For the second consecutive year, a late setback will prevent the star steeplechaser Altior from running in the Grade 1 Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham Racecourse in England on Wednesday.
Race 7 on Sunday's Sha Tin card looks very much like the last Group 1 sprint stakes run in Hong Kong, the Centenary Sprint Cup on Jan. 24. The top five finishers, headed by victorious Hot King Prawn, run back in Sunday’s race, along with Buddies, who was seventh in the Centenary Sprint. The other three in the Sunday Class 1 are Winning Dreamer, Sky Field, and Wellington, and more on them shortly.
The three leading contenders in the $96,957 Yarra Valley Cup are the British-bred Skyman and the Irish-breds Hang Man and Dabiyr. The Yarra Cup is run at about 1 1/4 miles, an ideal distance for Skyman, who was even-money in early betting on Friday.
The Cheltenham Gold Cup steeplechase on March 13, 2020, was the last sporting event of the year before a full audience in Great Britain – and just about anywhere else. The track announced a crowd of 65,859 attended the seven-race program. When the race is run this Friday, the official attendance will be 0.
Hong Kong Selections for Saturday, March 13, 2021 at Shat Tin.
Declan Schuster's Hong Kong Selections and Analysis for Saturday, March 13, 2021 at Happy Sha Tin.
Brookspire is one of the most lightly-raced fillies in Friday’s Group 3 Kembla Grange Classic at Kembla Grange Racecourse in Australia, and a starter with ample promise.
Tacitus has sustained what appears to be a relatively minor injury but one that will keep him from racing March 27 in the Dubai World Cup.
With consecutive group stakes wins in sprints in the last five weeks, Probabeel is in the best form of her already accomplished career – and among the favorites to win her richest race in Saturday's $3.85 million All-Star Mile at Moonee Valley Racecourse in Melbourne, Australia.
The ultra-consistent gelding War Deck could easily be on a three-race winning streak in advance of a start in a handicap at 6 1/2 furlongs at Goulburn Racecourse in Australia on Thursday. War Deck was third by a neck in a handicap at 6 1/2 furlongs at Orange Racecourse in November, won a handicap at a mile at Nowra in December, and then was second by a nose in a handicap at a mile at Canberra on Jan. 13 in his lone start this year. In each race, War Deck was favored.
