Cape Columbine, a half-sister to world-class sprinter Cape of Good Hope, preps for the classic 1000 Guineas at Newmarket on Wednesday in the seven-furlong Group 3 Nell Gwyn Stakes.

A daughter of Diktat trained by David Elsworth, Cape Columbine won a maiden race in her second start, winning a $185,000 restricted allowance going six furlongs at Newmarket on Oct. 14.

Hedgehunter gave the bookies a heavy beating on Saturday as the 7-1 favorite powered his way to a 14-length victory in a drama-packed Grand National Steeplechase Handicap at Aintree.

Only five horses will line up at Longchamp for Sunday's Group 2 Prix Noailles, the first major prep for the June 5 French Derby.

Shortened this year from 1 3/8 miles to 1 5/16 miles to accommodate the French Derby, which has been shortened from 1 1/2 miles to 1 5/16 miles, the $154,000 Noailles will be run on ground that is expected to be very heavy.

NEW YORK - The Royal Ascot meeting running at York and a French Derby cut in distance to 1 5/16 miles are the newfangled features of a nascent European racing season that will include the return of equine luminaries Bago, Doyen, Ouija Board, Soviet Song, and Attraction.

The erection of a new grandstand at the venerable Ascot required the transfer of all of the track's meetings to other racecourses this year. The June 14-18 Royal Meeting, for example, will be squeezed into York, 200 miles north of its usual home.

Britain's annual exercise in courage and stamina, the $1.31 million Grand National Steeplechase Handicap, will be run Saturday at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool over 30 of the world's most daunting fences covering a grueling 4 1/2 miles.

The highweight in the full field of 40 is Le Coudray at 168 pounds, but he has been off form of late. The 10-1 defending champ, Amberleigh House, whose trainer, Ginger McCain, sent out Red Rum to three Grand National triumphs in the 1970's, has not won since his Aintree heroics of a year ago.

Pellegrino, winner of the Hollywood Turf Cup, will be the lone American challenger in an outstanding renewal of the Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Sha Tin Racecourse in Hong Kong on April 24. The race is the first leg of the World Series Racing Championship.

Delfos landed his third group race victory and his first at the Group 2 level Sunday with a hard-fought short-neck tally over Short Pause in the $155,000 Prix d'Harcourt at Longchamp.

Ridden by Miguel Blancpain for trainer Carlos Laffon-Parias, Delfos prevailed after holding off an eighth-mile challenge from Short Pause. He ran the 1 1/4 miles on heavy ground in 2:13.20 as the 3.40-1 second choice in a field of seven. Samando was up to take third, while the 7-5 favorite, Lord du Sud, was a one-paced fifth, although just one length behind the winner.

Silent Witness added his name to a pantheon of greats that includes Ribot, Citation, and Cigar by winning his 16th race without a defeat in the $576,900 Chairman's Sprint Prize at Sha Tin on Sunday.

Samando, Lord du Sud, Pont d'Or, and Levitski, the closely bunched first four home in the Group 3 Prix Exbury at Saint-Cloud on March 10, renew rivalry in the $155,000 Group 2 Prix d'Harcourt over the same 1 1/4-mile distance at Longchamp on Sunday.

The preference, however, is for a new face: Delfos, a son of Green Tune trained by Carlos Laffon-Parias. Delfos won the Group 3 Prix du Prince d'Orange over the Harcourt course and distance in his last outing, on Sept. 18.

Silent Witness has been set a task in Sunday's Group 1 Chairman's Sprint Prize at Sha Tin, where he will go after his 16th career victory without a loss.

Success in the $576,900 dash would equal the modern records of Citation and Cigar for consecutive victories. Two factors have arisen that will make the job of Silent Witness, a Tony Cruz-trained son of El Moxie, a little more difficult than usual.