Uneasy Sense Finally Out of 1,000

Sense Of Joy, who has long been among the market-leaders for the 1,000 Guineas, will miss the Classic at New market next month after suffering a soft-tissue injury. The injury may also cast doubt over her chance of running in the Oaks at Epsom in June, for which she was the 8-1 favorite with Ladbrokes yesterday morning.

John Gosden's filly was unbeaten in two starts last season, including the Group Three Prestige Stakes at Goodwood. Last week, her trainer said that she would go straight to the Guineas, but she drifted to 16-1 for the race on Betfair shortly afterwards and had not fully returned to her previous spot in the market prior to yesterday's news.

"Sense Of Joy has sustained a soft tissue injury which will rule her out of the 1,000 Guineas," Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager to owner Prince Khalid Abdullah, said. "Further investigations as to the extent of the injury are now being made."

The 1,000 Guineas still looks unusually open at this stage, with three fillies - Muthabara, Spacious and Natagora - vying for favoritism. There is also time for a late developer to enter the picture, with the Nell Gwyn Stakes at New market this afternoon offering one possible starting point, not least for Gosden's runner Infallible, a once-raced maiden winner.

"She won her maiden well at New market at the back end of last year," Gosden said yesterday, "and she shouldn't mind the ground. However, this is an inexperienced filly and it is a big step up in class."

The Irish Derby will be a very obvious target for the best three-year-old colts after The Curragh announced a new five-year sponsorship deal yesterday. Dubai Duty Free will take over from Budweiser as the race sponsor, increasing the prize fund to €1.5m [£1.2m] in the process.

The news also serves to highlight the fact that both the Derby at Epsom and the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot are currently without a long-term sponsorship deal.

Epsom, which had hoped that another Dubai-based business, Emirates, would step in to sponsor its Classic, has agreed a final one-year extension to its long contract with Vodafone, while Ascot has failed to replace De Beers since it withdrew from backing the King George in 2006.

"In recent years, the Irish Derby has been the highest-rated Derby in Europe," Denis Brosnan, the chairman of Horse Racing Ireland, said. "I would like to congratulate the Curragh and the Turf Club for securing such a prestigious partner for our most important Flat race."

Ron Cox's tip of the day

Nacarat 3.30 Cheltenham

Nacarat didn't take to Cheltenham on his second run since coming over from France, when two mighty blunders ended his chance in a decent handicap chase. Back over hurdles, it may be a different story for Tom George's charismatic grey, who ran a huge race next time behind Natal in the Connaught Cup and was last seen falling in Aintree's Topham Chase. He's 11lb lower than over fences.