Hong Kong Selections for Wednesday, May 26, 2021
Hong Kong selections for Wednesday, May 26, 2021 at Happy Valley.
webmasterMay 25, 2021
Hong Kong selections for Wednesday, May 26, 2021 at Happy Valley.
Late last year and early in 2021, Delightful Laos found his footing racing at Happy Valley, where he notched two wins, in Class 3 and Class 2 handicaps, and finished a good second in a third start. The strong form earned Delightful Laos a move to racing at Sha Tin, where he failed to make an impact in two legs of the Four-Year-Old Classic series and most recently finished ninth trying a distance as long as 1 1/2 miles for the first time while facing Group 3 competition. Wednesday, Delightful Laos returns to Happy Valley, cuts back to 1,650 meters, and drops down into a Class 2 handicap, the featured eighth race, for horses rated 100-80. But is it too late?
Nikau Spur came out of his last race lame. He has been cleared to resume racing, and is entered in a handicap at 7 1/2 furlongs at Sandown Racecourse in Melbourne on Wednesday.
Ten American-based horses, eight for trainer Wesley Ward plus two others, form the American contingent headed to races at Royal Ascot in England next month.
Declan Schuster's Hong Kong Selections and Analysis for Wednesday, May 26, 2021 at Happy Valley.
Hong Kong Selections for Sunday, May 23, 2021 at Sha Tin.
Home by Midnight is in the midst of a career change at the age of 8. Sunday, Home by Midnight will have his stakes debut over obstacles in the $96,625 Australian Hurdle at Sandown Racecourse in Melbourne, Australia, the gelding’s 61st start.
For four years, Exultant has been the best 1 1/2-mile horse in Hong Kong. Exultant’s star has dimmed this season, and he’s winless in six starts, but if anything can get Exultant back into the win column it’s a return to 2,400 meters, which Exultant gets Sunday in the Group 1 Standard Chartered Champions and Chater Cup.
Sodashi is a champion unbeaten in five starts, but will have her toughest test in the Grade 1 Japanese Oaks for 3-year-old fillies at Tokyo Racecourse on Sunday. The $2.3 million Japanese Oaks, formally known as the Yushun Himba, will be Sodashi’s first start at 1 1/2 miles.
There will be no Love on Sunday at The Curragh. In fact, there might not be any kind of racing Sunday at The Curragh, where a week's worth of rain has left the famed Irish course waterlogged heading into Guineas weekend.