Virtual got the better of Alexandros after a prolonged duel in the Group 1 Lockinge Stakes at Newbury on Saturday, but Alexandros was a most unlucky loser, as his rider, Frankie Dettori, had the whip knocked out of his hand a furlong from home.

When Goldikova, the sensational Breeders' Cup Mile winner, returns to the races at Longchamp on Sunday, she will not be running at her favorite distance. Instead she will be stepping up to 1 1/8 miles, 55 yards for the Prix d'Ispahan, a Group 1 contest worth $340,000 in which she will be facing some rather accomplished colts and older horses.

Vodka will attempt to get back on the winning track when she returns to Japan for the Grade 1, $1.85 million Victoria Mile at Tokyo Racecourse on Sunday. The Japanese Horse of the Year, she disappointed at Nad Al Sheba this winter when she was fifth in the Jebel Hatta and seventh in the Dubai Duty Free. On Sunday she will find herself back in filly-and-mare company.

Hoping for an upset is Kawakami Princess, the winner of both the Japanese 1000 Guineas and the Japanese Oaks in 2006. Although she is winless since October of that year, she has been showing signs of life of late.

Aidan O'Brien added two more strings to his Epsom Derby bow at York on Thursday as Black Bear Island and Freemantle finished first and second in the Group 2, $227,000 Dante Stakes.

A full brother to the 2002 Epsom Derby winner, High Chaparral, Black Bear Island came from last to first with a late rush in traffic under Colm O'Donoghue to catch his pacesetting stablemate near the line for a head victory. Sans Frontieres was three-quarters of a length further back in third place, with the 2-1 favorite, Crowded House, a one-paced eighth.

Aidan O'Brien added two more strings to his Epsom Derby bow at York on Thursday as Black Bear Island and Freemantle finished first and second in the Group 2, $227,000 Dante Stakes. A full brother to 2002 Epsom Derby winner High Chaparral, Black Bear Island came from last to first with a late rush in traffic under Colm O'Donoghue to catch his pacesetting stablemate near the line for a head victory. Sans Frontieres was three-quarters of a length away in third with the 2-1 favorite Crowded House a one-paced eighth.

Crowded House joins a very crowded and talented Epsom Derby field on Thursday at York when he will start as the favorite in the Group 2, $226,000 Dante Stakes at 1 1/4 miles, 88 yards.

Overdose will miss his intended date in the Group 2 Temple Stakes at Haydock Park on May 23 due to a foot abscess, his owner, Zoltan Mikoczy, said on Monday.

Overdose, an undefeated Hungarian-trained sprinter, will not return to training until the end of the month, but is still planning to run at Royal Ascot, where the five-furlong King's Stand Stakes on Juneo16 or the six-furlong Golden Jubilee Stakes four days later are his targets.

One American's loss was another American's gain at Longchamp on Sunday as Elusive Wave, owned by Martin S. Schwartz, won the $533,000 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches, or French 1000 Guineas, while George Strawbridge's odds-on favorite Fantasia came home a one-paced third behind runner-up Tamazirte. Earlier, Silver Frost had scored an impressive two-length victory the $533,000 Poule d'Essai des Poulains, or French 2000 Guineas.

Gitano Hernando, a head second to South Easter after a troubled trip in the $105,000, Group 3 Dee Stakes at Chester on Friday, is headed to New York for the Belmont Stakes. Owned by Team Valor and trained by the British-based Italian Marco Botti, Gitano Hernando was checked early in the running of this 1 1/4-mile, 75-yard Epsom Derby trial and again at the three-eighths pole.

Break Run Out, the only non-Japanese-bred horse in a field of 18, may just be good enough to land the $1.8 million NHK Mile Cup at Tokyo on Sunday, when he will use that Grade 1 contest as a prep for the 1 1/2-mile Japanese Derby on May 31.