Maker’s Mark Mile Stakes (Grade 1)

IF we thought Jordans was the unlucky horse of the weekend, wind the clock back 16 hours or so to this Grade 1 race, replays of which William Buick will not want to watch.

The Maker’s Mark Mile Stakes saw the reappearance of Godolphin’s Breeders’ Cup Mile and US champion turf male Notable Speech.

He might as well have been stuck on the M50 last week for all the daylight he saw and, to add to the annoyance, it was only a field of seven and he had a pacemaker in Aomori City.

Up front, Zulu Kingdom made the best of things under Flavien Prat and added his seventh win from eight starts, although he was disqualified from one of those Grade 2 wins.

The four-year-old is Irish-bred, a son of the July Cup winner Ten Sovereigns, bred by Ecurie Peregrine Sas (Ire). It was also win number 3,000 for trainer Chad Brown

Decisive

Aomori City missed the break and Prat and Zulu Kingdom controlled the race with comfortable splits and opened up with a decisive second-turn speed maintained into the straight.

Buick tried to go between horses on Notable Speech but couldn’t get a run until it was all too late, describing the race as “a mess”. Zulu Kingdom held off South African Group 1 winner One Stripe for a three-quarter-length victory. Grade 1 winner Rhetorical ran third, another half-length back.

Owners Madaket Stables, Michael Dubb, William Strauss, and Michael Caruso bought the winner in France after a two-year-old win in 2024.

“I felt very comfortable on the lead. He gave me a good run when we turned for home. I knew he was going to be tired late, so I kept him busy and his talent showed,” jockey Flavien Prat said.

Zulu Kingdom will head for the Grade 1 Fourstardave Stakes at Saratoga this summer and will be back for the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Keeneland.

Jenny Wiley Stakes (Grade 1)

KEENELAND’S other weekend Grade 1 was the mile and half a furlong Jenny Wiley for older females on turf and it saw a dead-heat between Juddmonte’s favourite Segesta (Flavien Prat), who looked to have the contest won but was caught on the line by the Irish-bred Expensive Queen, getting up the rail under Luis Saez to share the honours.

Two fancied runners Destino d’Oro and Lush Lips were scratched.

Luis Saez rode Expensive Queen, a five-year-old mare bred here by Fermoir, for owner Farfellow Farms and trainer Brendan Walsh.

The daughter of Lope De Vega had been a €260,000 Arqana purchase and raced for Kevin Ryan and Jaber Abdullah in Britain at two and three.

Both horses broke well behind pacesetter Aussie Girl. As they hit the straight, Chad Brown’s five-year-old Ghostzapper mare Segesta grabbed the lead, but Expensive Queen and Medoro gave chase.

Expensive Queen kept coming on the rail and they hit the wire together. Medoro finished three-quarters of a length back in third.

“I was riding her pretty hard and she was giving me a good turn of foot. We found the rail and she made a huge move,” Saez was reported to have said afterwards.

“I thought we were going to run on by, but the other filly, she came back.”

Juddmonte’s Garrett O’Rourke said on Blood-Horse of the homebred Segesta. “I’m delighted for the filly. She’s very deserving of it and had come so close in Grade 1s for so long.”

Beret blows out Nitrogen

Apple Blossom Handicap (Grade 1)

THERE was a surprise in the other Grade 1 of the weekend when the favourite Nitrogen, the champion three-year-old filly of last season, was unable to overhaul Claret Beret in the $1,250,000 Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn. The winner stayed on strongly up the straight to win by four and a half lengths for trainer Saffie Joseph and jockey Micah Husbands.

It was a first Grade 1 for the five-year-old Not This Time mare. With the win, Husbands also earned his first Grade 1 victory.

Owned by Miller Racing, Claret Beret settled in third off the leader Blue Fire and as the field rounded the far turn she moved to the front. By midstretch, she was over three lengths in front of her competition, and easily held off a bid from Nitrogen by four and a half lengths.

“I was just trying to be as patient and not move too early. When I asked her down the lane, she just finished it off. This has always been my dream, to ride in these kind of races and I’m just thankful to be living in the dream.” Husbands was quoted on Blood-Horse.

Japan

Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) (Group 1)

THE favourite Star Anise claimed this year’s Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas), the first leg of the fillies’ Triple Crown.

The Drefong filly was a Group 1 winner at two which earned her the Best Two-Year-Old Filly title.

Star Anise broke smoothly from an outside stall but was shuffled back to mid-division to the last turn, at which point she was steered out for a clear run.

Star Anise quickly assumed command before the furlong pole and continued to pull away easily for a two and a half-length victory from the Lord Kanaloa filly Garavogue.