Lucky Lilac (JPN) circled the leaders into the stretch run in the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies (G1) Dec. 10, grabbed the lead and held off Lily Noble (JPN) by three-quarters of a length, giving her sire, Orfevre (JPN), his first grade 1 winner.
Time Warp (GB) capped a stunning day for the local team in the Longines Hong Kong International Races Dec. 10 at Sha Tin, leading all the way to an easy victory in the Longines Hong Kong Cup (G1).
Making the final start of his globetrotting career, Highland Reel reversed the order of finish from the Longines Breeders' Cup Turf (G1T) a month earlier, defeating Talismanic in the Longines Hong Kong Vase (G1) Dec. 10 at Sha Tin by 1 3/4 lengths.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club plans to stage "showcase racing carnivals" starting in 2019 at its new training center at Conghua on the Chinese Mainland, HKJC CEO Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges said Dec. 7.
Top-level winners from around the globe are set to contest four Longines Hong Kong International Races Dec. 10 at Sha Tin, with foreign horses looking especially strong in this year's renewal.
Zac Purton, representing Hong Kong, claimed the Longines International Jockeys Championship title for the first time courtesy of two wins in the first and third legs of the series.
Cheval Grand (JPN) reeled in defending champion Kitasan Black (JPN) with 100 meters to go and ran on to win the Japan Cup in association with Longines (G1) at Tokyo Racecourse Nov. 26.
Ruggero, a grandson of Sunday Silence, won the first of three races comprising the "Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby" Nov. 25 at Tokyo Racecourse and his trainer says he could be a candidate for the first Saturday in May in Louisville.
Japan's finest will face an unusually strong lineup of foreign rivals in the Japan Cup in association with Longines (G1) Nov. 26 at Tokyo Racecourse.
Persian Knight rallied from far back in an 18-horse field to win the Mile Championship (G1) Nov. 19 at Kyoto Racecourse, catching Air Spinel in the final jump to win by a nose.
Japan's Autumn Festival of group 1 events centers on Kyoto Nov. 19, where a rather wide-open field tackles the Mile Championship with year-end honors on the line.
Facing older rivals for the first time, Mozu Katchan caught Crocosmia in the final jumps to take the Queen Elizabeth II Cup (G1) by a neck Nov. 12 at Kyoto Racecourse.
Redzel followed up his victory in the TAB Everest Stakes by taking command early in the Darley Classic (G1) at Flemington Nov. 11 and holding off longshot Terravista for his sixth straight win.
Illinois horsemen, after failing to get traction with lawmakers during the recently concluded legislative session, are suing to force the state to pay some $11 million directly to purse accounts.
A month-long extravaganza of Japanese Group 1 races begins with a full field set for the Queen Elizabeth II Cup for fillies and mares Nov. 12 at Kyoto.
Ace High went to the post a solid favorite in the AAMI Victoria Derby at Flemington Nov. 4 and, despite some early concerns, justified his backers' faith, winning by two lengths with an impressive show of stamina.
Australians eagerly awaiting the Melbourne Cup (G1), "The Race That Stops a Nation," will start coasting to the standstill with four enticing group 1 events on the Nov. 4 Victoria Derby Day card at Flemington.
The Oct. 29 race meeting at Saint-Cloud, including a pair of group 1 juvenile events featuring prominent cross-Channel runners, was abandoned after the first race because of a protest over cuts in funding.
Kitasan Black held off a determined rally by Satono Crown to eke out a narrow victory in the grade 1 Tenno Sho (Autumn) Oct. 29 on a rainy day at Tokyo Racecourse.
Saxon Warrior battled back to slay a menacing Roaring Lion in the final yards of the Racing Post Trophy (G1) Oct. 28 at Doncaster, giving trainer Aiden O'Brien his record 26th top-level win of the year.
The impressive depth of the Aidan O'Brien stable will be on display this weekend when the trainer, who is enjoying a memorable year even by his high standards, unleashes a promising group of juveniles first at Doncaster then Oct. 29 in France.
Irish trainer Adian O'Brien has two of the favorites for the final group 1 race of the English flat season, the Oct. 28 Racing Post Trophy for 2-year-olds at Doncaster—a key early steppingstone to the Investec Derby (G1).
Japan's reigning Horse of the Year, Kitasan Black (JPN), starts his race toward retirement in the Tenno Sho (Autumn) (G1) at Tokyo Racecourse Oct. 29—a 2,000-meter test where all but a handful of the nominees also are winners of graded stakes.
Kiseki overcame a downpour from an approaching typhoon, soft turf, and 17 rivals to land his first top-level win in the Kikuka Sho (G1) or Japanese St. Leger Oct. 22 at Kyoto Racecourse.
