Lonhro will put his five-race winning streak on the line in the Group 1, $2.1 million Cox Plate at Moonee Valley in Australia on Saturday. Trained by John Hawkes, Lonhro had a perfect prep for the race over the same 1 1/4-mile distance of the Cox Plate in the Group 1 Yalimba Stakes.

Perhaps the most dangerous of Lonhro's seven rivals is the Argentine-bred Paraca. Winner of the South African Fillies Guineas, she has been training well for Andrew Balding but faces a tough task against Lonhro, as do recent minor stakes winners Clangalang and Shower of Roses.

Darryll Holland, the regular rider of Breeders' Cup hopeful Falbrav, capped a big weekend in Europe on Sunday when he rode Pearl of Love to a half-length victory over Spirit of Desert in the Group 1 Gran Criterium at Milan.

Holland had ridden another 2-year-old, Milk It Mick, to a 33-1 upset of the Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket on Saturday. In Milan, Pearl of Love, a Peintre Celebre colt trained in England by Mark Johnston, was the 4-5 choice off his second to One Cool Cat in the National Stakes. He was clocked in 1:40.10 for the straight mile on good to firm ground.

Rakti (11-1) and Milk It Mick (33-1) were surprise winners of the two Group 1 races on Champions Day at Newmarket on Saturday.

Two more longshots, Carnival Dancer (33-1) and Indian Creek (25-1), finished second and third in a 12-runner renewal of the Emirates Airlines Champion Stakes. Rakti ran the straight 1 1/4 miles on good-to-firm turf in 2:03.34.

Aidan O'Brien is hoping that the inconsistent Black Sam Bellamy will have one of his good days in Milan on Sunday when he faces four rivals in the Group 1 Gran Premio del Jockey Club and Coppa d'Oro, a 1 1/2-mile contest worth $300,000.

He will be opposed by the Clive Brittain-trained Warrsan, a Group 1, 2, and 3 winner at the distance this spring. Ekraar, whose best effort was a third-place finish to Sulamani in the Dubai Sheema Classic, stands a good chance of cracking the first three.

The United States leads the way in foreign nominees for both the Japan Cup and the Japan Cup Dirt. The Japan Racing Association announced Friday that 24 of the 49 foreign-based horses named to the $4.32 million Japan Cup are trained in America, as are 18 of the 25 foreign nominees to the $2.25 million Japan Cup Dirt.

Russian Rhythm can further confirm the class of Europe's 3-year-old fillies if she can win the $667,000 Champion Stakes at Newmarket on Saturday.

The winner of the 1000 Guineas and the Coronation Stakes at a mile against her own sex and age group, the Michael Stoute-trained Russian Rhythm advanced to take the Group 1 Nassau Stakes against older fillies before her bold second to Falbrav in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, her first try against older colts.

Etoile Montante came on late to record a 1 1/2-length victory over Royal Millennium in the Group 1 Prix de la Foret at Longchamp on Sunday.

A 3-year-old daughter of Miswaki, Etoile Montante gave her owner, Khalid Abdullah, his 18th Group or Grade 1 triumph of the year. Coupled as part of a 1-2 Juddmonte Farms entry with fourth-place Intercontinental, her victory was one of five on the day for rider Olivier Peslier. The time for the seven furlongs on very soft ground was 1:22.60.

French fillies like Six Perfections and Nebraska Tornado have played a major role in European Group 1 competition this year. Sunday's Prix de la Foret at Longchamp could be the setting for another victory by the females over their male rivals.

Etoile Montante and Intercontinental head the filly challenge in the $176,000 seven-furlong race in which five of their nine challengers are British-trained colts, horses, or geldings.

Ever heard of the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities, also known as the IFHA?

If your answer is no, you are not alone. Unlike the Jockey Club, the British Horseracing Board, the Irish Turf Club, France-Galop, the Japan Racing Association, the Hong Kong Jockey Club or the Emirates Racing Association, IFHA toils in anonymity.

Yet it has been around since 1967, and this week completed its 37th annual conference in Paris, at which all of the above named organizations were represented.

Dalakhani, the winner of last Sunday's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, has been officially retired to stand at the Aga Khan's Gilltown Stud in County Kildare, Ireland.

A 3-year-old colt bred and owned by the Aga Khan, Dalakhani is by Darshaan out of the Miswaki mare Daltawa. He won 8 of 9 career starts, losing only to another Aga Khan homebred, Alamshar, in the Irish Derby.

Trained in France by Alain de Royer-Dupre, Dalakhani retires with earnings of $2,517,834.Khan's Arc winners, Sinndar.