Global Weekly Preview: Godolphin bid for early Saratoga success before Glorious week ahead

Saratoga returns amid much fanfare this weekend, while Arrogate is also back, starting a fresh campaign in a small handicap at Del Mar. 

East and West, there is quality racing in abundance in America, but in Europe, it is quieter, a lull before the action upcoming at Ascot and five days of Glorious Goodwood.

Kiaran McLaughlin admits that Godolphin's Dickinson has been a revelation since she was switched to the Turf. She has only been beaten twice on the surface and gets the chance to enhance her record in the G1 Diana Stakes at Saratoga. 

Dickinson faces five rivals, including Lady Eli and Antonoe, both familiar opponents and ones on which she could hold a slight edge in this first feature at the famous annual meeting at America's most beautiful racetrack. 

Dickinson has star quality written all over her. She can provide Godolphin with the perfect start, but whatever she does, it is likely to be overshadowed by the 'comeback' run of Arrogate, the world's highest-rated horse.

His win in the G1 Dubai World Cup at Meydan, coming from last, was spectacular, and confirmed the reputation he had established in the G1 Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita. 

Trainer Bob Baffert has chosen the G2 San Diego Handicap, over one mile and a sixteenth, at Del Mar this weekend, as the launching pad for this latest preparation.

At a slightly lower level, the latest crop of two-year-olds take the spotlight at Newbury and Maisons-Laffitte in Britain and France, respectively. 

The need to find new talented sires in the breeding industry is on-going. 

The five-furlong Weatherbys Super Sprint Stakes has long been a feature of Newbury's July Meeting, and the race's format gives some of racing's bargain buys a chance for a big collect -- and the stallions who produced them, the opportunity for higher profile. 

A total of 25 runners face the starter, and there are bound to be some rising stars among them. 

The Clive Cox-trained Heartache, an impressive winner at Royal Ascot, makes a reappearance in the G2 Prix Robert Papin in Paris. Gerald Mosse has been booked to ride. 

Mosse and Cox combined to win the same juvenile race with Reckless Abandon several years ago.