French horses don’t win the Eclipse Stakes – but 3-year-olds do.

So it is that Vadeni, rousing winner of the Prix du Jockey Club, France’s Derby, is the early favorite for the Group 1 Eclipse on Saturday at Sandown Park in England.

The Eclipse marks the first chance for top-class sophomores to match talents with older rivals – something we don’t do in America until October or November – and another 3-year-old, Godolphin’s Native Trail, is second favorite for the Eclipse, contested right-handed over 1 1/4 miles.

Paul Lally:

R1: 1-3-2-4

R2: 3-9-10-11

R3: 3-8-9-1

R4: 2-5-8-13

R5: 3-1-6-10

R6: 6-3-1-8

R7: 6-1-2-8

R8: 1-3-6-7

R9: 5-7-1-10

R10: 4-6-3-9

Best Bet: R7 N6 Campione

Longshot: R2 N3 Adefill

Play Race2 QQP 3-9-10

Tom Wood:

R1: 1-4-3-12

R2: 6-9-10-2

R3: 8-3-1-9

R4: 8-2-6-1
R5: 2-1-3-6

R6: 3-1-8-6

R7: 2-7-8-3

R8: 1-3-6-7

R9: 5-9-7-10

R10: 6-4-7-9

Bold Bourbon and Colombe d’or are both lightly raced 3-year-olds. Bold Bourbon, a gelding, has won 2 of 4 starts, while the filly Colombe d’or won her only start on June 5.  

Each has an excellent chance to win a handicap against more-experienced rivals at about 1 1/8 miles at Geelong Racecourse on Friday.

Colombe d’or was the 2-1 favorite in early betting, while Bold Bourbon is an attractive selection as the 7-2 second choice.

Since early April, Lucky Express, Master Eight, and Nervous Witness have all started in group stakes for sprinters in Hong Kong and were within a length of winning.

Starts in such prestigious races have been paused for the Australian-bred geldings in favor of a class 1 handicap at six furlongs at Sha Tin Racecourse on Friday. This class 1 handicap, the $401,400 Hong Kong Reunification Cup, is restricted to horses with official ratings ranging from 90 to 115. Horses from class 1 frequently appear in group-level stakes, and are capable of winning such races.

SHA TIN SELECTIONS
(Friday, July 01, 2022) 

Three days after she was withdrawn from a turf marathon at Scone Racecourse in Australia, the 3-year-old filly Stella Glow is entered in a slightly shorter race at Hawkesbury Racecourse outside of Sydney on Thursday.

The Scone race was run at 1 3/8 miles, while the race at Hawkesbury is 1 5/16 miles.

Nautilus, a Brazilian-bred 4-year-old, and Ola Perfecta, a Peruvian-bred 6-year-old mare, won Group 1 races in South America on Sunday to earn automatic berths to Breeders’ Cup races at Keeneland on Nov. 5.

Nautilus earned a fees-paid berth to the BC Turf with a win in the Grande Premio Brasil at 1 1/2 miles on turf at Gavea Racecourse in Rio de Janeiro, the Drosselmeyer colt’s first Group 1. Nautilus (15-1) won the Grande Premio Brasil by a neck over Don Cambay.

Late scratches will have a tremendous effect on a handicap at 1 1/8 miles on the infield Kensington course at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney, Australia, on Wednesday.

The Milkybar Kid, a sharp winner of a maiden race at a mile in his fifth career start at Wyong Racecourse on June 16, was the 7-2 favorite in early betting but is stuck on the also-eligible list. The race drew a field of 16, but only 11 will start.

The presence of The Milkybar Kid would affect the pace since the 3-year-old New Zealand-bred tends to run near the front.

HAPPY VALLEY SELECTIONS
(Tuesday, June 28, 2022)

The eight-race program at Happy Valley Racecourse in Hong Kong on Tuesday will be a busy evening for jockeys Zac Purton and Joao Moreira, who are currently first and second in the standings.

Purton has 129 wins since the season began in September, a two-race advantage over Moreira. Moreira took off his mounts at Happy Valley last Wednesday, citing chest discomfort, and missed Saturday’s card at Sha Tin. He was medically cleared to resume riding by Hong Kong racing officials for Tuesday’s program.