Wednesday at York Racecourse in England, the great jockey Ryan Moore got City of Troy to relax on the lead and won the Group 1 International. Thursday at York, Moore could not get the filly Content to relax while racing several lengths off the pace, yet Content still closed strongly and won the Group 1 Yorkshire Oaks.
Skip to main content
Create Your DRF Account
New to DRF?
Everything you could possibly
need in one place
need in one place
Register
Don't have an account?
Register Here
DRF Past Performances
In a career that includes seven stakes wins, the Australian mare Fangirl has shown the versatility to win at distances ranging from six furlongs to about 1 1/8 miles.
Her preferred distance is seven furlongs, accounting for four of her eight career wins in 25 starts. The specialty has made Fangirl a heavy favorite to win the Group 1 Winx Stakes at seven furlongs at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney for the second consecutive year on Friday evening.
City of Troy finished ninth of 11 as the odds-on favorite beginning his 3-year-old campaign of 2024 in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket in early May. Had he done what he was supposed to do, win the only race he’s lost, City of Troy might now be mentioned as one of the modern greats of the European turf. He still might be, though an American dirt race is what could propel him into the pantheon.
The Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes on Friday at York is part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series, and two of its entrants already have Breeders’ Cup experience.
Big Evs, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint last fall, and Live In The Dream, fourth in the 2023 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, were among 14 horses to pass the final entry stage of the Nunthorpe, a Group 1 over five furlongs.
The two most successful trainers in the recent history of the Yorkshire Oaks, Aidan O’Brien and John Gosden, figure to have live runners in Thursday’s renewal of the Group 1 fixture.
Run over 1 1/2 miles at York Racecourse and open to females aged 3 and older, the Yorkshire Oaks is part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series, offering the winning connections automatic fees-paid entry into a Breeders’ Cup race – most naturally the Filly and Mare Turf, run at 1 3/8 miles this year – and travel expenses to Del Mar.
They are lining up in droves to face City of Troy in the International Stakes on Wednesday at York Racecourse in England. A dozen entered to oppose the Epsom Derby-winning 3-year-old trained in Ireland by Aidan O’Brien.
City of Troy as of Monday was priced at just over even-money by British bookmakers, a heavy favorite considering 12 others were declared for this Group 1, about 1 5/16-mile fixture.
Whistlejacket won the Group 1 Prix Morny on Sunday at Deauville Racecourse in France, and trainer Aidan O’Brien’s comments after the race suggested that connections are keen to capitalize on the benefits that accrue from winning a race in the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series.
Few modern Thoroughbreds reach international popularity the way the Australian sprinter Black Caviar did in 2012.
An 11-time Group 1 winner in Australia from November 2010 to May 2012, Black Caviar won her only career start in Britain with a dramatic victory in the Group 1 Diamond Jubilee Stakes at six furlongs at Royal Ascot in June of 2012.
Little stands between Mqse de Sevigne and a remarkable repeat on Sunday at Deauville Racecourse in France.
Mqse de Sevigne last summer won the Group 1 Prix Rothschild over one mile at Deauville before returning three weeks later to land the Group 1 Prix Jean Romanet at 1 1/4 miles. The mare won the Rothschild on July 28 with much more ease than a year ago, and anything close to a standard performance Sunday will land her a second Romanet.
Gatsby’s tipped his ability when he won his debut and finished a decent fourth as the even-money favorite in the Group 3 Pago Pago Stakes for Southern Hemisphere 2-year-olds in Australia in February and March.
After the loss, trainer Chris Waller opted to rest Gatsby’s and pass on starting the colt in the country’s lucrative races for the division in March and April.
Gatsby’s was rested through the Australian winter and has his third start in the $132,300 Rosebud Stakes at 5 1/2 furlongs for Southern Hemisphere 3-year-olds at Rosehill Gardens on Friday evening.