Godolphin and trainer Charlie Appleby for months had been expected to win the 2000 Guineas on Saturday at Newmarket Racecourse in England. They did – just not with the horse presumed to be their best chance.
Hong Kong Selections for Sunday, May 1, 2022 at Sha Tin.
Short fields are rare in Hong Kong racing, but Sunday’s Group 3, $370,000 Queen Mother Memorial Cup Handicap at Sha Tin lured only five entrants.
Safe Secret, who will start favored in a sprint handicap at Bendigo Racecourse in Australia on Sunday, is hardly the same gelding this year as he was in 2021. Safe Secret will have his third start on Sunday in a five-furlong race that drew a full field of 12.
Last May, Deep Bond was second in the Grade 1 spring running of the Tenno Sho at two miles at Hanshin Racecourse in Japan, finishing three-quarters of a length behind World Premiere, who set a track record of 3:14.70. Deep Bond is part of a field of 18 in Sunday’s $2.974 million Tenno Sho with a reputation enhanced by two stakes wins in the last year.
Five times in the last six years trainer Aidan O'Brien has won the 1000 Guineas in England, and on Sunday at Newmarket a filly named Tuesday could make it six for seven.
The way My Whisper finished in the Group 3 Auraria Stakes on April 9 bodes well for her Group 1 debut in Saturday’s $357,100 Australasian Oaks at 1 1/4 miles at Morphettville. My Whisper, trained by Peter and Paul Snowden, will be ridden by Jamie Kah, who has been aboard for the 3-year-old filly’s three most recent wins.
Charlie Appleby has driven a global Godolphin resurgence the last several seasons. But for all the success, Appleby never has won the English 2000 Guineas, a hole in his résumé expected to be filled Saturday on the Newmarket heath.
Declan Schuster's Hong Kong Selections and Analysis for Sunday, May 1, 2022 at Sha Tin.
Yibir, the 2021 Breeders’ Cup Turf winner, will be heavily favored to win the Group 2 Jockey Club Stakes over 1 1/2 miles on Friday at Newmarket in England.
