International Roundup - 27/05/2019

It was Classic weekend in Ireland this weekend, with the 2,000 and 1,000 Guineas showcased at the Curragh.

The big clash on Saturday featured Newmarket winner Magna Grecia and Champion two-year-old Too Darn Hot, who was stepping down in trip after failing to prevail in last week's Dante up at York.

However the two were brushed aside by Charlie Hills' Phoenix Of Spain, who made all under a confident Jamie Spencer from the front.

On Sunday, Hermosa followed up where stablemate Magna Grecia failed by taking back-to-back Guineas for trainer Aidan O'Brien, skipping clear of Pretty Pollyanna and Foxtrot Liv.

The three-year-old filly has shown real maturity from her juvenile days, and already looks a hot player for the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot next month.

Earlier in the day, Magical made it three from three this season with another bloodless success, this time in the Tattersalls Gold Cup.

Arizona was another notable winner for team Ballydoyle in the opening maiden, recording success courtesy of an eight-length margin and could be Coventry Stakes bound.

Longchamp was the home for Barney Roy's second appearance since his return to the track on Friday, but the course hosted an eight-race card on Sunday which featured two top Group Ones.

Siyarafina took the Fillies highlight - the Saxon Warrior Coolmore Prix Saint Alary over ten furlongs under Christophe Soumillon, in the Derby winning colours of H H Aga Khan.

She was a perfect two-out-of-two before the off, and definitely suited the climb up to a mile-and-a-quarter.

Big things beckon for her, likewise for Roger Varian's talented Zabeel Prince, who won his first Group One in the Prix d'Ispahan over the same distance under Andrea Atzeni.

The six-year-old had all the form in the book after his victory at Newmarket produced a subsequent Group Two winner at Chester, Group One Lockinge winner at Newbury and Listed victor at Goodwood on Saturday.

Sheikh Mohammed Obaid's runner quickened well, and must be considered a dangerous prospect to those in the current division.

Possibly Royal Ascot looks the next target.

Unlike most countries, Germany opt to split their Guineas features over different weekends, with Fox Champion and Oisin Murphy winning the 2,000 contest last Sunday.

This time around the girls did battle in the 1,000 Guineas, and was won by a British-trained horse of Mark Johnston's in the shape of Main Edition.

Winner of the Albany Stakes as a juvenile last term at Royal Ascot, the filly had some notable incidents and clashes around that particularly at Newmarket, with the likes of La Pelosa and Angels Hideaway always in the way it would seem.

Clear view of the track at Dusseldorf however; bettering her seventh in the Nell Gwyn back in April, she relished the drop in grade under Joe Fanning and scored smartly.

There was a massive upset in the Japanese Derby on Sunday, as the Katsuhiko Sumii-trained Roger Barows upset the odds to win at 92/1, in front of a crowd of 110,000 racegoers at Tokyo.

Half brother to British Guineas winner Saxon Warrior (out of Deep Impact), he settled smartly to sit behind the front-running Lion Lion, before beating off the challenges of the late-fast-finishing Danon Kingly to deep inside the final furlong to prevail by a neck.

The winner is entered in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp at the end of the season, and mass improvement would be required to get anywhere near Enable and co, but it was a memorable day for connections on a great occasion for Japan, and for jockey Suguru Hamanaka.