Sheikh Mohammed al Maktoum's Godolphin Racing has installed a Tapeta artificial surface at the stable's Al Quoz training center in Dubai, according to Michael Dickinson, the American-based trainer whose company manufactures the surface.

The artificial surface was installed over the summer, and the track opened for training on Sunday, Dickinson said Wednesday.

"We're delighted and honored to be part of the operation, and hope it will have a positive result," Dickinson said.

Desert Orchid, the much-loved winner of the 1989 Cheltenham Gold Cup, died peacefully at age 27 at Egerton Stud Stables in Newmarket, England, on Monday morning.

Delta Blues and Pop Rock gave Japanese trainer Katsuhiko Sumii a historic one-two finish in the $3.8 million Melbourne Cup Handicap on Tuesday in front of 106,691 aghast Australian onlookers at Flemington Racecourse.

The Japanese duo dueled through the last 100 yards of the two-mile Group 1 contest, with the 16-1 Delta Blues, who was never worse than third, holding on for the win by a short head under Yasunari Iwata despite being carried left by the Damien Oliver-ridden Pop Rock, the 5-1 co-favorite. It was 4 1/2 lengths back to third-place Maybe Better.

Cherry Mix provided Sheikh Mohammed with some consolation for the defeat of Bernardini in the Breeders' Cup Classic when he galloped to a four-length victory in the Group 1, $407,000 Premio Roma at the Capannelle on Sunday.

NEW YORK - Get Bernardini!

Sounds like the title of a gangster movie, but it is, in fact, a major subplot in Saturday's Breeders' Cup Classic.

Aidan O'Brien served notice on Sunday that his Ballydoyle stable is firing on all cylinders as his Mount Nelson upset the heavily favored Spirit One in the $320,000 Criterium International at Saint-Cloud.

Mount Nelson corralled the pacesetting Spirit One at the eighth pole and held on gamely under Jamie Heffernan to prevail by a head. O'Brien also trains the third-place finisher, Yellowstone.

Coupled with Yellowstone, Mount Nelson started at 10.90-1 and covered the mile on good to soft ground in 1:41.30.

With the Breeders' Cup less than a week away, Aidan O'Brien served notice on Sunday that his Ballydoyle stable is firing on all cylinders as his Mount Nelson upset the heavily favored Spirit One in the $320,000 Criterium International at Saint-Cloud.

Daiwa Major threw down the gauntlet to his more glamorous rivals Deep Impact and Heart's Cry at Tokyo on Sunday with a solid victory in the $2.1 million Grade 1 Autumn Tenno Sho

A pair of Group 3 winners, Spirit One and Makaan, hold a decided edge at Saint-Cloud on Sunday in the $317,000 Criterium International, a Group 1 mile for 2-year-old colts and fillies.

Spirit One is making a belated run for European juvenile honors. He followed an eight-length cakewalk in the listed one-mile Criterium du Fonds European de l'Elevage at Deauville on Aug. 19 with an equally impressive six-length score in the one-mile Prix des Chenes at Longchamp on Sept. 16. Dominique Boeuf retains the ride.

The $2.1 million, 1 1/4-mile Autumn Tenno Sho at Tokyo on Sunday will be without the star quality of either Deep Impact or Heart's Cry, but Dance in the Mood and Daiwa Major are more-than-capable understudies in this first leg of Japan's fall triple crown for older horses.