Nayef, the second-highest rated older horse in Europe, seeks his sixth consecutive win in the Group 1 Tattersalls Gold Cup at The Curragh on Sunday.

A 4-year-old son of Gulch, Nayef has a Timeform rating of 129, second only to Sakhee's 136. A handy winner of the Group 1 Dubai Sheema Classic on March 24, the Marcus Tregoning trainee should live up to his 3-2 favoritism in this 1 5/16-mile contest.

Nayef runs on any kind of ground, so the prevailing soft going at The Curragh should not pose a problem.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Chief Bearhart, an Eclipse Award winner and two-time Canadian Horse of the Year, and owner-breeder Frank Stronach head this year's list of six nominees from Thoroughbred racing for induction into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.

Chief Bearhart, owned by Sam-Son Farm and trained by Mark Frostad, won the Eclipse as champion grass horse after winning both the Canadian International and Breeders' Cup Turf in 1997.

His Canadian Horse of the Year titles came in 1997 and 1998, and he was the Sovereign Award-winning turf horse from 1996 to 1998.

Rock of Gibraltar could be as short as 1-5 for Saturday's Irish 2000 Guineas at The Curragh, where the state of the ground may prove as much of a problem for him as his six rivals.

The winner of the English 2000 Guineas at Newmarket on May 4, Rock of Gibraltar is one of four Aidan O'Brien-trained runners in the Group 1 Irish 2000. The others are Century City, recent winner of the Group 3 Tetrarch Stakes; Della Francesca, 12th in the French 2000 Guineas on May 12; and their pacemaker, Nostradamus.

Dick Hern, one of the greatest British trainers of all time, died Wednesday at the age of 81 after a long illness.

The winner of 17 classic races during a career that spanned 40 years, Hern had been confined to a wheelchair since breaking his neck in a hunting accident in 1984. He is best remembered in the United States as the trainer of Dayjur, who narrowly missed winning the 1990 Breeders' Cup Sprint after twice jumping shadows near the finish line.

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Lone Star Park will oversee operations at Maronas Racetrack in Montevideo, Uruguay, and its five offtrack betting facilities after its partner, Hipica Rioplatense, was awarded a 30-year concession to reopen the shuttered track.

Lone Star entered into an agreement with Hipica Rioplatense, a gaming and technology group, 10 months ago, and put in a bid with Uruguayan government to reopen Maronas. Hipica Rioplatense plans to invest $44 million in the track, which officials hope to open by the end of the year.

Banks Hill failed as the 3-5 favorite as a revivified Best Of The Bests beat her into third place in the Group 1 Prix d'Ispahan at Longchamp on Sunday.

In a return to the front running tactics which had earned him victories in the Prix Guilluame d'Ornano as a 3-year-old and in Round 2 of the Maktoum Challenge at four, Best Of The Bests repelled the challenge of Banks Hill in mid-stretch and had enough to hold off Poussin to win the 1 1/8-mile, 55-yard contest by half a length. Banks Hill was another length behind in third with Execute last in the field of four.

Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf winner Banks Hill has frightened away most of the opposition from her eagerly anticipated 4-year-old debut in the Prix d'Ispahan at Longchamp on Sunday.

She will face just three rivals in the Group 1 race, which will be run at 1 1 /8 miles and 55 yards. Among the defectors in recent days has been Rebelline, the filly who ended Johannesburg's unbeaten record in the Gladness Stakes. The three who will take up the cudgel against Banks Hill are Best of the Bests, Execute, and Poussin.

NEW YORK - The benefits of membership are not to be underestimated, especially in the clubby atmosphere that prevails at the heart of the French racing industry.

Banks Hill has frightened away most of the opposition from her eagerly anticipated 4-year-old debut in the Prix d'Ispahan at Longchamp on Sunday.

The overpowering winner of the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf will face just three rivals in the Group 1 contest, which will be run at a distance of 1850 meters, or 1 1-/8 miles, 55 yards. Among the defectors in recent days has been Rebelline, the filly who ended Johannesburg's unbeaten record in the Gladness Stakes.

Noverre will attempt to break a four-race losing streak as the favorite in the one-mile Group 1 Lockinge Stakes at Newbury in England on Saturday.

A high-ranking member of Godolphin's international invasion force, Noverre, a 4-year-old Kentucky-bred son of Rahy, will be trying to win for the first time since Aug. 1, when he landed the Sussex Stakes. He has subsequently been third in the Prix Jacques le Marois, second in the Queen Elizabeth II, seventh in the Breeders' Cup Mile and, most recently, second in the Dubai Duty Free.