Group 1-winning trainers Frederic Rossi, Cedric Rossi, and Charley Rossi were among 15 people taken into French police custody Tuesday, according to multiple published reports in France and England. The arrests took place in Marseille and Paris as part of an investigation into doping and forgery, the reports said.
Hong Kong Selections for Wednesday, December 8, 2021 at Happy Valley.
It’s Classified had a rude debut against winners in Australia in July, finishing seventh of nine Southern Hemisphere 3-year-old fillies in a seven-furlong handicap at Sandown Racecourse in Melbourne. Nearly five months later, farther to the west in the Australian state of Victoria, It’s Classified should have an easier time in a handicap for fillies and mares at 5 1/2 furlongs at Warrnambool on Thursday.
The Wednesday card at Happy Valley is all about the riders. Four of the program’s 10 races – the fourth, fifth, seventh, and eighth – form the International Jockey’s Championship, an annual Happy Valley fixture the Wednesday before the Hong Kong International Races on Sunday at Sha Tin.
Solar Apex, trained by Chris Waller, has been entered in a slightly easier handicap at a mile at Warwick Farm Racecourse in Sydney on Wednesday. Solar Apex is back to racing at the same level as his September races, a leading reason he was the 9-5 favorite as of Monday to beat seven rivals.
Declan Schuster's Hong Kong Selections and Analysis for Wednesday, December 8, 2021 at Happy Valley.
A well-mannered T O Keynes benefited from recent gate schooling to take Sunday’s Grade 1 Champions Cup on dirt at Chukyo Racecourse in Japan for his second graded stakes win of the year.
Winter Moon will start as a leading contender in a one-mile handicap at Dubbo Racecourse on Tuesday.
Battle Guardian, a 5-year-old gelding, was one stride away from a win in the Taree Cup at 1 1/4 miles at Taree Racecourse in Australia on Nov. 21, closing from eighth in a field of 10 to lose by a nose. Monday, Battle Guardian starts in a longer race, in the Tuncurry-Forster Cup at 1 5/16 miles at Tuncurry Racecourse, located on the coast well north of Sydney.
Hong Kong Selections for Sunday, December 5, 2021, at Sha Tin.
