Nitrogen, shown winning the Appalachian Stakes during Keeneland’s spring meeting, looks like a likely candidate in Saturday’s Grade 1 Belmont Oaks Invitational at Saratoga. Photo courtesy of Keeneland<\/p>\n
July 2 (UPI) — What could be more festive on the July Fourth holiday than the Belmont Derby Invitational at Saratoga, the Indiana Derby and the Iowa Derby?<\/p>\n
Okay. The “Derby” is an American adaptation of the British invention. But it has been adapted quite successfully, and those races and others promise a happy Independence Day weekend.\n<\/p>\n
Back over the Atlantic, the main attractions are Saturday’s Coral-Eclipse at Sandown, the Prix Jean Prat in France and the Deutsches Derby.<\/p>\n
With a lot on the barbecue and attention likely to wander later in the week, here’s an abbreviated look at what’s on offer.\n<\/p>\n
Saratoga
\n<\/b><\/p>\n
Weekend activity at the Spa centers on Friday’s $750,000 Grade III Belmont Derby Invitational and Saturday’s $500,000 Trade I Belmont Oaks Invitational. There’s plenty of quality and a tiny bit of international intrigue without entries from Godolphin.\n<\/p>\n
In the Derby field, Charlie Fellowes brings Luther from England after finishing fourth in the French Guineas and well up the track in the Prix du Jockey Club or French Derby.<\/p>\n
New Century has bounced back and forth across the Atlantic and now is with trainer Brendan Walsh. He was a good third in the Grade I American Turf on Derby Day at Churchill Downs. The locals don’t look overpowering.<\/p>\n
The Oaks is an all-American affair with Nitrogen the standout. The Medaglia d’Oro filly rides a five-race win streak. May Day Ready wasn’t ready for Grade 1 competition in Japan in December and didn’t handle an off-the-turf assignment in her stateside return. Maybe now?<\/p>\n
Also on Friday’s Saratoga slate are the $400,000 Grade II Suburban at 1 1\/4 miles on the main track; the 200,000 Grade III Manila for 3-year-olds at 1 mile on the turf’; the $150,000 Harvey Pack at 5 1\/2 furlongs on the lawn and the $150,000 Schuylerville for 2-year-old fillies at 6 furlongs on the dirt.<\/p>\n
Saturday’s undercard has the $175,000 Grade III Kelso at 1 mile on the grass and the $175,000 Grade III Sanford for 2-year-olds.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, by division:\n<\/p>\n
Filly & Mare Turf
\n<\/b><\/p>\n
Saturday’s $250,000 Grade III Robert G. Dick at Delaware Park finds Spanish eyes making her second U.S. start after an earlier career in Germany that included a second in the Group 1 German Oaks. Malibu Beauty looks like the main rival.\n<\/p>\n
Turf Sprint
\n<\/b><\/p>\n
Sunday’s $150,000 Pea Patch for 3-year-old fillies at Ellis Park is notable for its name more than its field. In the past, the infield at the Western Kentucky track literally was used to grow soybeans.<\/p>\n
Classic
\n<\/b><\/p>\n
Saturday’s $300,000 Grade III Prairie Meadows Cornhusker, once the crown jewel at Omaha’s Ak-Sar-Ben racecourse, still attracts star-quality performers to its current Iowa home, including 2024 winner Red Route One.<\/p>\n
The 3-year-old wars continue Saturday with the $250,000 Iowa Derby at Prairie Meadows and $300,000 Grade III Iowa Derby at Horseshoe Indianapolis.<\/p>\n
Distaff
\n<\/b><\/p>\n
Accompanying the derbies are Saturday’s $225,000 Iowa Oaks at Prairie Meadows and $200,000 Grade III Indiana Oaks.<\/p>\n
Filly & Mare Sprint
\n<\/b><\/p>\n
The action here is Saturday’s $200,000 Grade II Great Lady M at Los Alamitos and $150,000 (Canadian) Grade III Hendrie on the Woodbine all-weather.<\/p>\n
Juvenile \/ Juvenile Fillies
\n<\/b><\/p>\n
Friday’s $100,000 Prairie Gold Lassie and Saturday’s $100,000 Prairie Gold Juvenile at Prairie Meadows may be worth a look.<\/p>\n
Around the world, around the clock\n<\/p>\n
England
\n<\/b><\/p>\n
While taking a pass on the Saratoga Fourth of July festival, Godolphin and jockey William Buick have the early favorite, Ombudsman, in Saturday’s Group 1 Coral-Eclipse at Sandown.<\/p>\n
The 4-year-old Night of Thunder colt, trained by John and Thady Gosden, exits a victory in the Group 1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot, and his only career defeat was a second behind Almaqam in the Group 3 Brigadier Gerard in his seasonal debut.\n<\/p>\n
That one is back, but rated a long shot to repeat the upset. Sosie, Camille Pissarro and Delacroix, on the other hand, are among the clear and present dangers in a deep, excellent field.<\/p>\n
Seven are entered for Saturday’s Group 2 Lancashire Oaks at Haydock Park, with once-defeated Estrange the odds-on early pick. Another by Night of Thunder, she won her 3-year-old debut by 4 1\/2 lengths over the same course for trainer David O’Meara and owner Cheveley Park Stud.<\/p>\n
France
\n<\/b><\/p>\n
Sunday’s Group 1 Jean Prat has 3-year-olds going 1,400 meters at Deauville.<\/p>\n
Germany
\n<\/b><\/p>\n
Sunday’s Group 1 Deutsches Derby at Hamburg is 1 1\/2 miles for 3-year-old colts and fillies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nitrogen, shown winning the Appalachian Stakes during Keeneland’s spring meeting, looks like a likely candidate in Saturday’s Grade…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":232102,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4107],"tags":[933,288,1071,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-232101","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-racing","8":"tag-animals","9":"tag-horse-racing","10":"tag-racing","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114783903079241101","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232101"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232101\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/232102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}