Big Orange was part of the most thrilling finish of the Royal Ascot meeting in June, winning the Group 1 Ascot Gold Cup at 2 1/2 miles by a nose. The popular 6-year-old gelding will start as a heavy favorite Tuesday in another marathon turf race, the Group 1 Goodwood Cup at two miles.
The 3-year-old filly Enable is at the top of European racing. On Saturday, Enable won her third consecutive Group 1 race, and her first start against older males, in the $1,508,340 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot in England.
Qemah will try to win the Group 1 Prix Rothschild on Sunday at Deauville Racecourse in France for the second year in a row.
Enable, the winner of the English Oaks and Irish Oaks in recent starts, will be favored Saturday to become the third female in the last six years to win the Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot Racecourse in England.
Total betting during the 88-day Hong Kong racing season that ended Sunday was up 10.7 percent, in part because of a five-day increase in the number of race days, according to figures released by the Hong Kong Jockey Club on Sunday.
The 3-year-old filly Enable won her second consecutive Group 1 race in the $455,960 Irish Oaks at the Curragh and Harry Angel won his first Group 1 in the $646,650 July Cup for sprinters at Newmarket, England, on Saturday.
The late Rapper Dragon was recognized as the Horse of the Year in Hong Kong for the 2016-17 season in a ceremony on Friday night.
Roly Poly got away from stablemate Winter and got her first Group 1 victory when she led nearly all the way Friday at Newmarket in the Falmouth Stakes.
Sunday’s final program of the Hong Kong season at Sha Tin Racecourse is equally a preview of the 2017-18 season that begins in early September, which could see Beat the Clock develop into a stakes runner.
The unbeaten Caravaggio will be favored to win his debut against older horses in Saturday’s Group 1 July Cup at six furlongs on turf at Newmarket Racecourse in England.
