Vinnie Roe made history at The Curragh on Saturday, winning his third straight Irish St. Leger. Under jockey Pat Smullen, Vinnie Roe (2-1) was sent to the lead a furlong and a half from home in the 1 3/4-mile race and was never seriously threatened. He won by a length, with Gamut holding second over the onrushing Powerscourt.
Final time for the 1 3/4 miles was 2:58.90. Winning trainer Dermot Weld said he was considering the Arc de Triomphe for Vinnie Roe's next start.
Dalakhani and Ange Gabriel highlight Longchamp's Arc preview day on Sunday when three course and distance preps for Europe's 1 1/2-mile championship event will be run.
The Group 2, $122,000 Prix Niel for 3-year-olds features a clash between French Derby winner Dalakhani and Epsom Derby winner Kris Kin. Since suffering the only loss of his career when second by a half-length to Alamshar in the Irish Derby on June 29, Dalakhani has been on vacation. But trainer Alain de Royer-Dupre is sure to have him ready for this while leaving something in the tank for the Arc on Oct. 5.
Switching a horse form dirt to turf is often a means of discovering what makes a racehorse tick. Going in the opposite direction, however, is a less traveled road shrouded in mystery.
It pays to become aware of how and why a horse from Europe might improve when switched from turf to dirt. The number of European race courses with dirt tracks is increasing, and with European breeders sensitive to the American market, we are seeing a marked increase in the number of Europeans coming to America to run on dirt.
One Cool Cat and Pearl of Love meet at The Curragh on Sunday in the National Stakes, a seven-furlong Group 1 contest that could produce the leader of the European 2-year-old division.
One Cool Cat, the highest-rated juvenile in Europe by dint of his victory over Old Deuteronomy and Three Valleys in the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes going six furlongs at The Curragh on Aug. 10, will face a stern challenge from Pearl of Love, who was a 3 1/2-length winner over Tumblebrutus in the Group 2 Futurity Stakes over the same seven furlongs as the National.
Dalakhani and Ange Gabriel highlight Longchamp's Arc preview day on Sunday when three course and distance preps for Europe's 1 1/2-mile championship event will be run.
The Group 2, $122,000 Prix Niel for 3-year-olds features a clash between French Derby winner Dalakhani and Epsom Derby winner Kris Kin. Since suffering the only loss of his career when second by a half-length to Alamshar in the Irish Derby on June 29, Dalakhani has been on vacation but trainer Alain de Royer-Dupre is sure to have him ready for this while leaving something in the tank for the Arc on Oct. 5.
Doncaster's $636,000 St. Leger Stakes, first run in the year America declared its independence from Great Britain, has drawn an evenly matched field of 13.
Saturday's 228th running of the 1 3/4-mile, 132-yard Group 1 classic is the third leg of the British Triple Crown but neither Refuse to Bend nor Kris Kin, winners of the first two legs, the 2000 Guineas and the Epsom Derby, is in the lineup.
DUBLIN, Ireland - Few trainers own a racetrack the way Aidan O'Brien owns Leopardstown, near Dublin, the site of last Saturday's Irish Champion Stakes, a $1 million-plus Group 1 race for 3-year-olds and up. O'Brien has produced winners there at a 29 percent rate since 1999, more than double that of his closest competitor, Dermot Weld, and the rate jumps to an astounding 41 percent when Michael Kinane is in the saddle.
Trainer Luca Cumani has filed an appeal with the Irish Turf Club against a Saturday ruling by the Leopardstown stewards, who allowed High Chaparral to remain the winner of the Irish Champion Stakes over the Cumani-trained runner-up, Falbrav.
High Chaparral, trained by Aidan O'Brien and ridden by Michael Kinane, withstood both a stewards' inquiry and a claim of foul by Falbrav's rider, Darryll Holland, after having crossed the line a neck in front of Falbrav.
Saturday's action in Europe produced some changes among the possible European runners in the Breeders' Cup.
Falbrav, the unlucky runner-up in Saturday's Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown, will run in either the Breeders' Cup Turf or the Champion Stakes at Newmarket on Oct. 18 and then in the Hong Kong Cup.
In the Turf he would probably get his preferred firm ground, but at Newmarket he would be running over his favorite distance of 1 1/4 miles.