High-class contests in U.S., France, Japan mark weekend horse racing
May 29 (UPI) -- Two recent Dubai World Cup runners go head-to-head at Churchill Downs, and Breeders' Cup champions and hopefuls are in action from coast to coast as weekend horse racing hurtles the sport into its summer stride.
On the global scene, Sunday brings both the Tokyo Yushun or Japanese Derby and the Prix du Jockey Club or French Derby. And with Royal Ascot just over the horizon, Godolphin's teams had a spectacular Thursday at Sandown, although it took all hands on deck to get the job done.
Hurtling right into it ...
Classic
Saturday's $300,000 Grade III Blame Stakes at Churchill Downs has two Group 1 Dubai World Cup participants in the field -- the 2025 winner, Hit Show, and Rattle N Roll, who also has appeared twice in the world's richest race, the $20 million Group 1 Saudi Cup.
Neither was posted as morning-line favorite in the Blame. That role went to Vibe, a Todd Pletcher trainee who has won three in a role while going through his conditions. Pletcher, however, indicated he likely will scratch Vibe in favor of the Met Mile at Saratoga, which would leave Hit Show atop the line.
Jokestar is the 2-1 morning-line pick in a field of seven for Saturday's $175,000 (Canadian) Grade II bet365 Eclipse on the Woodbine all-weather.
Distaff
On the entries, Saturday's $300,000 Grade II Shawnee at Churchill Downs was to be a head-to-head fight between reigning Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint winner Splendora and 2024 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies winner Immersive. The latter was left as favorite when trainer Bob Baffert announced Splendora won't run.
Santa Anita's oddsmaker has Seismic Beauty as 2-5 favorite against just four rivals in Saturday's $200,000 Grade II Santa Margarita at Santa Anita. The Baffert trainee hasn't been seen in the afternoon since finishing 11th in the Breeders' Cup Distaff, but won three straight leading up to that tough task and has been training very sharply for the past month.
Elysian Field is the 8-5 pick in Saturday's $150,000 (Canadian) Grade III Belle Mahone on the Woodbine all-weather.
Sprint
Baffert holds entries for both Cornucopian and Madaket Road for Saturday's $275,000 Grade III Aristides at Churchill Downs, but the one to catch seems to be Mad House. The Florida shipper, trained by David Van Winkle, is a speedball who won't be troubled at all by his inside draw.
Eight are set for Saturday's $150,000 (Canadian) Grade III Jacques Cartier on the Woodbine all-weather with G T 500 as the 5-2 early favorite. The Astern gelding has won four of his last five starts at Turfway Park and Woodbine.
Sunday's $100,000 Grade III Triple Bend at Santa Anita attracted just five entries. Among the locals, 2024 Santa Anita Derby winner Stronghold and Bartholdy have some legitimate graded stakes experience while the other two are allowance types.
The fifth, The Goat, is a mystery. He won his last four starts in his native Chile, three of them Group 1 races, but has not run since Dec. 7, 2024. Trainer John Sadler has given him a solid set of works for his U.S. debut.
Turf / turf mile
Friday's $400,000 Grade III Penn Mile for 3-year-olds at Penn National is pretty much a program stabber, with four of the seven entries bunched atop the morning line.
Lagynos, riding a three-race winning streak, is the obvious favorite in Saturday's $275,000 Grade III Arlington Stakes at Churchill Downs, but he probably will have to catch the speedy Quatrocento. He did that in their last race, the April 30 Opening Verse, going one-sixteenth shorter than this 1 mile.
Touch of Fire is 2-for-3 for trainer Brad Cox, good enough to be morning-line favorite in Saturday's $275,000 Audubon Stakes for 3-year-olds at Churchill Downs.
In a weekend filled with competitive races, none looks more wide open than Saturday's $100,000 Jersey Derby at Monmouth Park. Eight are entered. None can be dismissed out of hand.
On the flip side, trainer Chad Brown has Cosmic Year as the 9-5 favorite in a field of five for Saturday's $100,000 Cliff Hanger for older horses at Monmouth.
Filly & mare turf / turf mile
Saturday's $275,000 Grade III Old Forester Mint Julep at Churchill Downs looks up for grabs. The wild card could be British import Favorite Memory.
Tam Tam, a Medaglia d'Oro filly who finished second to Imaginationthelady in the May 1 Edgewood Stakes, tops the morning line in a competitive field for Saturday's $275,000 Grade III Regret Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Churchill Downs.
The seven entries for Friday's $100,000 Penn Oaks at Penn National come mostly from Kentucky with a small seasoning of New York and local talent, making for a handicapping challenge.
Around the world, around the clock
Japan
Sunday's Grade 1 Yushun Himba or Japanese Derby at Tokyo Racecourse seems to revolve around Lovcen, a World Premier colt who won last year's Grade 1 Hopeful Stakes in just his second career starts and comes to this race off a course-record win in the Grade 1 Satsuki Sho or Japanese 2,000 Guineas.
Lovcen's past performances and pedigree are likely to make him the favorite in a race that has been kind to favorites in recent years. The opposition arguably is led by Realize Sirius, who finished second in the Satsuki Sho and won the Grade 3 Kyoto News Hai with Lovcen third, in their 3-year-old debut.
France
Coolmore colt Constitution River has been the favorite for Sunday's Group 1 Prix du Jockey Club, the French Derby, for a long time with trainer Aidan O'Brien indicating he might be the best of this year's Ballydoyle 3-year-olds.
All of that might be tested by the No. 15 (of 16) draw handed to the French-bred Wootton Bassett colt and jockey Ryan Moore on Thursday. He's still the heavy favorite in the 2,000-meter Classic, but not quite as heavy as before the draw.
England
Thursday was a good day at Sandown for Sheik Mohammed's Godolphin teams who left with the trophies from all three of the big races in their vans -- various vans, at that, as three different trainers shared the victories.
Ombudsman, a star in anyone' stable, won the 1 1/4-mile feature, the Group 3 Brigadier Gerard, by a neck over Gethin, with William Buick up for John and Thady Gosden. The 5-year-old son of Night of Thunder rallied from a perfect stalking position, but perhaps found Gethin a bit tougher rival than expected.
Still, he backed up his season-opening victory in the Group 1 Dubai Turf on World Cup night and served notice he'll be in the mix wherever the season takes him, likely starting with the Group 1 Prince of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot against the likes of last year's Arc winner Daryz.
"It should be a fabulous race with Daryz coming over from France," Racing Post quoted John Gosden as saying. "It's what the game is about: top-quality horses meeting in those events. It could just be the race of the meeting."
On the same program, Buick had his pick of four Godolphin runners in the 1-mile Heron Stakes and got it right when he picked Talk of New York. The Wootton Bassett 3-year-old came from well off the pace and drew off to win by 5 1/2 lengths over stablemate Time to Turn.
Trainer Charlie Appleby said Talk of New York now might get his chance in the Group 1 St James's Palace Stakes at the Royal meeting against English 2,000 Guineas winner Bow Echo and Gstaad, winner of the 2025 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf and the Irish 2000 Guineas.
Dubai Future was the surprise cherry atop the sundae Thursday. The Saeed bin Suroor trainee, with David Probert up at odds of 28-1, took a daylight lead with 2 furlongs left in the 2-mile Henry II Stakes and just did hold on to win by a neck over the favorite, Sweet William.
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This story was originally published May 29, 2026 at 8:00 AM.