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In 2023, Namur (Jpn) (Harbinger {GB}) parlayed a victory in the G2 Fuji Stakes en route to a neck defeat of Soul Rush (Jpn) (Rulership {Jpn}) in the G1 Mile Championship. This term, the top Japanese pair face a tougher ask, as Europe's Champion Miler elect Charyn (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) attempts to become the first international winner of the race since it was opened to worldwide participation in 1998. Trained by Tomokazu Takano, Namur will have pilot Cristian Demuro at the controls and they will break from stall four....

There are a trio of elite-level contests at Saint-Cloud on Sunday, with the Criterium International boasting arguably the most exciting protagonist in Maranoa Charlie (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) who looks to cap an unbeaten juvenile campaign. Having won his first three starts by a cumulative margin of nearly 20 lengths, including the G3 Prix Thomas Bryon over this mile trip and track earlier this month, Peter Maher, Carl Fitzgerald and John Baxter's TDN Rising Star is all substance and little hype as he faces his sternest test to date taken...

Japanese horses returning from overseas exploits and melding back into the local population with more Pattern race glory is not a rarity, and 2023 Japanese Triple Tiara heroine Liberty Island (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}) aims to do just that in the 2000-metre G1 Tenno Sho (Autumn) at Tokyo on Sunday. A winner of the 2022 G1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies in addition to her Classic heroics (Oka Sho, Yushun Himba and Shuka Sho) last term, the bay found only superstar Equinox (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) too good in the G1 Japan Cup...

It's QIPCO British Champions Day, so it stands to reason that we are talking about autumn soft ground as the European flat season continues to turn on its axis. Where the summer specialists City Of Troy (Justify), Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), Rosallion (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}), Porta Fortuna (Ire) (Caravaggio) and Notable Speech (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) are missing for varying reasons, the way is open for those who relish the kind of test this surface provides. Every one of the five pattern races on Ascot's fixture boasts at...

The Japanese Classic finale sees G1 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) hero Danon Decile (Jpn) (Epiphaneia {Jpn}) line up against 17 rivals in the 3000-metre G1 Kikuka Sho (Japanese St Leger) at Kyoto on Sunday. Trained by Shogo Yasuda on behalf of Danox Co, the favoured son of dual Grade I runner-up Top Decile (Congrats) has been on a break since his Derby win in May. He will also be venturing beyond 2400 metres for the first time and leaves from stall four. Yasuda said of the 2024 G3 Keisei Hai...

As autumn tightens its grip on racing nations in the Northern Hemisphere, one of the year's final Classics takes place, Kyoto's G1 Shuka Sho (Japanese Fillies' St Leger) over 2000 metres. Handed ante-post favouritism is Sunday Racing's G1 Yushun Himba heroine Cervinia (Jpn) (Harbinger {GB}). The 2023 G3 Artemis Stakes heroine finished well back in the G1 Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) field to rival Stellenbosch (Jpn) (Epiphaneia {Jpn}) in April, and the last time she was seen on a racecourse was in the May 19 Oaks, defeating that aforementioned...

Japanese Group 1 racing resumes on Sunday with the 1200-metre Sprinters Stakes, and last year's winner, Mama Cocha (Jpn) (Kurofune), is ready to defend her title. Receiving four pounds versus the majority of the field, the mare finished her season with a fifth to Win Marvel (Jpn) () in the G2 Hanshin Cup upped to 1400 metres in December. Unable to land a telling blow when eighth to Mad Cool (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) in the 1200-metre G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen in soft going at Chukyo in her 5-year-old bow, Mama...

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...

In the history of the G1 St Leger, it is hard to imagine a trainer going into a single renewal with a stronger hand than Aidan O'Brien enjoys on Saturday with his three sons of Galileo (Ire) all perfect candidates for the job. So perfect are the profiles of the trio for Doncaster that it is a shame for the operation that they have all come along at the same time, but in view of the long-term health of the "oldest Classic" it is fortunate for all that they have...

Friday's action at Doncaster sees a brace of group 2 races of wildly contrasting type, with the hardened stayers battling out the G2 Doncaster Cup over two and a quarter miles preceded by the five-furlong G2 Flying Childers Stakes for the fast juveniles. In the former, the Gosdens have a strong hand with the Normandie Stud-bred pair Sweet William (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) and Gregory (GB) (Golden Horn {GB}) looking to benefit from the absence of Kyprios (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and enjoy their day in the sun away from...

Having made a habit of dismissing her peers by wide margins, Godolphin's TDN Rising Star Desert Flower (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) has to do it on a higher plane as she encounters some similarly promising opposition in Doncaster's G2 Betfred May Hill Stakes on Thursday. Having beaten the re-opposing Flight (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}) convincingly on debut on Newmarket's July Course, she returned to defy a penalty in style last month and trainer Charlie Appleby has no concerns about the hike from seven furlongs. "We feel that the step up...

He has been out of action since his powerful display in the G2 Dante Stakes in May, but Isa Salman Al Khalifa's Economics (GB) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) has never been too far from the news given his obvious potential and so it is with more than a small sense of anticipation that the purists await his comeback in Thursday's G2 Prix Guillaume d'Ornano at Deauville. Some of racing's kingpins have won this 10-furlong staging post in recent years, namely Almanzor (Fr), Mishriff (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}), Dubai Honour (Ire)...