Notable Speech rebounded from a disappointing performance at Royal Ascot in June, and the absence of a leading rival, to win his second Group 1 race of 2024 in Wednesday’s $1.28 million Sussex Stakes at Goodwood Racecourse in Britain.
Benefiting from a stalking trip, Notable Speech, who paid $7.20 in American pools, rallied from third in a field of five to win by 1 1/2 lengths over 6-1 Maljoom.
The win gave Notable Speed a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Del Mar on Nov. 2.
The Sussex Stakes at the Glorious Goodwood Festival marks a departure point for 3-year-old milers, the sophomores leaving age-restricted competition to set out in the world of weight-for-age racing against older rivals. Few accord the older set much chance on Wednesday in the Group 1 Sussex.
Opera Singer has never been tried at 1 1/4 miles, never faced older fillies and mares, and has not won since October.
Despite all that, Opera Singer is an early favorite with British bookmakers to win Thursday’s Group 1 Nassau Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 1/4 miles at Goodwood Racecourse in Britain.
Mqse De Sevigne won the Prix Rothschild at Deauville Racecourse on Sunday for the second year in a row, and this time it wasn’t that close.
Always moving like a winner, Mqse De Sevigne turned a pacestalking trip under Alexis Pouchin into a one-length Rothschild victory, her third win a row and fifth in six races. Her lone defeat during that span was a second-place finish behind Inspiral in the Sun Chariot Stakes last fall.
Goliath didn’t merely pull a 25-1 upset Saturday at Ascot in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, he crushed his eight rivals, winning, eased up, by 2 1/4 lengths over the filly Bluestocking.
Left bobbing in Goliath’s wake was favored Auguste Rodin, who faded to fifth after coming up the fence and challenging for the lead turning into the Ascot homestretch. Expectations ran much higher for Auguste Rodin, though the colt improved considerably upon his 10th-place showing in the 2023 King George.
Mqse de Sevigne won her last two races, including the Group 1 Prix d’Ispahan over males going 1 1/8 miles, and last August captured the Group 1 Prix Jean Romanet going 1 1/4 miles. Even so, a Sunday cut-back to one mile in the Group 1 Prix Rothschild on Sunday at Deauville Racecourse won’t keep the mare from winning her third race in a row and fourth from her last five starts.
Auguste Rodin holds early favoritism for the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes on Saturday at Ascot – and could hardly run worse than he did as the race favorite a year ago.
Coming off wins in the Derby at Epsom and the Irish Derby, Auguste Rodin no-showed in the 2023 King George, finishing last of 10 as the 9-4 favorite in the Group 1, 1 1/2-mile fixture. On Thursday his antepost odds are 5-4, a considerably shorter price than a year ago, and a dicey proposition on a colt prone to clunkers who faces at least two foes capable of beating him.
In the hours before Saturday’s Group 1 Irish Oaks at the Curragh in Ireland, the fixed odds on the British shipper You Got To Me fell steadily with European bookmakers.
She went from 20-1 to a final price of 15-2. The gamble was successful.
You Got To Me, who paid $20.40 in American pools, closed from the middle of the field of 14 to reach the front in the final sixteenth, avoiding the trouble that plagued second-place finisher Content.
At the age of 5, the New Zealand-bred gelding War Eternal is blooming.
In the last 45 days, War Eternal has won two of his last three starts in Australia, leading to his first appearance in a stakes since October 2022 in the $134,000 Winter Challenge Stakes at Rosehill Gardens in Sydney on Friday evening.
War Eternal was the 2-1 favorite in early betting on Thursday in a field of 12, followed by King of the Castle (3-1) and Tamerlane (7-2).
She may only be the winner of a maiden race, but Lope de Lilas won in such an appealing manner in May that she is rated among the contenders for Saturday’s Group 1 Irish Oaks for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/2 miles at the Curragh in Ireland.
Lope de Lilas has a trainer well known for success in preparing inexperienced horses for major stakes. Willie Mullins, the world’s leading jump racing trainer, has frequently had a presence in leading flat races around the world in recent years, including the Melbourne Cup and occasional runners in staying races in the United States.
