Choisir was denied a third consecutive British sprint prize on Thursday when Oasis Dream outdueled him in the Group 1 July Cup at Newmarket.

Macadamia made it three in a row with a one-length score over Waldmark in the Group 2 Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket on Wednesday.

Trained by James Fanshawe, Macadamia, a late-blooming 4-year-old daughter of Classic Cliche, was coming off a victory at Royal Ascot, where she had beaten 31 rivals in the one-mile Royal Hunt Cup Handicap. Her time as the 2-1 co-favorite for the Newmarket mile was 1:38.11 on good to firm ground. Fanshawe said that races like the Group 1 Nassau Stakes at Goodwood and the Group 2 Sun Chariot Stakes at Newmarket are on Macadamia's schedule.

Dai Jin rallied to a 1 1/4-length victory over Ransom O'War in the $658,000 German Derby at Hamburg on Sunday, rewarding his backers to the tune of 5-1.

Ridden by Olivier Peslier and trained by Andreas Schutz, who also saddled third-place Storm Trooper and fourth-place Next Gina (winner of the German Oaks), Dai Jin covered the distance in 2:33.47 on soft ground. The Group 1 Grosser Preis von Baden against older horses at Baden-Baden on Sept. 7 is his next major target.

A bumping incident within the first furlong cost Falbrav any chance of winning last month's Prince of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot. The 5-year-old Falbrav rebounded from that disappointing fifth-place finish to upset Nayef in Saturday's Group 1 Eclipse Stakes at Sandown Park.

NEW YORK - Last Saturday marked the 13th running of Argentina's Carreras de las Estrellas, or "Races of the Stars," the six Group 1 contests that are the Argentine equivalent of the Breeders' Cup, coming as they do at the end of the Southern Hemisphere season on the last weekend in June.

Dai Jin may have a slight edge over 19 rivals in a highly competitive renewal of the Group 1 German Derby at Hamburg on Sunday.

A British-bred son of Peintre Celebre out of a mare by the outstanding broodmare sire Shirley Heights, Dai Jin won by only a neck over North Lodge in the Group 2 Oppenheim-Union-Rennen, a 1 3/8-mile race June 15, but he appears more likely to stay the derby's 1 1/2 miles. Leading German trainer Andreas Schutz has imported Olivier Peslier from France for the ride.

Nayef, recent winner of the Prince of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot, heads a field of 15 in Saturday's Group 1 Eclipse Stakes at Sandown Park.

A son of Gulch trained by Marcus Tregoning, Nayef defeated Arlington Million probable Rakti by 2 1/2 lengths at Ascot, with Eclipse rivals Olden Times, Falbrav, Kaieteur, and Grandera finishing fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh. But his most dangerous rival may be the filly Islington.

DUBLIN - There are times when racing truly resembles the Sport of Kings rather than a mug's game, and that was the case at The Curragh Sunday when His Highness the Aga Khan chose to let Dalakhani and Alamshar, two top flight colts he bred and owns, compete against each other in the Budweiser Irish Derby for a winner's purse of roughly $850,000. Aidan O'Brien provided the chief opposition with six entries in the nine-horse field, but the overkill did little to improve Ballydoyle's disappointing record in classic races this season.

The Irish Derby victory of Alamshar over the odds-on Dalakhani on Sunday can be credited to last minute veterinary care imported from France, while Sulamani's flop in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud the same day left observors wondering what had gone wrong with the 7-10 favorite.

On Friday morning trainer John Oxx doubted whether Alamshar, the third-place finisher in the Epsom Derby, would be able to line up at the Curragh for the Irish Derby. The Key of Luck colt was suffering from a bad back and Oxx considered him only 50-50 for the $1.48 million classic.

Dalakhani and Sulamani, perhaps the two most prominent horses in Europe, will both be in action on Sunday in Group 1 races.

Dalakhani, owned by the Aga Khan, will journey from France to The Curragh for the $1.48 million , while Sulamani, from Godolphin Racing, will travel from Newmarket, England, to France for the $400,000 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud.