Yesterday's G2-San Marcos at Santa Anita was another reminder of sometimes glaring disparity in talent level between turf races in North America and those in Europe. If you follow the results of European turf shippers to North America on a yearly basis, it's readily apparent that low-level Group winners in England, Ireland and France can, many times, immediately challenge Grade 1 level horses in North America. At the Breeders' Cup, the two-day collection of North America's top racing talents, horses that haven't even won at the Group level in Europe can hold their own in most of the turf races.

The San Marcos was won in gate to wire fashion by Slim Shadey (GB), a four-year-old gelding that recently shipped to the United States from the U.K. after finding little success in his native land. He won just one race from fifteen starts, a novice stakes at Ascot in July of 2010, and was thoroughly trashed by Frankel (GB) in last year's 2,000 Guineas, losing by over 17 lengths. He lost the Irish 2,000 Guineas by ten lengths to Roderic O'Connor (IRE) and spent the rest of the year running up the track in non-Group races. Slim Shadey made his U.S. debut against Allowance competition in Jan 2nd and ran poorly once again. Finally, in his last start before the San Marcos, after being stretched back out to 10 furlongs, he found a measure of success en route to a 1 1/4 length victory against Optional Claiming/N1X company. He had run at 10 furlongs twice in England and lost by a combined 53 1/4 lengths against non-group competition.

To be fair to Slim Shadey, lots of horses got thrashed by Frankel last year, many of which are very talented. On the other hand, Frankel wasn't the only horse to thrash Slim Shadey; he lost badly in a variety of conditions.

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Victoire Pisa (JPN), the winner of the richest race in the world, the Dubai World Cup, and Danedream (GER), winner of the prestigious Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, are among the sixteen horses entered for the Grade 1 Japan Cup at Tokyo Racecourse. The 521 million Yen purse ($6.7 million) makes the Japan Cup the third richest thoroughbred horse race on the planet, right behind the Dubai World Cup and the Melbourne Cup. Post time for the 2011 Japan Cup is 1:20am Eastern on Sunday, Nov. 27th / 10:20pm Pacific on Saturday, Nov. 26th.  You can watch the race on TVG.

World Cup winner Victoire Pisa is making his first start since winning in Meydan last March, after which he suffered a leg injury. His lengthy absence from the track is the reflected in his 12/1 odds with bookmakers in the U.K.

Danedream, the approximate 5/2 favorite with the U.K. bookmakers, rolls into Tokyo off of three straight Group 1 victories, including her runaway win in this year's Arc. Danedream will once again receive a weight allowance when taking on the males in the Japan Cup; she'll carry 117 pounds, nine pounds less than her male rivals. Sahreta (IRE), runner-up to Danedream in the Arc, also made the long journey to Japan and will receive the same nine pound advantage.

Mission Approved, winner of the G1-Manhattan Handicap at Belmont this summer, is the lone American entry in this year's field.  Following his win in the Manhattan, Mission Approved finished 4th in the G1-Man o'War, 7th in the G1-Arlington Million, and 4th in the G1-Hirsch Turf Classic. 

Buena Vista (JPN) is back to defend her Japan Cup title (well, she crossed the finish line first in 2010, but was DQ'd) after a season in which she was unable to score a single victory.  The five-year-old mare was 2nd in both the G1-Victoria Mile and G1-Takarazuka Kinen, but finished 8th in the World Cup at Meydan.  In her most recent start, she finished 4th as the 9/5 favorite in the G1-Tenino Sho (Autum Stakes).

One of the other top competitors for this year's race is Tosen Jordan (JPN), a five-year-old son of Jungle Pocket (JPN) that comes into the Japan Cup off back-to-back victories in the G2-Sapporo Kinen Stakes and the aforementioned G1-Tenino Sho. Tosen Jordan is a four-time graded stakes winner in Japan, with two of those victories coming at Tokyo Racecourse.

Below are the entries for the 2011 Japan Cup.  You can find past performance at the Horse Racing in Japan website.

