By Paul Ryding

Caspar Fownes tightened his grip on the trainers’ championship and Douglas Whyte ended his barren spell on a rain-affected night of action at Happy Valley on Wednesday (4 March).

Luke Ferraris and Zac Purton shared riding honours with three wins each.

Fownes and Ferraris combined as Toronado gelding Verbier (121lb) made the most of a well-timed ride by the South African, and drove through a gap between the leading pair to claim the Class 5 Intercontinental Limousine Handicap (1200m) by half a length.

Sha Tin Selections
(Sunday, March 08, 2026)

Paul Lally
R1 1-7-3-4
R2 10-6-2-1
R3 8-11-1-6
R4 2-8-12-4
R5 11-4-5-6
R6 2-3-6-7
R7 3-8-1-9
R8 8-7-3-1
R9 11-1-5-4

Best Bet R6 N2 Sports Legend
Longshot R3 N8 Ping Hai Comet
Play R8 QQP 3-7-8

Tom Wood
R1: 1-7-4-9
R2: 6-10-4-1
R3: 11-6-3-1
R4: 7-12-2-8
R5: 11-5-4-6
R6: 7-2-3-6
R7: 1-3-5-11
R8: 8-9-3-4
R9: 1-7-11-4

BEST: R3 N11 STAR BROSE (WIN)
VALUE: R5 N11 CIRUS SPEED (EW)
PLAY: R9 QQP 1,7,11

By Declan Schuster

Lyle Hewitson hopes a favourable tempo can bring the best out of Storming Dragon (121lb) when Jamie Richards’ runner tackles the Class 3 New Lantao Bus Handicap (1200m) at Happy Valley on Wednesday night (4 March).

Lucky Planet (135lb), Matters Most (132lb), Metro Power (124lb) and Beauty Glory (122lb) have led and won races this season, setting up the possibility of a potent speed battle, one which could play into the hands of fast-closer Storming Dragon.

In the 11th instalment of The Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Road to the Derby series, we take a look at the “upward trajectory” of Dazzling Fit after his fifth in Sunday’s (1 March) HK$13 million Hong Kong Classic Cup (1800m).

While Frankie Lor’s Stormy Grove stole the show with a scorching success in the second leg of the Four-Year-Old Classic Series at Sha Tin, Dazzling Fit produced the sort of run that has trainer David Eustace hoping his charge will be peaking just in time for the 149th HK$26 million BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) on 22 March.

Happy Valley Selections
(Wednesday, March 04, 2026)

By Paul Ryding

Stormy Grove delivered a sensational run at long odds to score an upset and claim the second leg of the Four-Year-Old Classic series, the HK$13 million Hong Kong Classic Cup (1800m), at Sha Tin on Sunday (1 March).

Ridden by Harry Bentley, the son of Toronado made it two wins in a row and landed the Hong Kong Classic Cup with a performance reminiscent of his explosive 1600m showing at Sha Tin two weeks ago, when, after being drawn 14, he surged from last to first to claim his first Hong Kong win.

Very Romantic, yes, but not a whit of drama Sunday at Sha Tin Racecourse in Hong Kong, where Romantic Warrior overwhelmed five foes in the Group 1 Hong Kong Gold Cup.

No horse in Hong Kong can touch Romantic Warrior save, perhaps, Ka Ying Rising, who just last weekend won his 18th race in a row, but Ka Ying Rising’s brilliance extends to only seven furlongs, while Romantic Warrior rules the middle-distance division. He won the 1 1/4-mile Hong Kong Gold Cup by four lengths despite jockey James McDonald asking the great gelding for next to nothing through the homestretch.

Rebel’s Romance scored a measured 1 1/2-length victory, the 21st of his epic career, in the Dubai City of Gold Stakes on Super Saturday at Meydan Racecourse.

The performance puts Rebel’s Romance on target to make his fourth start in the $6 million Sheema Classic, where he was seventh in 2023, first in 2024, and fourth a year ago. Rebel’s Romance, an 8-year-old trained for Godolphin by Charlie Appleby, twice has won the Breeders’ Cup Turf and finished second in North America’s most important grass race this past November.