Best Mate, winner of the last three runnings of the Cheltenham Gold Cup, made a winning seasonal debut at Exeter on Friday afternoon, but he didn't have things all his own way.
A field of four turned out for the inaugural running of the William Hill Chase, a two-mile, 7 1/2-furlong steeplechase created for the connections of Best Mate.
Ouija Board received horse of the year honors at the annual Cartier Awards dinner in London on Wednesday night.
Trained by Ed Dunlop to win the English Oaks, the Irish Oaks, and the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf, Ouija Board was also named top 3-year-old filly.
The Jonathan Pease-trained Bago, who beat the third-place Ouija Board by 1 1/2 lengths in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, was declared Europe's best 3-year-old colt.
Britain's leading steeplechaser, Best Mate, will be in action at Exeter Racecourse in Devonshire on Friday as he embarks on a new season in search of a fourth consecutive triumph in the Cheltenham Gold Cup in March.
A 9-year-old gelding, Best Mate is dropping into a conditions race for his seasonal debut, his first race since his most recent Gold Cup victory on March 18. But the two-mile and 7 1/2-furlong William Hill Chase has virtual Grade 1 cachet, as the field includes Sir Rembrandt, who finished just a half-length behind Best Mate in the Gold Cup at equal weights.
The California-based 6-year-old Total Impact was scheduled to arrive on Wednesday morning in Japan at Narita International Airport near Tokyo for his date in the Japan Cup Dirt. Upon landing, Total Impact will be vanned 26 miles to the Japan Racing Association's quarantine center at Shiroi, where he will remain until next Tuesday before making the 40-mile trip to Tokyo Racecourse.
Admire Groove succeeded against females where she had failed against males on Sunday with a victory at Kyoto, Japan, in the $1.85 million Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative Cup.
A 4-year-old daughter of Sunday Silence, Admire Groove prevailed by three-quarters of a length over Osumi Haraka. Ridden by Yutaka Take, she came from mid-pack in the 18-runner field of females as the 2.30-1 co-favorite, covering 1 3/8 miles in 2:13.60 on firm ground.
NEW YORK - Wilko, Ouija Board . . . and Whistlejacket.
The only two British horses to run in the Breeders' Cup at Lone Star Park, Wilko and Ouija Board both proved successful with victories in the Juvenile and the Filly and Mare Turf. On Sunday, another British horse, Whistlejacket, arrives in the Lone Star State, and he is an odds-on winner for anyone who makes the effort to come and see his peculiar display of Thoroughbred grace and power.
Moscow Burning and Total Impact are the only American-trained horses on the latest list of invitees from the Japan Racing Association to run in the Japan Cup and the Japan Cup Dirt at Tokyo Racecourse on Nov. 28.
Moscow Burning won the Sheepshead Day Handicap at Belmont in May, but more recently was fourth in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf. She has been invited to the $4.4 million Japan Cup, a 1 1/2-mile, Grade 1 turf contest. Total Impact, the Chilean-bred winner of the Hollywood Gold Cup, was invited to the 1 5/16-mile, $2.3 million Japan Cup Dirt.
Paita, a German-trained filly whose only previous race was in Italy, beat six colts in the Group 1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud, over 1 1/4 miles at Saint-Cloud in Paris on Saturday.
Paita settled quietly for jockey Andreas Suborics behind a slow pace and was not asked for anything until the straight. Suborics brought her with a steady run up the outside. She caught the hard-ridden Irish raider Yehudi halfway through the final furlong and won by three-quarters of a length with her rider sitting still.
Gateman, heartbreakingly close in his last four tries at the group race level, travels to Italy Sunday in search of an elusive Group 1 victory in the $370,000 Premio Roma at the Capannelle.
Trained in England by Mark Johnston, the 7-year-old Gateman was unlucky not to win the Group 2 Prix Dollar at Longchamp on Oct. 2, when he was beaten a neck by Touch of Land. Gateman is adept on both good and soft ground and can stay the Roma's 1 1/4 miles.