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Last night in London, Frankel (GB) was named Europe's 2011 Horse of the Year at the annual Cartier Awards. Frankel, trained by Sir Henry Cecil, is a perfect nine for nine in his career, including wins in this year's 2000 Guineas (video below), St James's Palace Stakes, Sussex Stakes, and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes.  He won his five races in 2011 by a combined 19 3/4 lengths and wasn't legitimately challenged in any of those contests. 

Frankel will return to the track in 2012 when Cecil hopes to stretch him beyond a mile for the first time in his career.  Cecil is targeting the ten furlong Group 1 Coral-Eclipse Stakes at Sandown for his first try at a longer trip.  Based on what we saw from Frankel at the end of the season, a couple extra furlongs appear to be within his ability.

The Cartier Awards are determined by points earned in group races throughout the year, along with votes cast by racing journalists in Great Britain and readers of the Racing Post and the Daily Telegraph.

Dream Ahead, the champion sprinter of 2011, is the first American-bred horse to win a Cartier Award since Rainbow View was named the top two-year-old filly in 2008.  Bred by Darley, Dream Ahead is a three-year-old son of Dikat out of the Cadeaux Genereux mare Land of Dreams.  He finished well behind Frankel in the St James's Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot, but rebounded to win three Group 1s over the course of the rest of the year, including a head-bob win over Goldikova (IRE) in the Prix de la Foret on Arc day.

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Below are results from British Champions Day at Ascot, with links to the full chart at the Racing Post (when available).

UPDATE: While there were impressive performances in all of the Champions Day races at Ascot today, Frankel's dominance (again) of his rivals was a sight to behold. As pointed out in the comments below, Frankel has won his nine races by a combined 46 lengths.

French runner Cirrus Des Aigles capped off the day by edging out So You Think at the wire of the Champion Stakes.

UPDATE #2: Sectional times were added to Ascot prior to the British Champions Day, which for the firs time allows us to look at some internal splits for Frankel. You can find splits for the entire field on the At The Races website. I've summarized Frankel's splits below.

The ground was rated "Good" at Ascot today, and the final times were pretty quick throughout the day.  As you can see by the numbers above, Frankel won the QEII from the 4 furlong mark to the 7 furlong mark.  Over those four panels he clicked off 1/8 splits of 11.89, 11.56, 10.99 and 11.93.  By the time the field was inside the final furlong the matter had been decided.  The 12.75 final clocking might seem a bit slow, but it was almost a 1/2 second faster than any other horse in the field.

That 15 second first quarter furlong (which was almost the same for every horse in the field; even the pacesetter Bullet Train went 15.01), suggests to me that there wasn't much of a run-up to the first timing mechanism.

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If you are looking to watch the British Champions Day races from Ascot tomorrow morning, both TVG and HRTV will have coverage of the event.  Each channel takes the same feed from England, so it's unlikely they'll be any difference in the pictures you'll see.  In past broadcasts of international races (Royal Ascot, Arc, etc), TVG tends to have their in-studio hosts provide some analysis of the action from L.A., while HRTV tends to just roll with the footage coming in from Europe. If you get both, you'll have your choice of American talking heads vs. non-American talking heads.

(By the way, I love the photo of Frankel from the Guineas at the top of this post; the way he strung out that field was beyond impressive.  If I get out a magnifying glass I might be able to pick myself out in the crowd (I was in the main stand on the second level, almost all the way to the right, standing at the top of the rows). 

Post position times (Eastern/Pacific) are noted below. By the way, take note of the distribution of post times; 35 minutes between all races. No wasting a hour waiting for the next race.

8:50am / 5:50am: Long Distance
9:25 / 6:25: Sprint
10:00 / 7:00: Fillies & Mares Stakes
10:35 / 7:35: Mile (Queen Elizabeth II Stakes)
11:10 / 8:10: Middle Distance (Champion Stakes)

The inaugural British Champions Day will take place this Saturday at Ascot Racecourse in England and will feature five races and total purses of £3 million. The undefeated Frankel (GB) headlines the British Champions Mile (or Queen Elizabeth II Stakes), where he'll face seven rivals. Frankel is currently the 1/3 ante post choice.

