Five-year-old Princess Nala made an outstanding performance in the Listed Lenebane Stakes at Roscommon. Rory Cleary changed tactics on the mare and soon in the race managed to get an advantage. Although Princess Nala seemed a little bit tired during the final stages, she was still able to cross the line eight lengths from Blackberry Boy.

“Rory gave her a great ride. She loves that ground and we knew she would stay,” owner Mick Halford said after the race. “We thought the best place for her was out in front as she hasn't been having much luck in running lately.”

After his fourth place in the Budweiser Irish Derby, Boscobel will continue racing over middle distances, as announced by Mark Johnston. The colt has made important improvements this year since beating Lucarno in the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Supplementing him for the Curragh Classic cost $150,000, money well spent since Boscobel run a good race in spite of losing to Aidan O’Brien’s trio: Soldier of Fortune, Alexander of Hales and Eagle Mountain.

For the second year in a row, favorite Yeats won the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot, in the 200th edition of the classic competition. The market leader, under Mick Kinane, soon put distance between himself and the other runners, with a stylish performance.

“We are absolutely delighted. He was a lot heavier today than he has ever been, but he has been much pacer in his work and in his races than he has ever been,” trainer O’Brien said. “Mick did the right thing on him and rode him with a lot of confidence.”

Trainer Henry Cecil’s Passage of Time, who became the trainer’s first Group One winner since Beat Hollow with her victory at the Criterium de Saint-Cloud, is favorite among 15 contestants to win the Epsom Oaks. Cecil will go for his first British Classic triumph since 2000.

Godolphin, who won the race with Kazzia in 2002, will be represented by Measured Tempo and Ed Dunlop, who won in 2004 with Ouija Board, will be present at the race with Dalvina, winner of the Pretty Polly Stakes. Lingfield Oaks Trial winner Kayah has also been signed up for the competition.

Trainer Tim Pitt has decided to temporarily close his stable and suspend all racecourse activities among strong concerns over the health of his horses. Pitt has not had a winner since January 5th and will not have any runners at least for the next three weeks, in view of the previous disappointing results.

"We have been conspicuous by our absence and we won't have any runners for the next three weeks," trainer Pitt explained. "Our horses have returned some dirty scopes and indifferent blood results so I don't want to run them again until we dot all the Is and cross the Ts.”

Four-year-old Anna Pavlova is not certain to take part in the Blue Square Ormonde Stakes at Chester since Richard Fahey would like to see more rain before committing his filly to the competition. Last month, Anna returned to the track with a victory at Navan.

“I’d like a bit more rain before I committed her. If they got the same again as they got on Wednesday that would be great,” Fahey explained. “But realistically speaking it is still up in the air. She’s also in a race at Naas (Blue Wind Stakes) next week so it is not essential that she runs at Chester.”

A new edition of the Kentucky Derby, considered by some as the summit of horseracing, will take place next Saturday. As it happens every year, thousands of visitors are expected to attend the event, which this year has a very interesting and competitive field.

Many of the contestants have been working out for the Derby during the whole week, but few did so at Churchill Downs. Trainer Todd Pletcher took four of his five Derby horses to practice, one of them on the dirt track and the three on the artificial surface at Keenland. Cowtown Cat, the fifth one, went for a jog at Keenland.

For the 199th time, Newmarket will run the 2,000 Guineas next Saturday. The race is the first leg of the British Triple Crown and has taken place every year since Wizard won the first edition in 1809. It was founded by Sir Charles Bunbury, the Jockey Club’s director.

This year’s 2,000 Guineas looks like a battle between the favorite for the Epsom Derby, Teofilo, son of Galileo- winner of the Epsom and Irish derbies- and sprinter Dutch Art. Pure miler US Ranger, a colt who won the Maisons-Laffitte’s listed Prix Djebel, is likely to join them in the competition.

After the 10-minute delay in the start of the Grand National on Saturday, the Horseracing Regulatory Authority decided to issue a report. The HRA stated that the unique nature of the Grand National, with a field of 40, was the cause of the problems with the starting procedure at Aintree.

HRA spokesman Paul Struthers said that organizers were not happy with the delay after it took four tries to get the 40 contestants behind the tape to begin the race. Starter Peter Haynes refused to let them go since some of the horses had their noses over the line.

Ladbrokes World Hurdle winner Inglis Drever is likely to compete at Aintree. The eight-year-old, owned by Andrea and Graham Wylie, is expected to renew his rivalry with Black Jack Ketchum in the John Smith’s Liverpool Hurdle, the first event of the three-day meeting.

Inglis Drever was the star on day three of the Cheltenham Festival when he won his second World Hurdle. Trainer Johnson feels the horse is now even in better form than last month. “He’s come out of Cheltenham without a bother. In fact, I’d say he’s even better than he was before the World Hurdle,” Johnson explained.