The enduring lifeblood of sport is a good old-fashioned rivalry and in both America and Britain on Saturday racing gets a dose of thoroughbred stars clashing head-on.
Nyquist and Exaggerator slug it out for the seventh time in the Pennsylvania Derby at Parx Racecourse.
Nyquist beat Exaggerator four in a row when he won the Kentucky Derby, but granted rain and a sloppy track, Exaggerator won both the Preakness Stakes and Haskell Invitational. There will be no such conditions this time.
In the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket in England, Godolphin’s Blue Point bids to scalp his Glorious Goodwood conqueror Mehmas, while earlier Lady Aurelia puts her unbeaten record on the line against Jaber Abdullah’s Queen Kindly in the Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes. Whoever wins can lay claim to be Europe’s best filly.
Mehmas is going to be retired as a juvenile at the end of the season so has to squeeze out as much from his talent as he can this season, while Charlie Appleby has high hopes that Blue Point can be a sprinter to be reckoned with next year.
“I am confident we will reverse the form,” he said. “Goodwood is a track where you need experience – it is a quick six furlongs and you come down the hill and meet the rising ground.
“He is getting a lot stronger and stands up like a sprinter.”
Lady Aurelia’s blitzkrieg performance in the Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot was one of the most mesmerising runs this year and earlier this week trainer Wesley Ward said he believes she could better that run.
“She really handles this course very well – she sort of skips over it,” he said. “I want her to really get hold of it and kick on and let her put in another big performance. It is going to be exciting.”
President Of The UAE Cup
It is two years since the President Of The UAE Cup has graced Churchill Downs, but its return to Louisville on Saturday night gives one of America’s enduring Purebred Arabian stars a chance to have his first run at the home of the Kentucky Derby.
Paddys Day attempts to add to his 15 wins in the $100,000 (Dh367,000) Grade One contest by taking on a field of nine runners.
Paddys Day has run 22 times and accumulated 10 stakes victories, and has proved his versatility by running on every surface imaginable.
To add to the lustre of his challenge he will be ridden by Calvin Borel, the three-time Kentucky Derby winner who only came out of retirement last month.
The 49-year-old made it in to the winners’ enclosure there on Sunday where he dismounted Super Saver (2010), Mine That Bird (2009) and Street Sense (2007). Trainer Scott Powell was hardly hopeful of propelling Borel back there, but is certain of giving a good go.
“If he’s lost a race it’s probably been my fault more so than his; he’s always proven that,” Powell told reporters. “It’s just a matter of keeping him happy and being patient. We’ve been patient with him and have never pushed him just to get a win. We’ve just been keeping him happy and it appears to be working well for us.
“Obviously going into this race, we got Borel on our horse so I’ll take our chances. The team is ready and we’ll give it hell. Whatever doesn’t go right, we’ll make the adjustments and get better for next time.”
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