By the end of Wednesday’s seven-race program at Cheltenham Racecourse in Britain, Irish trainer Willie Mullins may have reached 100 career wins at the track’s prestigious National Hunt festival, or be ominously close to being the first person to do so.

Mullins has odds-on favorites in three of the four Grade 1 races on Wednesday, a program as much about the future as the present. On Tuesday, the first of four consecutive days of racing at the Cheltenham festival, Mullins has two odds-on favorites in Grade 1 races, and expected favorites in three of the other five races.

Race 1: #1 Ace Talent, #3 Mr Good Vibes, #4 Happy Tango, #10 Great Days
Race 2: #3 Beauty Infinity, #4 Nicconi County, #1 Celestial Colours, #8 Happy Fat Cat
Race 3: #2 Medic Elite, #11 Mighty Star, #6 Happy Jai Jai, #1 Beau Gosse
Race 4: #3 Copartner Prance, #7 Lapras, #9 Hayday, #5 Great Achiever
Race 5: #8 Super Eagle, #2 Ernest Feeling, #7 Multidarling, #5 Kilindini
Race 6: #1 Raging Blizzard, #2 Sugar Sugar, #9 Kyrus Dragon, #3 Watch Buddy

Bidding to add to an impressive collection of Hong Kong feature wins this season, James McDonald is wary of emerging threats to Lucky Sweynesse as the world’s top-rated sprinter attempts to win a second successive HK$13 million Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup (1400m) at Sha Tin on Sunday (10 March).

SHA TIN SELECTIONS
(Sunday, March 10, 2024) 

The $165,400 Canberra Cup at Canberra Racecourse in Australia on Saturday evening is run at 1 1/4 miles, the perfect distance for a showdown between two principal runners in the field of 11 – Fawkner Park and So United.

Fawkner Park, the 3-1 favorite in early betting on Friday, won three consecutive races at distances ranging from 7 1/2 furlongs to 1 1/2 miles from late May to early July last year.

For only the second time in his 13-race career, the brilliant Australian sprinter Think About It will start after a loss in the Group 1 Canterbury Stakes at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney on Friday night.

A winner of 11 of 13 starts, including the $12.8 million Everest Stakes last October, Think About It will be an odds-on favorite to win the $496,300 Canterbury Stakes at 6 1/2 furlongs.

SHA TIN SELECTIONS
(Sunday, March 10, 2024) 

The presence of the prolific winner Jimmysstar in Thursday’s Group 3 Newcastle Stakes at Newcastle Racecourse threatens to make the seven-furlong stakes a lopsided affair.

Jimmysstar, a winner of 5 of 7 starts, was the even-money favorite in a field of 15 as of Wednesday morning.

Golden Sixty completed his most significant piece of trackwork for a long time this morning (Tuesday, 5 March) at Sha Tin as trainer Francis Lui hopes for a fairytale finish to his charge’s career in next month’s HK$22 million G1 FWD Champions Mile (1600m).

“He galloped this morning. It was his first gallop, I think he’s ok – I saw him pass around,” Lui said. “He’s the same at home – a happy horse.”

Paul Lally:

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

Best Bet R6 N1 Solar Partner
Longshot R7 N5 California Deeply
Play Race5 QQP 4 7 8

Mark McNamara:

R1 - 1.10.3.11
R2 - 4.3.2.1
R3 - 5.3.4.10
R4 - 3.6.2.1
R5 - 7.4.1.8
R6 - 1.9.4.6
R7 - 9.1.2.4
R8 - 8.3.6.4
R9 - 11.1.3.7