A slow start and a wide trip cost Maui in a six-furlong handicap at Sale Racecourse in Australia last month in his first race in 11 months. Eliminating either of those setbacks may result in a win for Maui in a handicap at 7 1/2 furlongs at Ballarat Racecourse on Tuesday.
It is obvious a stakes is a big deal when it has its own public holiday. Monday is such a day in the state of South Australia in conjunction with the Group 2 Adelaide Cup at Morphettville Racecourse in Adelaide.
Lighthouse, a stakes winner at Kentucky Downs in 2020, won the first Group 1 race of her career in Saturday’s $441,600 Coolmore Classic for fillies and mares at 7 1/2 furlongs at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney, Australia.
An all-important prep race over the course may provide a winning boost for Sweet Ride in Sunday’s Group 3 Black Opal Stakes for Southern Hemisphere 2-year-olds at Canberra Racecourse in Australia.
The final score was 23 to 5. No, it was not a lopsided baseball result, but the number of Irish-trained winners versus the number of British-trained winners at the 28-race National Hunt Festival for chasers and hurdlers at Cheltenham Racecourse in the west of England last March.
Hong Kong Selections for Friday, March 11, 2022 at Sha Tin.
Declan Schuster's Hong Kong Selections and Analysis for Friday, March 11, 2022 at Sha Tin.
Master Eight could not cope with a class rise to Group 1 competition while racing at level weights, but he could easily handle a class drop while getting a weight break in the co-featured seventh race Sunday at Sha Tin Racecourse in Hong Kong.
Spanish Mission was third in the Group 1 Melbourne Cup at two miles at Flemington Racecourse in Australia last November, and a return appearance in that race at the end of this year is a long-term goal. There is unlikely to be a race at that extended distance for Spanish Mission until November, but there are plenty of distance opportunities that fit the 6-year-old Kentucky-bred, notably Saturday’s Group 1 Australian Cup at 1 1/4 miles at Flemington.
The three leading contenders in the Group 3 Kembla Grange Classic at Goulburn Racecourse – Lekvarte, Pretty Amazing, and Roots – are all closers who approach the one-mile race in outstanding form. The result could be decided by which of the fillies gets a clean trip in a full field of 16, who prefers a heavy turf course, and whether Lekvarte tries to snap at one of her many rivals, as she did in her last race.
