Fair Mix, a 5-year-old ex-handicapper, became Europe's first Group 1 winner of the year with a sharp victory in the Prix Ganay at Longchamp on Sunday.

Eishin Preston scored a repeat victory in the $1.8 million Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Sha Tin in Hong Kong on Sunday, rewarding his many backers to the tune of 7-5.

Eishin Preston, a Japanese invader trained by Shuji Kitahashi, had been winless in six starts since taking last year's event. His liking for Sha Tin's right-handed oval has always been evident, however, as he had also won the Hong Kong Mile here in 2001.

Falbrav, the best horse to emerge from Italy since the 1988 Arc de Triomphe winner, Tony Bin, begins his 5-year-old campaign at Longchamp on Sunday in the 1 5/16-mile Prix Ganay, the first European Group 1 race of the year.

An Irish-bred son of Fairy King, Falbrav capped his 2002 season with a hard-fought nose victory over Sarafan in the Japan Cup on Nov. 24, his third Group 1 victory of the year for trainer Luciano d'Auria. During the winter, his owners at Scuderia Rencati sent him to Newmarket, where he is now trained by Luca Cumani, who will give a leg up to Kieren Fallon.

Under the specter of the SARS epidemic looming in and around Hong Kong, the Queen Elizabeth II Cup will begin a revamped World Series Racing Championship at Sha Tin on Sunday.

With the Singapore Airlines International Cup at Kranji on May 17 having been canceled because of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, and the Dubai World Cup having been withdrawn from the series last month, the 1 1/4-mile Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup is now the first leg of a 12-race World Series.

The plans of Hamdan Al Maktoum and his trainer John Dunlop for the 1000 and 2000 Guineas were thrown into disarray on Tuesday when their first-call rider, Richard Hills, was given a 21-day suspension at Newcastle.

Hills incurred the wrath of the stewards for failing to ride out the finish aboard the favored Buthaina in a maiden race, enabling Swift Alchemist to get up and finish in a dead heat for first. The suspension means that Hills will miss not only Newmarket's Guineas meeting on May 2-4, but also the key Epsom Derby trial meetings at Chester and York later in the month.

DUBLIN - With the flat season in Great Britain gathering steam, bookies across the land breathed a sigh of relief when John Bailey, the notorious "Pencil Man," was sentenced to three years in prison for defrauding small, independent betting shops out of hundreds of thousands of pounds. Bailey, who has served two previous prison terms for similar scams and considers jail an occupational hazard, shouted in court that the proceedings were an "effing disgrace."

Dalakhani maintained both his unbeaten record and his high hopes for the French Derby with a victory in the Prix Greffulhe at Longchamp on Sunday, but Tomahawk was an unlucky fourth in his French 2000 Guineas prep, the Prix de Fontainebleau.

In taking the 1 5/16-mile Group 2 Greffulhe by a rather comfortable half length from Jipapibaquigrafo, Dalakhani was duplicating the victory of his sire Darshaan in the same race 19 years ago. A half brother to Daylami, Dalakhani will attempt to repeat Darshaan's French Derby triumph at Chantilly on June 1.

Dalakhani embarks on what his owner, the Aga Khan, hopes will be a glittering 3-year-old campaign on Sunday at Longchamp, where he meets four opponents in the Group 2 Prix Greffulhe.

A half-brother to eight-time Group 1 or Grade 1 winner Daylami, Dalakhani completed a perfect juvenile season with a Group 1 victory in the one-mile Criterium International at Saint-Cloud. The Greffulhe's 1 5/16 miles appear to be an ideal first step on the road to the 1 1/2-mile Prix du Jockey-Club (French Derby) at Chantilly on June 1.

Hurricane Alan stormed home to win the Group 3 Craven Stakes at Newmarket on Thursday, rewarding trainer Richard Hannon with his fourth victory in the Craven, a key course-and-distance prep for the 2000 Guineas.

Last of seven at the quarter pole, the Irish-bred Hurricane Alan was pulled off the rail by Jimmy Fortune but had to be angled back in at the eighth pole, from where he accelerated to defeat Lundy's Lane by 1 1/2 lengths. Sent off at 9-1, Hurricane Alan was timed in a modest 1:39.93 for the straight mile.

Olden Times made his return to the races a winning one at Newmarket on Wednesday with a 1 3/4-length victory over Desert Deer in the Group 3 Earl of Sefton Stakes.

Winner of the Group 1 Prix Jean Prat in 2001 and four times Group 1-placed, the 5-year-old Olden Times, a son of Darshaan, had not run since finishing third behind Keltos in last May's Lockinge Stakes. Trained by John Dunlop, Olden Times, the 5-2 co-favorite, covered the straight 1 1/8 miles in 1:52.58 on good to firm ground. Newbury's Lockinge Stakes on May 17 will be Olden Times's next target.