Coolmore Stud, which has a major breeding farm in Australia, has privately purchased a half-interest in Australian two-time Group 1 winner Haradasun.

The 3-year-old colt is by Fusaichi Pegasus, also owned by Coolmore.

Vengeance of Rain was crowned Hong Kong's Horse of the Year for the 2006-07 season by the Hong Kong Jockey Club on Monday despite have suffered defeat twice at the hands of Viva Pataca, who was named champion middle-distance horse.

The Japanese word for "thank you," arigato, has been ringing in the ears of Hollywood Park officials the last few years. Japanese-trained fillies have capitalized on the opportunities provided by the track's racing secretary, Martin Panza, by dominating two of the tracks signature events: the American Oaks and the CashCall Mile.

Fresh from victory in the French Oaks at Chantilly on June 10, West Wind will take on older fillies and mares for the first time at the Curragh on Saturday in the Group 1, $336,000 Pretty Polly Stakes.

Admire Moon outdueled Meisho Samson to win a sterling renewal of the Grade 1, $2omillion Takarazuka Kinen at Hanshin on Sunday in a race in which the first two probably earned tickets to hunt bigger game in Europe later this year.

Mountain High brought Mandesha's four-race winning streak to an end on Sunday with a convincing victory over the European champion filly in the Group 1, $538,640 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud in France.

Virtually all of Japan's leading horses will line up at Hanshin on Sunday in the $2 million Takarazuka Kinen.

Dubai Duty Free winner Admire Moon, Japanese champion miler Daiwa Major, champion 3-year-old filly Kawakami Princess, Melbourne Cup runner-up Pop Rock, and the last two winners of the Japanese Derby, Vodka and Meisho Samson, make this 1 3/8-mile Grade 1 contest worth getting excited about.

Mandesha puts her glittering four-race winning streak on the line at Saint-Cloud on Sunday when she takes on males for the first time in the Group 1, $535,000 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud.

A winner at the Grand Prix distance of 1 1/2 miles at the Group 1 level when she landed the Prix Vermeille in September, Mandesha was less than brilliant in her seasonal debut on May 30, when she won the Group 2 Prix Corrida against fillies and mares over the same course and distance she will encounter on Sunday.

NEW YORK - The victory of Rags to Riches in the Belmont Stakes is cause for celebration for anyone who likes a good story as well as for those few of us in this country who still believe that stamina is at least as important as speed on the Thoroughbred resume.

As the winner of an Indy 500 and a Formula One champion, Mario Andretti had a reputation as a race car driver with his foot always pressed firmly to the floor. In Miss Andretti, Australia has produced a sprinter who takes after him in more than name alone.

The winner of the Group 2 King's Stand Stakes on Royal Ascot's opening day Tuesday, the speed-loving Miss Andretti will be wheeled right back on Saturday for the Group 1, $697,000 Golden Jubilee Stakes, and anyone looking for a way to beat her and her 7-4 antepost price had better adjust their thinking cap.