In the final race of the day, the Champion Stakes at 10 furlongs, So You Think (NZ) and Nathaniel (IRE) will lead a field of twelve.  Nathaniel is a perfect 2-for-2 at Ascot, but all of his wins have come at 12 furlongs, not ten.  Mares Midday (GB) and Snow Fairy (IRE) will challenge the boys in the Champion Stakes.

Below are the entries, post positions and current best odds (via Racing Post) for Saturday's British Champions Day.

I'll have a closer look at these races a little later.

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Sarafina (FR) moved to the top of the antepost wagering for the 2011 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe after an impressive, yet troubled filled win in the Group 2 Prix Foy at Longchamp on Sunday.  Generally, a four-horse field reduces the possibility of a horse encountering trouble, especially in a race covering a mile and a half.  But trouble found Sarafina in the final furlongs as she became boxed in behind her three rivals and had no choice but to attempt to split the trio in the shadow of wire.  Once in the clear, Sarafina powered to the front to deny Hiruno d'Amour and solidify her status for the Arc.

In the other two Arc preps on the Longchamp card, French Derby winner Reliable Man (GB) won the G2-Prix Niel, and Galikova (FR), half-sister to Goldikova (IRE), won the G1-Prix Vermeille. Additionally, Prohibit (GB) won the five furlong G3-Prix de Petit Couvert, and Excelebration (IRE) took the one mile G1-Prix du Moulin de Longchamp.

You can video replays of all three race at the bottom of this post.

Sarafina, Relivable Man, and Galikova are all considered top contenders for this year's Arc (see current betting below), but it's Sarafina that has distinguished herself from the pack with her most recent performance. 

Galikova's win was her first at twelve furlongs and was accomplished in an impressive manner over testing ground.  Jockey Olivier Peslier had Galikova geared down at the wire as runner-up Testosterone (IRE) had no chance in the final yards.

Arc Preview Day Results:

Three of the races on Sunday's card were run at the Arc distance of a mile and a half - Prix Foy, Prix Niel, and Prix Vermeille - making it relatively easy to compare the results of those events.  Of the three, Sarafina finished with the fastest overall time, just ahead of Reliable Man's clocking in the Prix Niel.  Galikova's win was approximately two seconds slower that the other two races, but was still an impressive performance when you factor in the condition of the ground throughout the card at Longchamp.

Below is a breakdown of the internal splits from the seven to twelve furlong mark in all three of the Arc preview races.

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Sunday's card at Longchamp in France is the local preview for Arc festival in early October with the six-race card featuring two Group 1, two Group 2, and two Group 3 events. The Prix Foy and Prix Neil are the prime preview races, with both running over the same twelve furlong trip as the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.  The  2011 Arc will take place on Sunday, October 2nd. 

Below are the scheduled races for Sunday's Longchamp card:

G3 - Prix du Petit Couvert (3up, 5f)
G2 - Prix Foy (3up, 12f)
G2 - Prix Niel (3yo, 12f)*
G1 - Prix du Moulin de Longchamp (3up, 8f)
G1 - Prix Vermeille (3up, f&m, 12f)
G3 - Prix Gladiateur (4up, 15+f)

*The Prix Niel is a Breeders' Cup Challenge / "Win and You're In" race for the Breeders' Cup Turf.

-The Prix Foy drew a microscopic field of four with few willing to challenge Nakayama Festa (JPN) and Sarafina (FR). Nakayama Festa finished 2nd to Workforce (GB) in last year's Arc but hasn't raced since finished 14th in the G1-Japan Cup last November. Sarafina began 2011 with a length defeat to Planteur (IRE) in the G1-Prix Air Mauritius at Longchamp, but bounced back to win the G2-Prix Corrida and G1-Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud.

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