George Washington will have to find a way to lose if he is to be defeated in Saturday's $512,000 Irish 2000 Guineas, so overwhelming is his presence in The Curragh's one-mile classic.
Ladbrokes has installed George Washington, the impressive winner of Newmarket's 2000 Guineas, as the 4-9 favorite for the Irish Guineas. The ground is expected to be no better than soft, and possibly worse, and if George Washington is to be beaten, it may be the ground that proves his undoing.
Germance will go into the French Oaks undefeated, as she once again got the better of Sanaya to win the Group 1, $320,000 Group 1 Prix Saint-Alary at Longchamp on Sunday.
A Kentucky-bred daughter of Silver Hawk, Germance (4-5) proved a half-length winner of the 1 1/4-mile Oaks prep, which was a virtual repeat of her one-length victory over Sanaya in the Group 3 Prix Penelope at Saint-Cloud on April 10. Ioritz Mendizabal guided the Jean-Claude Rouget-trained filly under the line in 2:05.80 on a soft turf course.
Germance will go into the French Oaks undefeated as she once again got the better of Sanaya to win the $320,000 Group 1 Prix Saint-Alary at Longchamp on Sunday.
The 4-5 Kentucky-bred daughter of Silver Hawk proved a confident half-length winner of the 1 1/4-mile Oaks prep which proved a virtual repeat of her one-length victory over Sanaya in the Group 3 Prix Penelope at Saint-Cloud on April 10. Ioritz Mendizabal guided the Jean-Claude Rouget-trained filly under the line in 2:05.80 on a soft turf course.
Peeress defeated males in her season debut at Newbury on Saturday, when she rallied to win the Group 1, $375,000 Lockinge Stakes. The win was trainer Michael Stoute's seventh in the Lockinge.
A 5-year-old Pivotal mare, Peeress rallied under Kieren Fallon to lead the straight mile at the three-sixteenths pole, running out to a 1 3/4-length win over Majors Cast. Court Masterpiece was another 3 1/2 lengths back in third, and Soviet Song, the 7-2 choice, was fourth, beaten 6 3/4 lengths. Soft ground slowed the winning time to 1:44.57.
Sanaya is the selection in a very competitive Prix Saint-Alary at Longchamp on Sunday when the first four finishers from the Prix Penelope will meet in this key Group 1, 1 1/4-mile prep for the June 11 Prix de Diane, or French Oaks.
A daughter of Barathea trained by Alain de Royer-Dupre, Sanaya was a length second to the undefeated Germance, whom she faces again Sunday, in the Group 3 Penelope at Saint-Cloud on April 10. The same good-to-soft conditions will prevail at Longchamp on Sunday.
Kiss to Heaven rates as the solid choice in the $2 million Yushun Himba, or Japanese Oaks, at Tokyo on Sunday despite having drawn post 17 in a field of 18 fillies going 1 1/2 miles.
Winner of the one-mile Japanese 1000 Guineas on April 9, Kiss to Heaven had previously won the 1 1/8-mile Group 3 Flower Cup on March 18.
Threats may come from Yamato Marion, Broncone, and Across the Heaven, the first three home in the 1 1/4-mile Group 2 Flora Stakes on April 23 at this same Tokyo racecourse.
On paper, it will look like a mighty triumph for Septimus, but in reality his eight-length Dante Stakes victory at York on Thursday was a questionable affair that should not overly concern the connections of the Epsom Derby favorite, Visindar.
Majors Cast has been knocking on the door in some of the best mile races in the world during the past year. On Saturday at Newbury, he will have a golden opportunity to notch Group 1 laurels for the first time in a subpar renewal of the Lockinge Stakes.