The Irish stakes winner Pondus needs to win Wednesday’s Group 3 Bendigo Cup at Bendigo Racecourse in Australia to have a chance of earning a berth in the Group 1 Melbourne Cup on Nov. 3.
Declan Schuster's Hong Kong Selections and Analysis for Wednesday, October 28, 2020 at Happy Valley.
Irish legend Jim Bolger bred Saturday’s winner of the Group 1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud in France and trained the winner of the Group 1 Vertem Futurity in England.
Sir Dragonet, an Irish-bred colt who was second in the Group 1 Tattersalls Gold Cup in Ireland in the summer, made a splashy Australian debut with a victory in Saturday’s Group 1 Cox Plate at Moonee Valley Racecourse in Melbourne.
Contrail will take an unbeaten record into Sunday’s Grade 1 Japanese St. Leger for 3-year-olds at Kyoto Racecourse, his final start against his own age group. With six wins in as many races, Contrail will be a massive favorite to complete a sweep of the Japanese Triple Crown, having won the Grade 1 Japanese 2000 Guineas in his 2020 debut in April, and the Grade 1 Japanese Derby in May.
Mighty Giant isn’t quite as big as he used to be, and he has a large challenge in front of him, a gelding named Sky Field, in the featured 10th race Saturday at Sha Tin Racecourse in Hong Kong.
Phaistos, the 5-year-old Australian-bred gelding, ran as well as could be expected in the Weekend Hussler Handicap at Caulfield Racecourse on Oct. 10 in Melbourne, finishing three-quarters of a length behind heavily favored Windstorm in a field of eight.
The winner of the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes on Jan. 23 at Gulfstream Park in Florida will be offered a guaranteed spot in the second running of the $20 million Saudi Cup on Feb. 20 in Saudi Arabia, the organizers of the race announced Friday.
Hong Kong selections for Saturday, October 24, 2020 at Sha Tin.
Just like in the good old days, it’s Godolphin versus Coolmore in the Group 1 Vertem Futurity on Saturday at Doncaster Racecourse in England. The matchup at Doncaster between Godolphin’s One Ruler, trained by Charlie Appleby, and Wembley, trained by Aidan O’Brien, looks pretty hot, and there is further Group 1 action for European 2-year-olds Saturday with the Criterium International and the Criterium de Saint-Cloud, both at Saint-Cloud.
