Sarafan's difficult assignment in Sunday's $1.8 million Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Sha Tin was not made any easier when he drew post 13 in a field of 14 international runners.
A 7-year-old Lear Fan gelding, Sarafan was beaten 6 1/4 lengths into 10th in the Dubai Duty Free on March 27. With the dead-heat winners of that race, Paolini and Right Approach, back for Sunday's race, Sarafan's chances of victory in this 1 1/4-mile Group 1 contest look slim.
Centaine, one of New Zealand's leading stallions for many years, died Monday at his longtime base of Waikato Stud near Te Rapa. He was 23.
An Australian-bred son of Century, Centaine was a Group 3 winner in his native land and was celebrated throughout the Southern Hemisphere as the sire of 57 stakes winners.
Gary Stevens rode three winners at Maisons-Laffitte on Tuesday, chief among them Valixir, who gave the American his first French stakes triumph in the listed Prix Matchem.
A 3-year-old son of Trempolino trained by Andre Fabre for the Lagardere Family, Valixir cruised to the lead at the three-eighths pole in the 1 1/8-mile Matchem and went on to a handy four-length tally over Red Tune. It was his third victory in four career starts, his only loss coming when he ran second by 1 1/2 lengths to the European juvenile champion Bago in the Group 3 Prix des Chenes last September.
Salford City benefited from a patient ride by Johnny Murtagh to win the Group 3 Greenham Stakes at Newbury on Saturday.
The David Elsworth-trained Salford City missed the break and was well behind in 10th before Murtagh angled him through a gap at the furlong pole, at which point the 3.30-1 winner accelerated to overtake the pacesetting Fokine for a 1 3/4-length victory. The time for the straight seven furlongs on good ground was 1:26.97.
Milk It Mick, the 3-1 favorite, failed to sustain his bid and came home fifth, beaten four lengths.
Yeats, the current favorite for the Epsom Derby, will face just three rivals Sunday in the Group 3 Ballysax Stakes, his 2004 debut at Leopardstown.
Yeats is by Sadler's Wells out of a mare who won a 1 3/4-mile maiden race, so this 1 1/4 miles will pose no threat stamina-wise. If there is a challenge, it may come from the in-form Dabiroun.
* The Japanese 2000 Guineas will have 18 starters, among them last year's two top-rated Japanese juveniles, Cosmo Sunbeam and Meisho Bowler.
Haafhd threw himself into the thick of the 2000 Guineas picture with a convincing five-length score over Three Valleys in the Group 3 Craven Stakes at Newmarket on Thursday.
Jockey Richard Hills put Haafhd (3-1) right on the lead for his father, trainer Barry Hills, and never looked back. The 2-1 favorite, Three Valleys, was rank in third early but was never going to catch the winner, who earned $51,733 for owner Hamdan Al Maktoum. Haafhd ran the straight mile in 1:38.33 on good ground.
Silca's Gift won the Nell Gwyn Stakes at Newmarket on Wednesday as England's 3-year-old fillies began to sort themselves out for the 1000 Guineas on May 2.
Sent off at 25-1, Silca's Gift recorded a three-length victory over the 50-1 Incheni in the Group 3 event, with the 14-1 Roseanna a length farther back in third. Trained by Mick Channon, Silca's Gift traveled the straight seven furlongs in 1:26.81 on good ground. The 4-1 favorite, Snow Goose, was a dull 11th in the 13-runner field.
Three Valleys is looking to get back on track at Newmarket on Thursday in the Group 3 Craven Stakes, a course-and-distance prep for the 2000 Guineas on May 1.
A Juddmonte-owned Roger Charlton trainee, Three Valleys was stripped of his Group 1 Middle Park Stakes victory because of a drug positive after he ran second in the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes last fall. He will face just five opponents in the Craven's straight mile, but he looks vulnerable to Fantastic View.
Snow Ridge was the most impressive of three winners in Godolphin's private trial races at Nad Al Sheba in Dubai on Tuesday. Winner of the Group 2 Royal Lodge Stakes at Ascot in September, Snow Ridge came from last to first Tuesday to win clearly over Duke of Venice, Bayeux, and Byron, getting a mile on turf in 1:37.40.
Simon Crisford, racing manager for Godolphin, said Snow Ridge could go in either the English 2000 Guineas on May 1 or the 1 5/16-mile Group 2 Dante Stakes May 12.