Paul Lally:
R1: 9-4-3-5
R2: 3-8-12-2
R3: 4-3-11-9
R4: 4-6-3-1
R5: 5-6-9-3
R6: 4-2-5-10
R7: 5-9-8-4
R8: 11-10-5-4
R9: 5-7-3-2
R10: 10-5-11-3
Best Bet R5 N5 Midori Beauty
Longshot R6 N4 Millenium Falcon
PlayRace8 QQP 5-10-11
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Tom Wood:
R1: 9-4-13-2
R2: 10-1-2-3
R3: 10-4-3-2
There is no race in the world quite like the Jericho Cup, which will be run on Saturday at Warrnambool Racecourse in Australia.
The race is restricted to Australian- and New Zealand-breds and run at about 2 7/8 miles, an unheard of distance for a flat race in the Northern Hemisphere.
There is no shortage of interest in the $193,536 Jericho Cup. Saturday’s race drew a full field of 14, with four also-eligibles, and has a solid favorite in the 5-year-old gelding Bazini, who was second in a handicap at 1 1/2 miles at Sandown Racecourse in Melbourne on Nov. 16.
Since he finished third in the Grade 1 Japan Cup at Tokyo Racecourse last November, Shahryar has had mixed results in three starts around the world.
A win in the Group 1 Sheema Classic in Dubai in March in Shahryar’s first start of the year was followed by a fourth in the Group 1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot in England in June and a fifth in the Grade 1 autumn running of the Tenno Sho at Tokyo Racecourse on Oct. 30.
Vow and Declare has lost 15 starts since a career-defining win in the Group 1 Melbourne Cup in 2019, but he often races in other stakes at the highest level.
Vow and Declare was 18th in the 2020 Melbourne Cup and 10th in this year’s running of the two-mile classic on Nov. 1.
His next start is far less difficult. Vow and Declare will start favored in the Group 2 Zipping Classic at 1 1/2 miles at Caulfield Racecourse on Friday evening across American time zones.
French Emperor, the 4-year-old gelding, has reeled off three consecutive wins in the last two months to shoot through the lower ranks of Australia’s handicap system.
How far French Emperor can progress in better handicap races in the short-term future may become clearer after the Wodonga Gold Cup at Wodonga Racecourse on Thursday evening across American time zones.
French Emperor’s current winning streak includes a smart win in a one-mile handicap at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne on Nov. 5, the final day of that track’s Melbourne Cup carnival.
Paul Lally:
R1: 5-6-2-1
R2: 9-2-12-1
R3: 4-2-9-3
R4: 7-2-6-3
R5: 8-9-3-6
R6: 1-2-11-3
R7: 1-3-2-4
R8: 1-6-3-7
R9: 4-3-2-5
R10: 9-1-12-5
Best Bet R5 N8 Golden Express
Longshot R2 N9 I give
Play Race1 QQP 2-5-6
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Tom Wood:
R1: 2-6-5-1
R2: 1-2-9-12
R3: 2-4-7-10
Hong Kong’s best horse the last two seasons, Golden Sixty, returns from a seven-month layoff Sunday at Sha Tin in the Group 2, $640,000 Jockey Club Mile.
This is the first racing program of the 2022-23 Hong Kong season carrying international reverberations, the Jockey Club Mile one of three preps for the Hong Kong International Races next month. The exciting Romantic Warrior also makes his first start of the term, but Golden Sixty, who faces the talented 4-year-old California Spangle and just five other foes, takes center stage.
