Hurricane Run, second in the French Derby as the 7-10 favorite, has been purchased by Michael Tabor and Coolmore Stud for an undisclosed price less than a week before his next run in Sunday's Irish Derby.
Cape of Good Hope landed a second international Group 1 sprint prize this year with a record-setting performance in the $457,000 Golden Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot at York on Saturday.
After finishing fourth, two lengths behind the victorious Chineur in Tuesday's King's Stand Stakes at five furlongs, Cape of Good Hope was wheeled right back by trainer David Oughton in this six-furlong race, just as he was last year when he was second and third in the same two races.
On a day that Apollo would have deemed perfect on Mount Parnassus, Divine Proportions brushed elbows with the immortals at Chantilly last Sunday when she cruised to victory in the Prix de Diane, a race aptly named for the ancient Greek goddess of the hunt.
Blues and Royals, Godolphin's superb UAE Derby winner who failed to make it to the Kentucky Derby because of a respiratory infection, was euthanized June 10 after a bout with colitis.
Godolphin's New York trainer, Richard Mettee, confirmed a report that had appeared on the Godolphin website, saying "complications arose from Blues and Royals' colitis condition. He was put down last Friday."
There's no doubt that Westerner is the best stayer in the world after he captured the 2 1/2-mile Ascot Gold Cup at York on Thursday to give France its first win in the great marathon since Sagaro won the race for the third straight year in 1977.
Victory in the Group 1, $410,000 Gold Cup was hardly unexpected as Westerner went off as the 7-4 favorite. Although jockey Olivier Peslier had to ask for something extra to hold off the challenge of the 33-1 longshot Distinction, who, like Westerner, is a son of Danehill, the winning margin of a neck may have flattered the runner-up.
That Westerner is the best stayer in the world there can be no doubt after he landed the 2 1/2-mile Ascot Gold Cup at York on Thursday to give France its first win in the great marathon since 1977 when Sagaro completed his famous three-timer.
Azamour secured his second career Royal Ascot Group 1 victory on Wednesday, this one coming at York in the $630,000 Prince of Wales's Stakes. The win came at the expense of last year's Eclipse Award-winner as top turf female, Ouija Board, who lost a shoe in finishing a well-beaten seventh.
Shamardal won his second major Group 1 race in nine days with a shockingly easy victory in the St. James's Palace Stakes on Tuesday's opening day of Royal Ascot at York, England, while French invaders Valixir and Chineur scored minor upsets in two other big races.