Ami Please is in the midst of an unconventional preparation for a potential start in the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs on May 5. Second in the Group 3 United Arab Emirates Oaks at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai on Feb. 17, Ami Please starts in Saturday’s $175,000 Al Bastakiya Stakes against males at 1 3/16 miles at Meydan.
Cool Amigo may have an ideal race scenario when he starts for the first time since October in a five-furlong handicap at Coffs Harbour Racecourse in Australia on Wednesday evening.
Declan Schuster's Hong Kong Selections and Analysis for Wednesday, March 1, 2023
A bad start and traffic issues could not prevent Sanstoc from winning her first start of 2023 in Australia earlier this month. The gritty win has led to a high-profile role in a seven-furlong handicap for fillies and mares at Warwick Farm Racecourse in Sydney on Tuesday evening.
The fillies Smooth Sailing and Sumptuary and the gelding Cable Tie had perfect starts to their careers earlier this year, winning maiden races for sprinters in Australia. All three have been given a logical assignment to a start in a six-furlong handicap at Gosford Racecourse on Monday evening for their second races.
Romantic Warrior is two years younger than Golden Sixty and has made 12 starts to Golden Sixty’s 28. His legs are younger and fresher and the 2000-meter distance of Sunday’s Hong Kong Gold Cup at Sha Tin Race Course hits Romantic Warrior’s sweet spot. Golden Sixty’s best trip always has been one mile and Sunday, when Romantic Warrior got first run, going for home with three furlongs left to race, trying to empty Golden Sixty’s tank, it should have been game over. Instead, it was game on, Golden Sixty coming steadily down the outside, getting up in the shadow of the wire, and winning by a head.
With only five races of experience, the Australian gelding Golden Breeze has found his niche in five-furlong races.
In 2022, Japan-based horses won four undercard stakes on the Saudi Cup card. In 2023, four Japanese horses, led by gate-to-wire winner Panthalassa, finished among the top five home in the $20 million Saudi Cup at King Abdulaziz Racecourse.
Elite Power’s winning streak began last June in a Churchill Downs maiden race. It grew to six on Saturday in Saudi Arabia, where he followed up on his Breeders’ Cup Sprint win in November with a powerhouse victory in the $1.5 million Riyadh Dirt Sprint.
With The Moonlight swamped seven rivals in the featured Balanchine Stakes on Friday at Meydan, winning the Group 2, $180,000 fixture by four lengths.
