Russian Rhythm makes her much-anticipated 4-year-old debut at Newbury on Saturday in the $355,000 Lockinge Stakes, a one-mile Group 1 race for older horses.

Trained by Michael Stoute, Russian Rhythm was victorious last year in the 1000 Guineas and the Coronation Stakes going a mile, as well as the 1 1/4-mile Nassau Stakes, all Group 1 contests, before finishing a very good second to Falbrav in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes. In the straight mile of the Lockinge she will face 14 opponents, but none appears to be in her class.

North Light was a brave winner of the Group 2 Dante Stakes at York on Wednesday, holding Rule of Law off by a half-length in his seasonal debut off a 7 1/2-month layoff.

Ridden by Kieren Fallon, North Light overtook the Godolphin-owned Rule of Law to lead halfway through the 1 1/4-mile, 85-yard contest. The 6-1 North Light, a Michael Stoute trainee, was timed in 2:15.68 on good to soft ground. He will now head to the Epsom Derby on June 6.

An improving Prospect Park rates a narrow edge Thursday at Longchamp in the Group 2 Prix Hocquart, the next-to-last trial for the June 6 French Derby.

Prospect Park, trained by Carlos Laffon-Parias, took the listed 1 5/16-mile Prix de Courcelles at Longchamp on April 4. Bred for the 12 furlongs of the Hocquart, he will have Olivier Peslier in the saddle, and that combination should be enough to turn back Cherry Mix and Fast and Furious, the second- and third-place finishers in the Group 2 Prix Noailles.

Yeats completed his preparations for the Epsom Derby with a 1 1/2-length victory over Relaxed Gesture in the Group 2 Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial at Leopardstown in Ireland on Sunday.

Yeats will have his final tune-up for the Epsom Derby on Sunday when he attempts to extend his unbeaten streak to three in Leopardstown's Group 2 Derrinstown Stud Stakes.

An Aidan O'Brien-trained son of Sadler's Wells, Yeats was not tested in either his one-mile maiden score last September or his 10-length cakewalk against two outclassed foes in the Group 3 Ballysax Stakes on April 18. In the 1 1/4-mile Derrinstown, he will face just four rivals, among them the distant third-place finisher in the Ballysax, Lord Admiral.

NEW YORK - The Gary Stevens Breeches Affair, or the Incident at Longchamp Concerning the State of Affairs Between the United States and France, had a happy ending last week, but the resolution was not forthcoming until a few pulse beats had been raised well above normal.

In an amicable gesture of entente cordiale between his native land, America, and his temporary domicile, France, Stevens had been wearing both American and French flag decals on his riding pants. On one hip up near his waist he wore the Stars and Stripes; on the other, the Tricolore.

Red Lancer underlined the weakness of Epsom Derby candidates with a five-length victory in the Group 3 Chester Vase on Thursday.

Picked out of a $9,200 Wolverhampton claiming race on dirt in November by trainer Richard Price, Red Lancer is ineligible for the Derby, as he is a gelding, like recent Sandown Classic Trial winner African Dream. He enjoyed the soft ground at Chester, slamming Privy Seal, who had finished 3 1/2 lengths second to African Dream at Sandown. The time for the 1 1/2 miles, 66 yards was 2:44.33.

Delfos was a handy 2 1/2-length winner at Saint-Cloud Wednesday of the Prix La Force, a Group 3 contest that has produced a number of French Derby winners in recent years.

After a conversation Monday with the president of French racing's ruling body, Gary Stevens has agreed to stop wearing decals of the French and American flags on his riding breeches. According to a report in The Racing Post, Stevens threatened Sunday to leave France after being told by Longchamp officials to remove the decals, which he had been wearing on his breeches since arriving in France on March 29 to ride for trainer Andre Fabre.

Attraction maintained her undefeated record with a game half-length victory in the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket on Sunday in her first start since July 8.

The victory of Attraction, a 6-for-6 crooked-leg daughter of Efisio, was all the more remarkable in that she had suffered a cracked bone in her foot in September. But trainer Mark Johnston had her ready. She led after the first furlong of the straight mile, and was ridden out to victory by Kevin Darley, holding safe the challenge of Sundrop, a Sunday Silence filly from the Godolphin stable.