Nebraska Tornado booked a ticket to the Breeders' Cup Mile with her victory Sunday in the Prix du Moulin de Longchamp over a field of top-class milers.
A 3-year-old Storm Cat filly trained by Andre Fabre, Nebraska Tornado added the prestigious Group 1 mile to her June victory in the 1 5/16-mile Prix de Diane, or French Oaks. Fabre has always maintained that a mile is the best distance for Nebraska Tornado despite her sixth-place finish in last month's Prix Jacque le Marois.
High Chaparral held off the late challenge of an unlucky Falbrav by a neck to win a controversial running of the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown on Saturday.
High Chaparral benefited from the strong gallop set first by his pacemaker, France, and then by Moon Ballad. Driving down the outside to take the lead approaching the final furlong, High Chaparral edged left and then just held off the late thrust of Falbrav, who was attempting to sneak up the inside rail.
The Group 1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp on Sunday could well be the European season's defining race at a mile.
Nine of the 14 entries in the $327,000 contest are Group 1 winners, among them Breeders' Cup Mile candidates Domedriver and Refuse to Bend. Trainer Pascal Bary has decided to go with Domedriver, the defending BC Mile champ, instead of Six Perfections, the filly who beat him by a head in the Prix Jacques le Marois at Deauville on Aug. 17. She will run next in either the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes Sept. 27 or the Prix de la Foret on Oct 12.
Alamshar, High Chaparral, Falbrav, and Moon Ballad will meet in the annual battle royale that is the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown on Saturday.
This key Breeders' Cup prep, won in recent years by Fantastic Light, Daylami, and Pilsudski, has come up stronger than ever. With a value of $1,085,000, the 1 1/4-mile Group 1 contest should have a major impact on both the Turf and the Classic.
Oasis Dream will use the $353,000 Haydock Park Sprint Cup at six furlongs on Saturday as a springboard to the Breeders' Cup Mile.
Winner over Australian speed demon Choisir in the six-furlong July Cup, and the handy winner of the five-furlong Nunthorpe Stakes at York on Aug. 21, Oasis Dream appears to have a class edge on his nine Sprint Cup rivals.
Whipper's unexpected victory in the Prix Morny, Deauville's most important race for 2-year-olds, gave trainer Robert Collet his first Group 1 triumph since 1999.
Always close up, Whipper, a son of Miesque's Son, collared the favored Much Faster inside the final furlong and was going away at the line under Sebastien Maillot to record a two-length victory at 26-1. Much Faster, who lost for the first time in five starts, held second by a short head from Denebola. The time for the straight six furlongs on good to soft ground was 1:14.00.
Much Faster, an undefeated 2-year-old daughter of leading European first-year sire Fasliyev, seeks a Group 1 title in the $271,000 Prix Morny at six furlongs on Sunday, the closing day of Deauville's showcase August meeting.
Trained by Pascal Bary, Much Faster has progressed steadily since her debut tally in a Chantilly maiden on May 23, defeating colts in the listed Prix La Fleche, the Group 3 Prix du Bois, and the Group 2 Prix Robert Papin.
Europeans rarely start thinking about the Breeders' Cup until after Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe weekend, but already we have an idea of some of the leading foreign invaders who may be lining up for the Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita on Oct. 25.
The announcement that Sulamani will remain in America to prepare for the Breeders' Cup Turf with a run in the Turf Classic at Belmont Sept. 27 has flabbergasted some European observers. Godolphin's decision means that it very likely will not have a runner in the Arc, a race they have won the last two years, with Marienbard and Sakhee.
Oasis Dream set York ablaze on Thursday with an overpowering triumph in the five-furlong Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes.
The speed and superiority of his victory was such that it prompted trainer John Gosden to announce that Oasis Dream's ultimate goal this season would be the Breeders' Cup. But the race Gosden has chosen for Khalid Abdullah's 3-year-old son of Green Desert is not the Sprint, but the Mile.
YORK, England - Islington won her second successive Yorkshire Oaks at York on Tuesday. A 4-year-old daughter of Sadler's Wells, Islington ran in third position behind the pacesetting L'Ancresse through the first 1 1/4 miles of the Group 1 Oaks, then pounced under Kieren Fallon to lead at the three-sixteenths pole. The odds-on favorite, Islington was ridden out for a one-length victory over the 18-1 Ocean Silk, with 25-1 Summitville third, another three lengths back. The winning time for the nearly 1 1/2 miles on good to firm ground was 2:27.44.