Survie storms to Christophe Clement Stakes glory & Rayif shines at Deauville
From Rayif’s Prix Jacques Le Marois success at Deauville to Survie continuing George Boughey’s remarkable 2026 in the US, and Luster’s dominant King’s Plate victory in Canada, it was another great week of global racing. ๐
โก๏ธ Now, the eyes of the racing world turn to York this week for a mouthwatering Ebor Festival, with the G1 Juddmonte International headlining a stellar card featuring Ombudsman and Constitution River.
But York is just one part of a truly global racing week. From the G1 Winx Stakes at Randwick and the G1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar, to major Group 1 action at Deauville and the World All-Star Jockeys series in Japan, the international racing calendar is firing on all cylinders.
Catch up on everything happening across global racing in this week’s World Horse Racing Weekly.
What’s Happened
๐ฆ๐บ Australia ๐ฆ๐บ
The G2 PB Lawrence Stakes, over the Caulfield 1400m, was once seen as a key starting point for horses heading towards the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups. While a couple of the beaten brigade could head in that direction, it was all about Cosmic Crusader as he remained unbeaten since coming to Victoria from Western Australia. His cruisy defeat of veteran sprinter Private Eye marked another step towards the Cox Plate, where he will aim to become the first Perth horse since Northerly in 2002 to take that prize.
Caulfield also hosted two early season G3 races for three-year-olds, both over 1100m: the Vain Stakes, won by Lindsay Park’s Hard Kick, and the Quezette Stakes, in which filly Natural Fling stamped herself as a sprinter of immense promise.
๐ง๐ท Brazil ๐ง๐ท
Sao Paulo’s longest race, the G3 Grande Premio General Couto de Magalhaes over two miles, went to Palota for Altair Domingos and Marcio Ferreira Gusso.
๐จ๐ฆ Canada ๐จ๐ฆ
The King’s Plate is arguably Canada’s most significant thoroughbred event, even if it is not a stakes race as it is restricted to Canadian-bred racehorses. The oldest continuously run race in North America with a history dating back to 1860, its honour roll includes icons like Northern Dancer and Awesome Again.
This year, it was the Josie Carroll-prepared Luster who raced right clear under John Velazquez, beating the boys by more than seven lengths. She is likely to head to turf next for the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup at Keeneland before a potential tilt at the G1 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf.
Three graded stakes races sat on the undercard: G1-placed Gas Me Up made a triumphant return to Canada in the G2 King Edward Stakes, Proctor Street fought her way to victory in the G2 Canadian Stakes and Souped Up stepped up to G3 company to land the Bold Venture Stakes.
๐ซ๐ท France ๐ซ๐ท
Another week, another Deauville G1 for Francis-Henri Graffard, Mickael Barzalona and the Aga Khan Studs. Rayif added the Prix Jacques Le Marois to his success in France’s 2000 Guineas, the Poule d’Essai des Poulains, ensuring the three-year-old form still rose to the fore despite the retirement of Bow Echo and the withdrawal of Gstaad. It was a first local victory in the feature in nine years.
It was one of seven Group races at Deauville across the weekend ahead of the Arqana August Sale.
The Marois undercard saw trainer Christopher Head declare that Avec Toi was potentially the best horse he’s ever prepared after his four-length romp in the G3 Prix Francois Boutin – the same race in which Rayif made his stakes breakthrough last year.
Blueblood Romantic Symphony, a sister to globetrotting star Yibir, won her first Group race in the G3 Prix Lady O’Reilly.
On Saturday, Graffard’s Rabbit’s Foot geared up for a pair of G1 assignments by landing the G2 Prix Alec Head. Placed in last year’s G1 Prix de Royallieu, she will contest the G1 Prix Vermeille next month before another likely attempt at the Royallieu.
The G2 Prix Guillaume d’Ornano for three-year-olds can often produce an Arc horse – Ace Impact most recently completed the double in 2023 – but that will not be the target for the Andre and Lavinia Fabre-trained Baroud this year after his surprise victory. Instead, he will be targeted for races on firm ground in 2027.
George Scott-trained Wimbledon Hawkeye turned the tables on Map Of Stars, reversing the 1-2 finish from the Listed Wolferton Stakes at Royal Ascot to take out the G3 Prix Gontaut-Biron. Both horses are set to head outside Europe later this year: Wimbledon Hawkeye could potentially go to Kentucky Downs before a November trip to the G1 Bahrain International Trophy, while Map Of Stars is set to contest the G1 Cox Plate at Flemington.
Japan-based Frenchman Christophe Lemaire returned a winner at Deauville, partnering Hassaleh to win the G3 Prix de Lieurey for Charlie Appleby and Godolphin. It was Lemaire’s first win in France since the same meeting last year, when Alohi Alii won the Prix Guillaume d’Ornano.
