Brett Davis - Selections
R1 - 9-4-3-1
R2 - 3-2-5-6
R3 - 9-4-3-7
R4 - 6-3-1-9
R5 - 7-10-9-2
R6 - 4-6-9-1
R7 – 10-1-9-12
R8 - 1-3-2-12
R2 n3 France Valour
2nd Best - R3 n9 Shining Champion
Longshot - R6 n9 Excellence
Best Play - Double R2 n3, R3 n9
Paul Lally – Selections
Race1 9-2-4-7
Race2 2-1-6-7
Race3 9-4-7-11
Race4 9-2-6-11
Race5 7-9-2-4
Race6 4-11-6-2
Race7 10-8-9-1
Race8 2-12-1-9
Minding completed a remarkable 3-year-old season with a fifth Group 1 win of the year in Saturday’s $1.4 million Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot Racecourse in England, her first win against older horses this year.
The Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at a mile was the second-richest race on a six-race Ascot program that included three other Group 1 stakes.
The French 3-year-old Almanzor in May had started five times. His appearances in two Group races had produced a seventh and a third, and even after winning a Group 3 in May, he was a 20-1 shot to win the French Derby. Win it he did, though, and now, as he goes off to rest for the winter, Almanzor looks like the best horse in Europe following a decisive victory over Found in the Group 1 Champion Stakes on Saturday at Ascot.
A pair of sprint handicaps, one at five furlongs and the other at seven, both for horses officially rated 100 down to 80, are co-featured Sunday at Sha Tin in Hong Kong, but the seven-furlong race, the last of 11 on the card, stands out due to the presence of the exciting prospect Pakistan Star.
Even by his lofty standards, trainer Aidan O’Brien is on a roll, and with strong chances in four of the five Group races Saturday at Ascot on QIPCO British Champions Day, the O’Brien train doesn’t appear to be slowing anytime soon.
Brett Davis - Selections
R1: 1-7-5-6
R2: 3-2-5-8
R3: 4-2-5-8
R4: 5-4-2-12
R5: 4-5-10-7
R6: 7-1-4-12
R7: 7-5-12-10
R8: 2-8-9-6
Best - R6 N7 C P Power
2nd Best - R8 N2 Super Turbo
Longshot - R7 N5 Entrusting
Best Play - R6 Q/QP 1,4,7
Paul Lally – Selection
R1: 5-9-1-2
R2: 5-3-7-2
R3: 9-2-5-8
R4: 5-10-1-12
R5: 5-10-4-7
R6: 7-1-6-12
R7: 10-1-7-12
R8: 8-4-2-9
Happy Cheers can win his first race in Hong Kong in the $159,196 Yew Handicap at six furlongs at Happy Valley Racecourse on Wednesday.
There are reasons to expect a promising race for Happy Cheers, who is trained by Caspar Fownes. A 4-year-old Australian-bred gelding, Happy Cheers won twice in Australia last year when racing under the name Kallara Village. In his first start in Hong Kong, at Sha Tin Racecourse on Sept. 11, Happy Cheers closed from eighth in a field of 11 to finish third, beaten 3 1/2 lengths, in a six-furlong handicap.
