Global Weekly Review - 01.08.16

If you are an American race fan, August means Saratoga. If you are in Europe, the eighth month of the year spells Deauville.

Both venues are located in beautiful towns, oases away from the big capitals - and racing is all the better for it. For the horses, horsemen, and race fans, it is a refreshing change.

An early talking point at Saratoga was the amazing wire-to-wire victory of Laoban in the featured G2 Jim Dandy Stakes, over nine furlongs on dirt.

Mohaymen stumbled badly coming out of the starting gate, which may have made it a little easier for Laoban to settle into a nice, even racing rhythm up front, which he was able to maintain to record a notable win, by a length and a quarter, from Governor Malibu.

But the one fact that made Laoban stand out was that he went into the race a maiden. As a $260,000 purchase from the Keeneland September Sale, connections had always regarded the son of Uncle Mo highly and continued to aim high with him. They have been richly rewarded.

The first G1 of Deauville's famous summer season, the Prix Rothschild, over one mile for fillies and mares, was won by Qemah, who proved too classy for her rivals. The likeable Volta chased her home in second, but the Mark Johnston-trained Lumiere raced a little too keenly early and dropped away tamely inside the two-furlong marker.

There had been a general impression formed that Qemah had been fortunate when winning the G1 Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot, particularly as Alice Springs had been held up for a run. But this result provided evidence that such an impression may have been misleading.

Back in America on Sunday, G1 Preakness winner Exaggerator bounced back from a dismal run in the G1 Belmont Stakes to land the G1 Haskell Invitational, coming with a strong, sweeping run around the field.

Again, Nyquist became involved in a prolonged battle in the lead, this time with American Freedom, and it was no surprise to see the Kentucky Derby winner fading out of the picture in the home straight.

The long list of G1 contenders on both sides of the Atlantic is about to be drawn on again as a series of major races come up with some frequency in coming weeks.