Elusive City, the unbeaten winner of the Prix Morny, will cross swords again with Zafeen in what looks a high-class renewal of the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket on Thursday.
Trained by Gerard Butler for The Thoroughbred Corporation, Elusive City beat Zafeen by three-quarters of a length at the Middle Park's six-furlong distance in the Morny at Deauville on Aug. 25. That form was boosted when Zafeen landed the Group 2 Mill Reef Stakes at Newbury.
ASCOT, England - Trainer Aidan O'Brien decided to run Hawk Wing rather than Rock of Gibraltar in Saturday's Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot, but Hawk Wing, at 1-2, could only finish second to the 7-1 Where or When in the mile race.
O'Brien actually brought both Rock of Gibralatar, who has won seven straight Group 1 races, and Hawk Wing to Ascot from his Ballydoyle yard in County Kildare, Ireland - a 900-mile round trip - with the intention of running only one of them.
PARIS - First there was the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, and it ruled supreme as racing's definitive international event. But then came the Japan Cup, the Breeders' Cup, and the Hong Kong Cup.
Since shortly after its inception in 1920, the Arc has been Europe's championship race. Few would dispute its claim to that title today, but the ever increasing international competition from Japan, America, Hong Kong, and even Canada and Australia is having a deleterious effect on the great French event.
Weather holds the key to the participation of Rock of Gibraltar and Hawk Wing in the one-mile Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot on Saturday.
The Aidan O'Brien-trained stablemates are both entered, but only one of them will run. It will be Rock of Gibraltar, the winner of five Group 1 miles and the Breeders' Cup Mile favorite, if the ground turns soft, but Hawk Wing will run if the going remains good to firm, as expected.
That is because O'Brien thinks Rock of Gibraltar can run on any type of ground, but Hawk Wing must have fast ground to be at his best.
Rock of Gibraltar, Europe's leading miler, could end his career in the Breeders' Cup Classic, his trainer Aidan O'Brien said Tuesday.
O'Brien said that Rock of Gibraltar, a 3-year-old son of Danehill, was being seriously considered for the $4 million Classic. It would be his first race on dirt and his first at beyond a mile.
Yavana's Pace will use Sunday's Group 1 Preis von Europa at Cologne as a test for a possible run in the next Sunday's Canadian International at Woodbine.
A 10-year-old gelding, Yavana's Pace's victory last month in Cologne's Credit Suisse Private Banking Pokal made him the oldest horse ever to win a Group 1 or Grade 1 race on the flat. He would join his Mark Johnston-trained stablemate Zindabad at Woodbine if he acquits himself well in the Europa.
Bollin Eric won the English St. Leger at Doncaster and Vinnie Roe the Irish St. Leger at The Curragh on Saturday.
Bollin Eric became the first northern England-trained horse since 1973 to win the Group 1 Rothmans Royals St. Leger over
1 3/4 miles, the only British classic run in the North.
He took the lead with two furlongs to go and then held off the late challenge of Highest by 1 1/2 lengths. Bollin Eric was a 7-1 chance while the favorite, Bandari, who is also trained in the North, was two lengths farther back in third.