After a Group 3 win in July and a victory in a Group 2 in August, the 3-year-old filly Friendly Soul won her third consecutive start, and first Group 1, in Sunday’s Prix de l’Opera for fillies and mares at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris.

The win may lead to a start in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 2, co-trainer John Gosden told the press on Sunday. Friendly Soul earned a fees-paid berth to the BC Filly and Mare Turf with Sunday’s win.

It is not like the England-based trainer Ralph Beckett has a horse for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe every year. Beckett runs a fine, successful stable regularly populated with high-level performers, but we’re not talking about Ballydoyle here. And so it must have felt to Beckett like he’d missed a golden chance to win his first Arc when Westover ran into the brilliant Ace Impact finishing second a year ago.

The fast-improving 3-year-old Tamfana won her first Group 1 race in Saturday’s $360,700 Sun Chariot Stakes for fillies and mares at a mile at Newmarket Racecourse in Britain, finishing two lengths in front of Inspiral, the winner of the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Santa Anita last November.

Tamfana, ridden by Colin Keane for trainer David Menuisier, challenged pacesetter Darnation early, took the lead with a quarter-mile remaining and maintained her lead over Inspiral, who was last early after a slow start.

By Leo Schlink

Karis Teetan hopes Adefill’s natural affinity with Sha Tin’s All Weather Track will prove decisive when Ricky Yiu’s gelding resumes in the HK$3.12 million Class 2 Nam Long Shan Handicap (1650m, dirt) on Sunday (6 October).

All six of Adefill’s Hong Kong wins have come on Sha Tin’s dirt surface with three victories at 1200m and three more over Sunday’s distance, as well as six other minor placings on the surface from just 15 starts.

Tom Wood:
R1: 4-2-1-7
R2: 5-2-1-9
R3: 6-8-9-5
R4: 1-12-3-6 
R5: 1-2-5-6 
R6: 5-3-6-7
R7: 7-13-4-11 
R8: 5-1-11-2
R9: 8-5-1-6
R10: 7-3-10-9
BEST: R5 N1 LUCKY EIGHT (WIN) 
VALUE: R9 N8 KING OF DUBAI (EW) 
PLAY: R9 QQP 1,5,8

Things have not gone right this year for Inspiral, the winner of the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Santa Anita last November.

Inspiral is winless in three starts, a trend that may be reversed in Saturday’s Group 1 Sun Chariot Stakes at a mile at Newmarket Racecourse in Britain.

Inspiral may not be favored. The $360,700 Sun Chariot Stakes drew a field of six, notably the 3-year-old Tamfana, a Group 3 stakes winner at Sandown Racecourse near London in late August.

As of Thursday, Tamfana was the 5-2 favorite, a slight choice over Inspiral at 3-1.

Four Group 1 races, as well as key prep races for the rich Everest Stakes and Melbourne Cup, highlight racing at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne and Royal Randwick in Sydney, Australia on Friday evening.

The winner of the Group 3 Bart Cummings Stakes at 1 9/16 miles at Flemington receives an automatic berth in the Group 1 Melbourne Cup on Nov. 5. Berkshire Breeze, 40-1 in future-book betting for the Melbourne Cup, was the 3-1 favorite in early betting for the Cummings Stakes, a slight choice over 5-1 Point King.

Sha Tin Selections
(Sunday, October 6, 2024)