Snow Fairy

Some eleven years have transpired since the great Snow Fairy (Ire) (Intikhab) carried Ryan Moore to a second consecutive victory in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup and it will be up to reigning G1 Juddmonte Irish Oaks winner Magical Lagoon (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) to put a halt to the locals' 10-race winning streak Sunday afternoon at Hanshin Racecourse. It has been a magical season, indeed, for Yuesheng Zhang's talented bay filly, who used a runner-up effort in the Listed Salsabil S. at Navan in late April as a springboard...

Cristina Patino's John Leeper (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) is expected to resurface next Friday at Sandown, where he will take a class drop for the Listed Gala S. over 2000 metres. John Leeper, a son of the multiple Group 1-winning mare Snow Fairy (Ire) (Intikhab), was named a 'TDN Rising Star' when breaking his maiden by four lengths at Newcastle on Apr. 30, and he confirmed himself an exciting prospect with a victory in the May 15 Listed Novice S., where he had the subsequent G2 King Edward VII S. runner-up...

It has become custom for some to yearn for the glory days of the Epsom Derby, when the blue riband of the English turf sat proud on its Wednesday slot dominating the consciousness of the London area. While it has fallen some way short of its past standard as a national treasure, one of the factors in its relative demise has been lack of competition but this year's Cazoo-sponsored renewal stands up on that score at least. In fact, with all its converging plots there has not been as exciting...

Ed Dunlop is among an elite group of five current trainers to have saddled two Oaks winners. His first, Ouija Board (GB) (Cape Cross {Ire}), has already gone on to produce the Derby winner Australia (GB), a son of Galileo (Ire), and the baton could potentially pass now to Snow Fairy (Ire) (Intikhab) to follow suit with John Leeper (Ire), by Galileo's son Frankel (GB). Whether it's at Epsom or a later big-race target, to have a blue-blooded colt in the stable who has shown some early promise is naturally...

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-pedigreed horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Today's Observations features the return of blueblooded Frankel colt John Leeper. 5.50 Newcastle, Novice, £5,600, 3yo, 10f 42y (AWT) JOHN LEEPER (IRE) (Frankel {GB}) makes his keenly-anticipated reappearance for Anamoine Ltd, having been taken out of his intended return at Newmarket earlier this month due to the quick conditions....

Naming a horse in someone's memory can be a risky strategy but, for Juddmonte, naming a Galileo (Ire) colt after their late American trainer Bobby Frankel was certainly no drawback. Since the outstanding Frankel (GB) retired to stud, a number of his offspring have also been named after trainers of note. Atty Persse (Ire), took the name of the trainer of The Tetrarch (Ire) and became Frankel's first Royal Ascot winner in 2017. He was wearing the Godolphin silks by that time but he raced initially for his breeder, Bjorn...