Beat the Clock and Mr Stunning finished first and second in the Group 2 Sprint Cup at six furlongs on turf at Sha Tin Racecourse in Hong Kong on Sunday, giving trainer John Size a deep team for the Group 1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize on the same course April 29.
Happy Clapper won his second Group 1 race of 2018 with Saturday’s $2.31 million Doncaster Mile at Randwick Racecourse in Australia, earning a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Churchill Downs in November.
Lucky Lilac appears to be in good form in advance of Sunday’s Grade 1 Japanese 1,000 Guineas at Hanshin Racecourse.
Andrew Hawkins' Hong Kong selections and analysis for Sunday, April 8, 2018 - Sha Tin
The next Group 1 sprint at six furlongs at Sha Tin is the $2.038 million Chairman’s Sprint Prize on April 29, a race in which Mr Stunning and Beat the Clock are the first two choices in future-book betting. They will have their final prep race in Sunday’s Group 2 Sprint Cup at six furlongs at Sha Tin.
Forgive Happy Clapper and Kementari for their recent losses in major stakes in Australia. After all, they finished behind Winx, who has won her last 24 starts. Kementari and Happy Clapper will not face Winx in Saturday's Group 1, $2.31 million Doncaster Mile at Randwick Racecourse outside of Sydney.
In the last year, Suave Richard has evolved from a contender in Japan’s leading races to winning such events. On Sunday at Hanshin Racecourse near Osaka, Suave Richard won his first Grade 1 race in the $2,439,529 Osaka Hai at 1 1/4 miles on turf, his third graded stakes victory in his last four starts. The only loss in the sequence was a fourth in the Grade 1 Arima Kinen in December behind Kitasan Black, the Japanese Horse of the Year in 2016 and 2017.
Benbatl arrived in Dubai last fall as a Group 3 winner at Royal Ascot earlier in the year who had shown ample promise. Benbatl will return to England in the coming weeks as a Group 1 winner expected to be part of Europe’s leading turf races.
Chad Summers, the trainer and co-owner of Mind Your Biscuits, was asked just before the Group 1, $2 million Dubai Golden Shaheen if his horse was as good Saturday night as he’d been a year ago, when Mind Your Biscuits won the Shaheen by three lengths.
At the last minute, Jungle Cat became Godolphin Racing’s best hope for Saturday’s Group 1 Al Quoz Sprint at Meydan Racecourse in the United Arab Emirates. The 6-year-old veteran lived up to late expectations.
