Pasquier, on the way to post, and running loose. His antics caused the race to be delayed by some 15 minutes, as his five rivals waited patiently at the mile start.

Irish Derby winner Cape Blanco added to his Group 1 r é sum é with a unchallenged and emphatic victory in Saturday’s Tattersalls Millions Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown.

All the buzz before the race was about Rip Van Winkle, the pick of the Aidan O’Brien-trained trio, and he started at 8-11 under jockey Johnny Murtagh.

A field of six goes to post for Sunday’s Group 1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp, and an intriguing clash looks assured for what is always a high-quality race.

English raider Paco Boy will undoubtedly benefit from the absence of Makfi and Goldikova, who finished ahead of him at Deauville last month, but the 5-year-old Paco Boy will still have plenty on his plate with a strong challenge from the 3-year-olds in the field.

Rip Van Winkle is stable jockey Johnny Murtagh’s choice of three Aidan O’Brien-trained mounts in Saturday’s Group 1 Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown. The winner of the Juddmonte International at York last month, Rip Van Winkle is expected to be the odds-on favorite for the 10-furlong test.

O’Brien took a deliberate approach to Rip Van Winkle’s campaign this year, and delayed his seasonal reappearance till mid-June at Royal Ascot, with the intention of aiming for a productive second half of the season.

A strong argument can be made that the Irish Champion Stakes, which will have its 35th running at Leopardstown on Saturday, is the best race in the world. Since 1984, its winners have included the great stallion Sadler’s Wells, the wonder filly Triptych, future Breeders’ Cup Turf winners Pilsudski, Daylami, Fantastic Light, and High Chaparral, and subsequent Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winners Suave Dancer, Dylan Thomas, and Sea the Stars, plus six-time Group 1 winner Giant’s Causeway.

Is there a race on the planet with a roll of honor as classy as this 1 1/4-mile Group 1?

William Hill rates defending champ Zenyatta and Preakness and Haskell winner Lookin At Lucky as 4-1 co-favorites for the Breeders’ Cup Classic as the British bookmakers opened for Cup business on Tuesday. Hill offers Whitney winner Blame at 6-1, with Whitney runner-up Quality Road at 8-1, followed by Travers one-two Afleet Express and Fly Down both at 12-1 along with Rachel Alexandra.