The longshot Peptide Nile was a shocking winner of Sunday’s Grade 1 February Stakes at a mile at Tokyo Racecourse in Japan, earning a berth to the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar on Nov. 2.

Also on Sunday’s program at Tokyo, Ramjet won the $241,100 Hyacinth Stakes, the third of four races in a Kentucky Derby qualifying series for Japanese-based runners.

Peptide Nile paid $107.10 in American pools. Only two other horses went off at longer prices in a field of 16 in the $1.55 million February Stakes, run on dirt.

With the 2023 dirt champion Lemon Pop bound for Saudi Arabia, the Japanese older horse division on dirt lacks a dominant starter in Sunday’s Grade 1 February Stakes at a mile at Tokyo Racecourse.

The $1.55 million February Stakes is one of two Grade 1 races on dirt at Japan Racing Association tracks, along with the Champions Cup at 1 1/8 miles in December. Lemon Pop, a contender in the $20 million Saudi Cup on Feb. 24, won both races in 2023.

By Leo Schlink

Having savoured the ultimate BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) experience with stable star Voyage Bubble last season, Ricky Yiu is bidding for successive Classic victories with emerging talent Simply Maverick.

With three wins from his past four starts – all over Happy Valley’s 1650m course – Simply Maverick returns to Sha Tin on Sunday (18 February) when he will attempt to enhance his rating and Derby prospects in the Class 3 TVB Miss Hong Kong Pageant Handicap (1800m).

SHA TIN SELECTIONS
(Sunday, February 18, 2024)

Imperatiz and Buenos Noches were first and second in the Group 1 Darley Champions Sprint at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Australia, last November, one of the country’s leading end-of-the-year sprints.

The two top-class runners are being kept apart for the beginning of their 2024 seasons in stakes on Friday evening.

Imperatiz will be an odds-on favorite to win the Group 1 Lightning Stakes, a $652,000 race run at five furlongs on a straightaway course, at Flemington.

Paul Lally: 
R1 9-1-5-10 
R2 8-6-11-3 
R3 8-1-3-7 
R4 4-1-5-11 
R5 3-4-10-2 
R6 8-3-9-2 
R7 11-6-3-7 
R8 4-11-2-5 
R9 11-10-4-3 
Best Bet R9 N11 Flamingo Trillion 
Longshot R7 N11 Cheers For South 
Play R6 QQP 3-8-9 

:: Hong Kong: Free PPs, picks, analysis, replays, and live streaming

HAPPY VALLEY SELECTIONS
(Thursday, February 15, 2024)

SHA TIN SELECTIONS
(Monday, February 12, 2024) 

Alhambra Lad, the 6-year-old New Zealand-bred gelding, is part of a three-horse team that Australian trainer Patrick Payne has sent to Hobart Racecourse on the island of Tasmania for stakes this weekend.

So far, the traveling team has been in outstanding form. On Friday, Payne’s Bold Soul won the Tasmanian Derby at Hobart. On Saturday evening, Alhambra Lad starts in the Group 3 Hobart Cup at 1 1/2 miles, while Wings of Song starts as a contender earlier on the program in the Strutt Stakes.

The $195,600 Hobart Cup is the track’s richest race and drew a field of 10.

Any juvenile that begins its career in a stakes commands attention. So far, the Australia 2-year-old Odinson has lived up to expectations.

After finishing third in a Group 3 stakes in his debut on Nov. 7, Odinson won the restricted Nursery Stakes with a come-from-behind move at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney on Dec. 9.

The win in the $328,800 Nursery Stakes has led to a start in the $1.3 million Inglis Millennium, a race restricted to sales progeny that will be run at 5 1/2 furlongs at Randwick on Friday night.