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 

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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.

SHA TIN SELECTIONS
(Monday, February 12, 2024) 

The mainland shippers Yellow Sam and Give Giggles will lead the betting in the Group 3 Mystic Journey Stakes at Hobart Racecourse on the island of Tasmania in Australia on Friday night in a big field that includes local hopes Alvarinho and Jaguar Stone.

The $97,800 Mystic Journey Stakes at six furlongs for fillies and mares is the leading race on an eight-race program that begins at 10:39 p.m. Eastern, or 7:39 p.m. Pacific. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.

Harry Bentley notched a double at Happy Valley on Wednesday night (7 February) with Eighteen Palms and Watch Buddy as the Englishman continued to build crucial impetus at the mid-season point of the Hong Kong racing season.

Bentley struck with Eighteen Palms in the Class 3 Hong Kong Park Handicap (1650m) for Danny Shum before producing a nerveless display on Ricky Yiu’s Watch Buddy to clinch the second section of the Class 3 Victoria Park Handicap (1200m).

Paul Lally:

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

Best Bet R4 N1 Beauty Infinity
Longshot R9 N4 Beauty Glory
Play R7 QQP 1-5-9

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Tom Wood: