Rain is at the top of trainer Douglas Whyte’s wish list and the Hong Kong Observatory has currently bestowed a favourable forecast upon him and stable star Russian Emperor.

Seeking a third straight HK$13 million G1 Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup (2400m) at Sha Tin on Sunday (26 May), Russian Emperor thrives on wet tracks and is set to receive his preferred conditions with daily rainfall expected until early next week.

Tom Wood:

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

BEST: R7 N8 FAST SERVE (WIN)
VALUE: R5 N11 THE KHAN (EW)
PLAY: R8 QQP 1,4,11

Mark McNamara:

R1: 12.4.2.5
R2: 9.7.6.10
R3: 5.8.3.6
R4: 10.1.7.4
R5: 8.7.12.1
R6: 1.2.8.12
R7: 1.8.10.11
R8: 7.1.4.11
R9: 4.12.5.1

HAPPY VALLEY SELECTIONS
(Wednesday, May 22, 2024)

The partnership of the 3-year-old filly Cervinia and jockey Christophe Lemaire were reunited for the first time since October in Sunday’s Grade 1 Japanese Oaks at Tokyo Racecourse.

The team recorded a minor upset in the $2.08 million classic at 1 1/2 miles on turf.

Cervinia ($10.90) closed from off the pace to catch stretch leader Stellenbosch, the even-money favorite. Cervinia won by a half-length. Stellenbosch, the winner of the Grade 1 Japanese 1000 Guineas, finished 1 3/4 lengths in front of third-place finisher Light Back (7-1).

If you had been told early Saturday morning that a 5-year-old trained by John and Thady Gosden had won the Group 1 Lockinge Stakes at Newbury Racecourse, you would not have been surprised. The Gosdens, after all, had the star mare Inspiral entered in the Lockinge for her 5-year-old debut. Inspiral did not win, did not even come close, but the Gosdens did, as Audience, a 5-year-old gelding presumed to be a pacemaker for his heralded stablemate, went to the lead and never came back, capturing this straight-course mile by 1 3/4 lengths while posting a 20-1 upset.

A fine race record and an outstanding pedigree suggest Stellenbosch can handle racing at 1 1/2 miles when she starts at the distance for the first time in Sunday’s Grade 1 Japanese Oaks at Tokyo Racecourse.

Stellenbosch was a neck away from the champion 2-year-old filly title last year, losing by that margin in the season-ending championship race, the Grade 1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies at a mile.

In her 2024 debut, Stellenbosch closed from off the pace to win the Grade 1 Japanese 1000 Guineas at a mile at Hanshin on April 7.

Tom Wood: 
R1: 9-4-3-1 
R2: 5-11-6-7 
R3: 3-4-2-6 
R4: 4-1-5-8 
R5: 1-4-6-3 
R6: 10-4-6-11 
R7: 3-8-10-1 
R8: 7-8-1-11 
R9: 4-5-6-3 
R10: 8-4-3-7 
BEST: R8 N7 LUCKY TOUCH (WIN) 
VALUE: R5 N1 YOUNG BRILLIANT (EW) 
PLAY: R8 QQP 1,7,8 
  
Nick Child: 
R1:  3-5-9-10 
R2: 5-7-6-11 
R3: 3-2-6-5 
R4: 5-1-8-7 
R5: 6-2-4-7 
R6: 10-6-3-5 
R7: 14-8-3-10 
R8: 1-2-12-4 
R9: 5-4-3-1 
R10: 4-3-8-1 

Racing luck has recently abandoned the Australian sprinter I Wish I Win, who will be heavily favored to win his second Group 1 race in the $1 million Doomben 10,000 Stakes at six furlongs at Doomben Racecourse near Brisbane on Friday evening.

Last fall, in his final start of 2023, I Wish I Win overcame traffic in the final furlong to finish second by slightly less than a half-length in the $12.8 million Everest Stakes at six furlongs at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney, the world’s richest sprint.

It took Inspiral three starts to find herself when she returned to the races from a winter break in 2023. Inspiral, however, won her first start of 2021 and 2022, and on Saturday we will see whether the 5-year-old version of the mare comes out firing.

Inspiral was one of 11 final declarations for the J.T. Lockinge Stakes, the first older-horse Group 1 of the year in England. The straight mile at Newbury is a key fixture on the calendar on its own but also serves as a stepping-stone toward the Group 1 Queen Anne, the first race of the Royal Ascot meeting.

SHA TIN SELECTIONS
(Sunday, May 19, 2024)