Finally defeated, hardly disgraced, Golden Sixty can start a new winning streak Sunday at Sha Tin in the Group 1, $1.54 million Hong Kong Gold Cup. 

For the first time in 16 starts and 31 months, Golden Sixty starts after losing a race. Overwhelmingly favored to win his 17th straight start, Golden Sixty met defeat Jan. 23 in the Group 1 Stewards Cup, beaten three-quarters of a length by Waikuku while racing at level weights.  

Did Golden Sixty take a step back in his third start of the 2021-22 Hong Kong racing season, leading to his shock defeat? Probably he did not.  

With two top rivals scheduled to start in stakes in the Middle East, Cafe Pharoah has an improved chance of winning Sunday’s Grade 1 February Stakes at a mile on dirt at Tokyo Racecourse in Japan for the second consecutive year than it might have seemed a few months ago.

The Australian 3-year-old filly Miss Charlie Brown has raced exclusively at tracks on the island of Tasmania in her 11-race career.

A three-time winner, Miss Charlie Brown won her first two starts in sprints in December 2020 and January 2021 at Launceston Racecourse and her most recent start in the Strutt Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at 1 5/16 miles at Hobart Racecourse on Feb. 11 in an 18-1 upset.

In the last two years, Nature Strip has been honored as Australia’s Horse of the Year for the 2019-20 season and won the world’s richest sprint in the $11.05 million Everest Stakes at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney last October.

Regaining those titles is a goal for the 2022 season, which begins for Nature Strip in Saturday’s Group 1 Black Caviar Lightning Stakes at five furlongs at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne.

SHA TIN SELECTIONS
(Sunday, February 20, 2022) 

Lazuli finished a good second in the Dubai Sprint at six furlongs on turf at Meydan on Jan. 28 in his first start since Saratoga and can easily improve from that performance in Friday’s Group 2 Blue Point Stakes at five furlongs on turf at Meydan.

Lazuli is a three-time sprint stakes winner on turf in England and was even sent last summer to Saratoga, where he finished seventh in the Grade 3 Troy Stakes at 5 1/2 furlongs on turf.

Theo Legion, the 4-year-old Australian gelding, has raced at a variety of smaller tracks in the state of New South Wales in 22 starts since the beginning of his career in January 2020.

He has found success at one venue – Quirindi Racecourse, about 175 miles north of Sydney. Theo Legion is perfect in three starts at Quirindi, a record that will be tested in Friday’s Quirindi Cup at a mile.

Freaky Freckles, a 5-year-old Australian-bred mare, is winless in three starts since a seven-furlong handicap at Goulburn Racecourse last August. The win in her not-too-distant past looks very important as Freaky Freckles returns to the same venue for a handicap at 6 1/2 furlongs on Thursday in her first start since September.

There are four Class 3 handicaps on the Wednesday card at Happy Valley, but only one of them, race 2, falls beyond the typical Happy Valley fare. 

Races over 1,000 meters, 1,200 meters, and 1,650 meters comprise the bulk of Happy Valley cards, but this is a 2,200-meter contest run around three turns. It drew nine entrants, several of whose connections surely have been awaiting this relatively rare opportunity at such a lengthy Happy Valley distance. 

HAPPY VALLEY SELECTIONS
(Wednesday, February 16, 2022)