Yibir & White Moonlight display versatility with Listed wins

Veteran performers Yibir and White Moonlight both opened up new avenues with impressive Listed victories last week.

Yibir notched a first win over two miles as he powered clear in the Coral Marathon at Sandown Park on Friday. The five-year-old, who was crowned Champion Turf Male at the 2021 Eclipse Awards, is set to remain over staying trips for the foreseeable future, with the G1 Irish St Leger a potential target.

White Moonlight had been restricted to five career starts before this season but has blossomed as a six-year-old, with the Medaglia d’Oro mare dominating from the front in Chelmsford’s Queen Charlotte Stakes on Sunday.

Having posted turf and all-weather Listed wins on her last two starts, White Moonlight will now bid for a first Group-race success in the G3 Oak Tree Stakes at Glorious Goodwood.

Newmarket’s July Festival has proven a fertile hunting ground for Godolphin and this year’s meeting looks set to feature another strong squad, with Adayar headlining four potential runners in Thursday’s G2 Princess Of Wales’s Stakes.

Castle Way and Chesspiece could line up on the same card in the G3 Bahrain Trophy, a race won by Hartnell and Yibir, while the unbeaten Imperial Emperor holds an entry in the Listed Sir Henry Cecil Stakes.

Classic heroine Mawj captured Friday’s G2 Duchess Of Cambridge Stakes 12 months ago and the 2023 renewal could feature exciting course and distance winners Star Of Mystery and Dazzling Star.

Godolphin colts have won five of the last eight runnings of the G2 Superlative Stakes and Great Truth, a son of the 2004 winner Dubawi, could bid to continue the excellent record on Saturday.

Master Of The Seas also features on the Superlative Stakes roll of honour and the 2020 scorer is due to make his European return on the same day’s G2 Summer Mile at Ascot.