Saturday preview

When a field of 10 enters the starting gate for Saturday's GII Coolmore Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park, they'll sure have some big shoes to fill. Twelve months ago, Sovereignty (Into Mischief) embarked on what would become a Horse of the Year campaign with a narrow victory in his seasonal debut and a little more than two months later, joined Spectacular Bid (1979), Thunder Gulch (1995) and Orb (2013) as horses to add the GI Kentucky Derby in the last half-century. Horses such as Union Rags (2012) and...

Newstead Stables LLC's Laurelin (Ire) (Zarak {Fr}) looks to take her career mark to a perfect six wins from as many starts when she faces a maximum of eight fellow sophomore fillies in Saturday's GI Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup at Keeneland, the year's most prestigious race for the division. Graham Motion sent out Film Maker (Dynaformer) to take the 2003 QE II and Laurelin figures a strong chance to double that tally. An €160,000 purchase out of the 2023 Goffs Orby Sale, the chestnut has built on a two-for-two...

Newmarket's July Festival winds up on Saturday, with the feature G1 Al Basti Equiworld, Dubai July Cup the stage for the potential reinvention of Godolphin's Notable Speech (Dubawi). Luckily for him and unfortunately for the rest of us, he has no international heavyweights to deal with in a renewal that looks a bit light on its usual quality. With the main protagonists of the Commonwealth Cup, Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes and King's Stand all absent, this looks one of the most winnable editions for some time and it will...

It is strange that the one who dominates the market for Saturday's G1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes is not a hardened sprinter, but Lazzat (Territories) is all class and ready to fire in the final big one of Royal Ascot week. Campaigned mostly over seven furlongs last term, the Sumbe homebred who now sports Wathnan's silks had them all won before the closing stages before repeating the trick in the G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest over 110 yards less. It was his stunning comeback effort in Chantilly's Listed Prix...

It was the perceived wisdom of 2024 that the 2-year-old fillies were a level above the colts and as Newmarket's two mile Classics loom this weekend, we get a first measurement of whether that has carried over. On the face of it, the line-ups for the Betfred-sponsored 2,000 and 1,000 Guineas suggest that the fillies' monument is the one most anticipated among Suffolk's hardcore. There's a good old Godolphin-Ballydoyle stand-off between two unbeaten peer leaders and TDN Rising Stars in Desert Flower and Lake Victoria to come on Sunday and while it...

Saturday, Navan, Ireland, post time: 15:55, IRISH STALLION FARMS EBF SALSABIL STAKES-G3, €39,000, 3yo, f, 10f 20y Field: Barnavara (Ire) (Calyx {GB}), Catalina Delcarpio (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), Ecstatic (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}), Island Hopping (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), J M's Joy (Ire) (Elzaam {Aus}), Medici Venus (Tiz The Law), Spicy Margarita (Ire) (Earthlight {Ire}), Tarima (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), Wemightakedlongway (Ire) (Australia {GB}). TDN Verdict: TDN Rising Star Catalina Delcarpio looked every inch an Oaks filly when impressing in the Leopardstown maiden which has become a pointer to...

In a year that has seen the famous Gredley colours spring back to prominence, Saturday's G1 William Hill Futurity Trophy at Doncaster hosts their exciting 2-year-old Wimbledon Hawkeye (GB) (Kameko) who bids to emulate his sire's success in this mile feature and lift the James Owen stable to the heights. Relishing the step up to this trip and an easier surface when upstaging the re-opposing Royal Playwright (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) in Newmarket's G2 Royal Lodge Stakes last month, the homebred is one of an intriguing renewal's standard-setters. "He...

On the eve of Saturday's G1 Darley Dewhurst Stakes, we are in familiar territory anticipating a show of force from Ballydoyle's latest golden prospect in what seems to be a permanent autumnal ritual. Newmarket's cherished jewel is still the ultimate juvenile contest in the European calendar and its appeal to the Rosegreen establishment is as potent as ever. Where Dr Vincent O'Brien supplied seven winners, Aidan's haul of eight is set to grow exponentially starting possibly (and probably) with TDN Rising Star The Lion In Winter (Ire) (Sea The Stars...

Usually brilliant, sometimes a reluctant star but never dull, Cheveley Park Stud's Inspiral (GB) (Frankel {GB}) is back on familiar soil as she looks to end her illustrious career in style in Saturday's G1 Sun Chariot Stakes at Newmarket. Dominant over the high-class yardstick Mqse De Sevigne (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}) under Frankie 12 months ago, the homebred who has garnered six at this level including a GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf has failed to make a mark so far this term for varying reasons and will need to...

Held in the highest regard by Richard Fahey, Sheikh Rashid Dalmook Al Maktoum's latest hot property Powerful Glory (Ire) (Cotai Glory {GB}) puts his reputation on the line in Saturday's G2 Dubai Duty Free Mill Reef Stakes at Newbury. Impressive enough to earn instant TDN Rising Star status on debut at Pontefract last month, the relative of the top-class sprinter Maarek (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) meets more experienced peers in the six-furlong feature, but possibly none with more upside at this juncture. Fahey is hopeful the bubble won't burst. "We have...

At once revered and maligned, Ballydoyle's Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) bids to put the critics in their place once again on Saturday as he heads back to Leopardstown for back-to-back renewals of the G1 Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes, a "Win And You're In" for the GI Breeders' Cup Turf. Not even favourite this time, with all the expectation centred around the British raider Economics (GB) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), he nevertheless has everything in his favour once more and could be set for another tour de force....

After his eclipse in the G1 July Cup, it is fair to say that Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum's Inisherin (GB) (Shamardal) has something to prove and he will have to with the opposition strong in Haydock's G1 Betfair Sprint Cup on Saturday. Successful against lesser lights on easy ground in the G2 Sandy Lane Stakes over this course and distance in May, the homebred thrived over Ascot's stiff six furlongs when capturing the G1 Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot before finding the Newmarket feature too sharp. Forced into consecutive...