Ice Breeze held on gamely through the final 200 meters in the Oct. 22 Prix Royal-Oak (G1) at Saint-Cloud, turning back Vazirabad's bid to land the race for an unprecedented third straight year.
In a British Champions Day filled with upsets, it was an upsetter who gave trainer Aidan O'Brien his 25th group 1 win of the year, to equal the 14-year-old record set by the late Bobby Frankel.
Cracksman surged to the lead early in the stretch run in the QIPCO British Champion Stakes (G1) Oct. 21 at Ascot and kicked away smartly to a seven-length victory, earning his first top-level win.
Boom Time, a 50-1 outsider, shot through inside Single Gaze in the final yards to land the BMW Caulfield Cup (G1) Oct. 21 in Melbourne.
The competition is so deep throughout QIPCO British Champions Day Oct. 21 at Ascot that even the lone group 2 race on an otherwise top-level card features a highly anticipated rivalry.
Some classic confrontations are on tap for QIPCO British Champions Day at Ascot Oct. 21 although the event lost a marquee name in Ulysses, who will head directly to the Breeders' Cup World Championships at Del Mar.
Trainer Aidan O'Brien's first group 1 runner of the weekend is Johannes Vermeer, who ranks among the favorites for the BMW Caulfield Cup (G1) in Australia.
Deirdre (JPN), under a perfectly timed ride by Christophe Lemaire, emerged from a rail-skimming trip to swoop to victory in the Shuka Sho (G1) Oct. 15 at Kyoto Racecourse, the final leg of Japan's filly Triple Crown.
Son of Snitzel drove to to a three-quarter-length victory.
U S Navy Flag flew home in the Darley Dewhurst Stakes (G1) at Newmarket Oct. 14, leading trainer Aidan O'Brien's four starters to a 1-2-3-4 finish and moving the conditioner to within one of Bobby Frankel's record of 25 top-level winners.
A desperate nose in the Oct. 13 bet365 Fillies' Mile (G1) at Newmarket prevented Irish trainer Aidan O'Brien from edging within one of the late Bobby Frankel's record of 25 top-level wins in a single year, as Laurens prevailed.
Irish trainer Aidan O'Brien is two victories shy of the late Bobby Frankel's record of 25 top-level wins in a calendar year and has the firepower to tie that mark the weekend of Oct. 13-14 at Newmarket.
Roly Poly continued a monumental roll by Coolmore 3-year-old fillies and trainer Aidan O'Brien, winning the Kingdom of Bahrain Sun Chariot Stakes (G1) at Newmarket Oct. 7 by 1 1/4 lengths over main rival Persuasive.
Trainer Aidan O'Brien sends out Roly Poly, yet another group 1 winner from his seemingly bottomless well of talent, as one of the favorites in the Kingdom of Bahrain Sun Chariot Stakes (G1) Oct. 7 at Newmarket.
Coolmore's fillies Rhododendron and Hydrangea were impressive in the Prix de l'Opera Longines, while their 2-year-old filly Happily upstaged colts in the Qatar Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere at Chantilly Oct. 1.
Red Falx, under a perfectly timed ride by Mirco Demuro, came flying outside the leaders to land a second straight running of the Sprinters Stakes (G1) at Nakayama Oct. 1.
Enable swept to the easiest of victories in the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1) at Chantilly Oct. 1, as she brushed aside a top-quality field to post her fifth straight win at the highest level.
The Irish connections of Aidan O'Brien and Coolmore won both group 1 events on the card but came up a neck short in the lone Breeders' Cup Challenge heat, the Juddmonte Royal Lodge Stakes (G2) for colts and geldings.
The talent-packed program at Chantilly on Oct. 1 extends well beyond the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1) itself, as it features five other group 1 events, three of them Breeders' Cup Challenge races.
Red Falx returns from a nearly four-month layoff in a quest for his second straight victory in the Sprinters Stakes (G1) at Nakayama Oct. 1.
It's Enable vs. the world in the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1) Oct. 1 at Chantilly and, to all appearances, the world has some catching up to do.
A massive weekend of qualifying races for the Breeders' Cup World Championships sails across the Atlantic to Newmarket where 2-year-olds will strut their stuff.
The Illinois Racing Board has approved a 2018 schedule roughly mirroring 2017 dates but only after hearing dire predictions for the industry's future absent financial help from state lawmakers.
Capri worked to the lead late in the William Hill St. Leger Stakes (G1) at Doncaster Sept. 16 and held on gamely to win by a half length over Crystal Ocean.
The William Hill St. Leger (G1) is the final classic on the British racing calendar and the Sept. 16 renewal at Doncaster finds 11 3-year-olds trying to confirm their place among the top stayers.
Order of St George galloped home an easy winner in the Comer Group International Irish St. Leger (G1) at the Curragh Sept. 10 to regain the title he lost when he finished second in the race last year.
