Kazzia completed a classic double in great style at Epsom on Friday with a front-running victory in the English Oaks.
Her half-length win over Quarter Moon as the 3-1 favorite made her the first 1000 Guineas winner to follow up in the Oaks since Salsabil turned the trick in 1990. It was also the first Oaks triumph for Godolphin since Balanchine and Moonshell took the 1 1/2-mile classic in 1994-95.
High Chaparral can take advantage of the soft ground at Epsom and give trainer Aidan O'Brien his second successive win on Saturday.
A deluge of rain at Epsom on Wednesday morning turned the 1 1/2-mile Derby course soft. With the possibility of light showers on Friday, the going will be no better than good to soft for the 223rd running of this storied classic which, with a purse of $2,058,000, is Europe's richest race.
The colors of the Niarchos family were thrust back into the spotlight Sunday when Sulamani scored a 19-1 upset over previously undefeated Act One in the Prix du Jockey-Club (French Derby) at Chantilly.
Sulamani was keeping it in the family in more ways than one. He is a son of 1993 French Derby winner Hernando and a half-brother to the 1998 winner, Dream Well, both of whom were ridden by Cash Asmussen. Hernando was owned by Stavros Niarchos, and Dream Well was owned by the Niarchos family, which is overseen by Niarchos's American-born widow, Maria.
Act One will be the even-money favorite in the Prix du Jockey-Club (French Derby) at Chantilly Sunday, as he seeks to extend his undefeated streak to six.
All the players in Act One's troupe are in place for the race, which has been his goal since last autumn. Jockey Thierry Gillet will get a leg up from trainer Jonathan Pease, who says that Act One is the best horse he has ever trained.
While Sunday's French Derby appears to be a ceremony inducting the undefeated Act One into the pantheon of great Prix du Jockey-Club winners of the last 20 years (Montjeu, Peintre Celebre, Suave Dancer, Darshaan, Caerleon), next Saturday's $1.75 million Epsom Derby is up for grabs.
Act One will be the even money favorite in the Prix du Jockey-Club (French Derby) Sunday as he seeks to extend his undefeated streak to six in Chantilly's classic Group 1 mile and a half.
All the players in Act One's troupe are in place for the race which has been the goal of the Gerald Leigh-owned In The Wings colt since last autumn. Thierry Gillet will get a leg up from Jonathan Pease, who says that Act One is the best horse he has ever trained.
The filly Rebelline has taken on the mantle of "giant killer" following her convincing two-length victory in the Group 1 Tattersalls Gold Cup at The Curragh.
The 4-year-old Rebelline won for the second time in two starts this season, having previously punctured Johannesburg's undefeated record in the Gladness Stakes. Running down the pacesetting Bach at the sixteenth pole, she ended the five-race winning streak of odds-on favorite Nayef, who finished 4 1/2 lengths behind in third.
Rock of Gibraltar scored an easy victory in the Irish 2000 Guineas at The Curragh on Saturday, giving his trainer, Aidan O'Brien, his third Guineas triumph of the year, following victories in England and France.
Sent off the odds-on favorite after his victory in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket earlier in the month, Rock of Gibraltar could not have been more impressive.