๐ฎ๐ช Ireland ๐ฎ๐ช
Despite his top class form, including two G1 placings, A Boy Named Susie only had a Killarney two-year-old win to his name. However, a facile victory against three rivals in the G3 Royal Whip Stakes at the Curragh has the colt primed for a global campaign – although where that will take him is still to be determined by trainer Donnacha O’Brien.
Earlier in the week, Johnny Murtagh-trained Believed – a half-sister to Melbourne Cup winner Gold Trip – stayed on strongest to win the G3 Give Thanks Stakes at Cork.
๐ฏ๐ต Japan ๐ฏ๐ต
Japanese hopes of landing a first Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe took a nosedive after the G2 Sapporo Kinen when Admire Terra, who was slated to head to France for the October showpiece, could finish no closer than ninth behind Toru Miya’s Shake Your Heart.
At Chukyo, it was G2 winner Lavanda who bounced back to form by winning the G3 Chukyo Kinen.
๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand ๐ณ๐ฟ
The New Zealand season is slowly kicking into gear, particularly amongst their new three-year-olds. The early trailblazer is She’s No Saint, who produced a sensational all-the-way victory in the G3 Northland Breeders Stakes for jockey George Rooke and trainer Michelle Bradley.
๐ฌ๐ง UK ๐ฌ๐ง
Ahead of a mammoth Ebor Festival at York this week, attention was largely focused on Newbury for a brace of Group contests.
Classy three-year-old Coppull returned to winning ways in the G2 Hungerford Stakes, comfortably stretching out to seven furlongs for the first time and giving trainer Clive Cox more options going forward.
The G3 Geoffrey Freer Stakes marked a rare British run for globetrotting Dubai Honour, but he was upstaged by emerging talent Wine Dark Sea. Now owned by Australian interests, Harry Charlton-trained Wine Dark Sea is set to head for the G1 Melbourne Cup in November.
๐บ๐ธ USA ๐บ๐ธ
The G1 Sword Dancer Stakes, which has been run since 1975, was contested at Saratoga under its new name – the G1 Christophe Clement Turf – for the first time. And while Clement’s son Miguel saddled up Tawny Port in his bid for a poignant victory, it was English horseman George Boughey who continued his blockbuster 2026 when Survie surged to victory under Manny Franco.
Survie made it two-from-two in the US after she won on her American debut two weeks earlier. She is likely to target the Breeders’ Cup for her next start.
Expensive purchase Stradale made a successful switch to turf, landing the G3 Mahony Stakes at his debut on the surface for trainer Steve Asmussen.
Over at Del Mar, Sweet Azteca won her third consecutive G3 Rancho Bernardo Stakes for Richard Baltas and Juan Hernandez.
What’s Happening
๐ฆ๐บ Australia ๐ฆ๐บ
Three weeks into the new racing season, the G1 Winx Stakes at Randwick marks the unofficial start of the spring. Superstar mares Autumn Glow, Sheza Alibi, Aeliana and Fangirl headline entries.
๐ซ๐ท France ๐ซ๐ท
Sunday features two G1 races at Deauville: the Prix Jean et Louis Romanet, set to star top three-year-old Diamond Necklace, and the Prix Morny, featuring unbeaten juvenile Orthodox.
๐ฎ๐ช Ireland ๐ฎ๐ช
A number of important trials for Irish Champions Weekend will be run this week, including the G2 Debutante Stakes, G2 Futurity Stakes and G3 Irish St Leger Trial Stakes.
๐ฏ๐ต Japan ๐ฏ๐ต
Leading riders from around the world, including Damian Lane, Zac Lloyd and Suraj Narredu, will take on local heroes like Yutaka Take, Yuga Kawada and Christophe Lemaire in the World All-Star Jockeys series at Sapporo.
๐ฌ๐ง UK ๐ฌ๐ง
The eyes of the racing world will be on the York Ebor Festival this week, featuring a mouthwatering G1 Juddmonte International clash between Ombudsman and Constitution River among a slew of top-class races. Kalpana, Minnie Hauk and Johanna Walsh could go head-to-head in the G1 Yorkshire Oaks, while sprinters from the United States, France, Australia and Ireland ensure that the G1 Nunthorpe Stakes is a truly global affair. The City Of York Stakes will be run at G1 level for the second time.
๐บ๐ธ USA ๐บ๐ธ
๏ปฟ
California’s summer highlight, the G1 Pacific Classic, headlines racing at Del Mar. Last year’s G1 Dubai World Cup winner Hit Show tackles the impressive Knightsbridge and Japanese raider Finger.
