G1 winners cap superb weekend on worldwide stage

Godolphin enjoyed remarkable international success over the weekend of Saturday, 28 and Sunday, 29 September, with homebred horses by Darley stallions winning major G1 races on three different continents in the space of 24 hours.

Progressive three-year-old Bivouac got the ball rolling in Australia with a brave victory for James Cummings in the G1 Golden Rose at Rosehill.

The Exceed And Excel colt showed tremendous determination to edge out Yes Yes Yes and record a first success at the highest level. Bivouac’s victory was a third Golden Rose success for Godolphin in recent years following Exosphere (2015) and Astern (2016) and he may now be aimed at the world’s richest turf race, the A$14 million The Everest, at Randwick on Saturday, 19 October.

Earthlight gained a second G1 victory as the son of Shamardal lowered the juvenile record with a neck victory in Europe’s premier six-furlong contest for two-year-olds, the Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket, UK.

The G1 Darley Prix Morny winner is now unbeaten in five starts for Andre Fabre and among the leading contenders for next year’s 2,000 Guineas alongside another outstanding Shamardal colt, Pinatubo.

Emerging sprint sensation Tower Of London continued the excellent run as he graduated to G1 honours in Japan with a superb display in the Sprinters Stakes at Nakayama – a race won by Godolphin’s champion sprinter Fine Needle in 2018.

The Raven’s Pass colt, trained Kazuo Fujisawa, will remain in training next year and could tackle some ambitious overseas targets over the coming months, with the G1 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Santa Anita, USA, in November under consideration for the four-year-old.