A packed weekend of horse racing at home and abroad conclude late yesterday and saw several dominating performances and accompanying surprises.

Starting off we had the Gr-IT United Nations Stakes, where defending champion Presious Passion made it two in a row, sprinting out to a 20+ length lead through the first half mile or so, then holding on for 2+ length win and a course-record setting win over the hard charging Lauro...

Very impressive as he just flew early and through that first mile and was laboring down the stretch.  His three firsts and two seconds in '09 puts him in the right mix for Turf Champion honors. The win secures him a spot in the BC Turf.

Coal Play also secured a spot in the Breeders Cup, in the Dirt Mile in his case, going gate to wire in the Gr-III Salvatore Mile. 

Favorite Smooth Air tracked him early and was in position to make a move in the stretch, but drifted out and could not reel him in, finishing second for the third time this year.  The surprise win was the first graded win for CP... Big surprise as he only had a pair of allowance wins couple with an ungraded stakes prior to yesterday...

The Gr-II (formerly Gr-I) Suburban featured another surprise as unheralded Dry Martini came with a huge rush down the stretch, going from last to first to sprint past favorite Asiatic Boy and win going away. 

This was his biggest win since the Gr-II Cornhusker Handicap over 2 years ago.   The biggest dissapointment was It's A Bird, who raced second into the final stretch but had nothing for the final drive and faded to seventh... The win was just his third in last 11 starts since the start of 2008, yet the $400K payoff just abut doubled his career earnings took him over the $1M mark.

In the Gr-I Prioress, lightly raced Cat Moves, making only her third start and first in stakes competition, remained perfect with a late move to corral entrymate light green deep in the stretch for the win.  Acorn winner Gabby's Golden Gal stumbled at the break, never recovered and finished last... So far she has dominated in her three starts and bears close watching in the F&M sprint division.

Come Sunday, Gozzip Girl was the star of the Gr-IT American Oaks, as she exploded after turning for home, running away from the field to a convincing 3+ length win...

Another defyning race, as she throws her hat into the ring into the wide open F&M Turf Division.

Next up, Zensational was just that in the Gr-I Triple Bend, blasting out of the gate to set a fast early pace then holding on strong for his first stakes win...

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Bafferet refers to him as a 'beast', and he seems to be getting better with each race.  Definetely a sprinter to watch.

In other races of note, top rated sprinter Informed Decision easily dominated her overmatched foes in the Gr-III Chicago Handicap, going gate to wire...

Still tops in the division.

While the speedy Monterey Jazz, twice out in the last two years with leg injuries, appears to be back in the form that in late '07 / early '08 had him as one of the top older horses in the country with a dominating, front running win in the Gr-IIT American Handicap...

A very, very fast horse who seems to have found a new niche in turf racing, he could be a player for either Dirt or Turf Mile come BC day.

Going abroad, a European weekend that featured 3 Gr-I's belonged to Sea the Stars (yellow) as the top 3yo defeated a top notch group of older horses in the Coral Eclipse Stakes, running midpack early then making a bold move to take over with 2f to go and taking the win by 1+ length...

Undoubtedly the leader in both the 3yo and Horse of the Year races.  His plans are still being determined, but it still appears that a run in the 1-1/2m English St. Legers, and a shot at the Triple Crown, is not in the cards... still can't believe that... If he skips the St. Leger, do not expect him to run in the Arc come October either. Now the winner of the Arc has been named Horse of the Year 3 of the last 4, and 4 of 6 years, so we'll see if that is influence enough.

In the other Gr-I races, which we did not feature as the fields were, in relative turns, a bit below average for top level competition across the continent, a couple of horses earned their first Gr-I's.  First, Wiener Walzer easily won the Gr-I Deutsches Derby (German Derby).  He is 3-3 in 2009, and may be ready to try going up against tougher competition outside of Germany. 

Then in France, Lord Shanakill, who opened up the year with a 12th in the English 2000 Guineas followed by a third in the St James's Place, took it to a new level when outfighting local horse Oiseau de Feu to win the Gr-I Prix Jean Prat by a head.

Finally arriving in Asia, it was time in Hong Kong to award the racing honors for the completed 2008 - 2009 racing season.  And to no one's surprise, Viva Pataca (below, black blinkers) completed his comeback season by taking home Horse of the Year and Champion Middle Distance and Stayer (third times in a row) on the strenght of his four wins / two Gr-I's during the year...

Odd to call a repeat champion a comeback, but his stock was definetely down near the end of last season and beggining of this one.  But he rebounded in a huge manner. .. Other notable winners included  Good Ba Ba and Sacred Kingdom, both of which repeated as Champion Miler and Sprinter... The latter is definetely a  surprise and is no doubt due to his popularity (he won Most Popular Horse as well... yes, that's an actual award)... as he only one 1 race during the season. The award should have to Inspiration, who won the Gr-I's  Cathay Pacific HK International Sprint and Gr-I Centenary Cup.