SHA TIN SELECTIONS
(Sunday, January 21, 2024)

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

Best Bet R2 N7 Mr Aladdin
Longshot R7 N3 California Voce
Play R5 QQP 4-5-12

Nick Child:

R1 | 2-3-7-1
R2 | 5-9-10-1
R3 | 6-8-5-7
R4 | 2-9-1-5 (WIN 2)
R5 | 8-7-4-9
R6 | 2-4-3-10
R7 | 7-12-9-2
R8 | 5-2-1-8 (Q/QP 1-2-5)

BEST BET | R8 N5 RAGING BLIZZARD
LONGSHOT BET | R5 N8 AROMATICA
PLAY | R6 (Q/QP 2-3-4)

Tom Wood:

Raging Blizzard (124lb) has stepped up his game this season with a pair of wins and tomorrow night (Wednesday, 17 January) he will attempt to emulate his Sha Tin heroics at Happy Valley in the HK$1.86 million Class 3 Chater Handicap (1200m).

Trained by John Size and to be ridden again by Karis Teetan, Raging Blizzard has had only four starts in Hong Kong – all at Sha Tin. The four-year-old scored at his first time of asking in Class 3 last month with a smart success over Gorgeous Win.

HAPPY VALLEY SELECTIONS
(Wednesday, January 17, 2023)

Paul Lally: 
R1 1-13-14-2 
R2 1-10-9-8 
R3 4-3-8-9 
R4 9-1-2-3 
R5 2-8-5-1 
R6 2-3-10-4 
R7 6-7-5-1 
R8 10-2-4-8 
R9 2-5-13-3 
R10 3-1-6-11 
Best Bet R9 N2 Chancheng Glory 
Longshot R6 N2 Beer Palace 
Play R4 QQP 1-2-9 

Equinox was named Japan’s 2023 Horse of the Year and champion older male for his undefeated four-race campaign that consisted entirely of Group 1 and Grade 1 races in Dubai and Japan.

The surprise was that Equinox was not a unanimous selection.

Equinox received 293 of the 295 votes cast for Horse of the Year, with two votes going to Liberty Island, the champion 3-year-old filly. Equinox received 294 of the 295 votes cast for older male, with Do Deuce receiving one vote.

There are 10 weeks to the Group 1 Golden Slipper Stakes for Southern Hemisphere 2-year-olds in Australia, and the $3.27 million race has an early favorite in the undefeated Storm Boy.

Before the Golden Slipper at Rosehill Gardens on March 23, Storm Boy has been given another seven-figure goal in Friday’s $1.99 million Magic Millions 2-Year-Old Classic at six furlongs at Gold Coast Racecourse near Brisbane.

Frankie Lor’s dominance of Happy Valley’s only Group race continued at the city circuit on Wednesday night (10 January) when Happy Together extended his startling progress with an emphatic win the HK$4.2 million G3 January Cup Handicap (1800m) under a facile Alexis Badel ride.

Given a perfect run three pairs back on the fence, Happy Together provided Lor with his third January Cup triumph in six years after the previous success of Simply Brilliant (2019) – who was also partnered by Badel – and Money Catcher (2023).

Paul Lally:

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

Best Bet R3 N4 Red Hare King
Longshot R7 N1 Splendid Living
Play R6 QQP 1-7-9

Nick Child:

R1 | 1-6-7-2
R2 | 2-5-3-6
R3 | 4-7-1-5
R4 | 12-4-7-10
R5 | 4-11-2-5
R6 | 9-3-7-1 (Q/QP 3-7-9)
R7 | 9-4-6-11
R8 | 3-9-4-7 (Q/QP 3-4-9)

BEST BET | R8 N3 BRAVE STAR
LONGSHOT BET | R4 N12 HARMONY N HOME
PLAY | R3 (WIN 4)

Alexis Badel is hoping to time it right aboard the rapidly rising Happy Together in Wednesday night’s (10 January) HK$4.2 million G3 January Cup Handicap (1800m).

Amid a sparkling season with three wins from four starts, Happy Together continues to up the ante, enough so to warrant his shot at Happy Valley’s sole Group race with Badel confident he has found the key to unlocking even more success for the five-year-old.