Paul Lally:
R1: 7-3-9-1
R2: 4-10-2-5
R3: 2-5-3-6
R4: 2-5-3-13
R5: 5-4-2-9
R6: 1-10-2-8
R7: 2-10-13-5
R8: 1-2-9-10
R9: 10-1-2-3
R10: 2-14-1-12
Best Bet: R7 N2 Beauty Champ
Longshot: R5 N5 Scotch Tycoon
Play Race7 qqp 2-10-13
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Mark McNamara:
R1: 7.1.9.4
R2: 7.4.5.10
Private Detective won a handicap at 1 5/16 miles at Orange Racecourse on Dec. 14 to end a 10-race losing streak since January.
Orange may develop into a friendly venue for Private Detective, a 5-year-old gelding.
That race was Private Detective’s first start at Orange. On Tuesday, Private Detective has an excellent chance to win consecutive races for the first time in his career when he starts against a slightly tougher field than his last start in a handicap at 1 5/16 miles at Orange.
The 2-year-old colt Command Line has fashionable elements of Japanese and American bloodlines in his immediate family.
No wonder the undefeated colt will be favored to end his 2-year-old season with a victory in Tuesday’s Grade 1 Hopeful Stakes at 1 1/4 miles at Nakayama Racecourse in Japan.
Command Line is by the legendary Japanese stallion Deep Impact, who died in 2019. Command Line is out of Condo Commando, a Kentucky-bred mare who won three graded stakes in New York in 2014 and 2015, notably the Grade 1 Spinaway Stakes at Saratoga in 2014.
Efforia, Japan’s top 3-year-old this year, may very well be that nation’s Horse of the Year.
On Sunday at Nakayama Racecourse, Efforia won his third Grade 1 race of the year in the $5.02 million Arima Kinen at 1 9/16 miles against older horses.
Sent off favored in a field of 16, Efforia closed from the middle of the field under jockey Takeshi Yokoyama to take the lead with less than a furlong remaining. Efforia won by three-quarters of a length over 20-1 Deep Bond.
Paul Lally:
R1: 7-3-9-1
R2: 4-10-2-5
R3: 2-5-3-6
R4: 2-5-3-13
R5: 5-4-2-9
R6: 1-10-2-8
R7: 2-10-13-5
R8: 1-2-9-10
R9: 10-1-2-3
R10: 2-14-1-12
Best Bet: R7 N2 Beauty Champ
Longshot: R5 N5 Scotch Tycoon
Play Race7 qqp 2-10-13
Mark McNamara:
R1: 7.1.9.4
R2: 7.4.5.10
R3: 5.4.2.3
R4: 2.5.3.11
R5: 9.4.2.3
R6: 6.1.2.5
R7: 2.13.1.4
R8: 1.5.2.4
R9: 1.2.3.10
The featured third race Monday at Sha Tin could open a window onto the 2022 Hong Kong Derby.
This Class 2 handicap for horses rated 100-75 is carded at 2,000 meters, about 1 1/4 miles and the same distance as the Hong Kong Derby, the culminating event in the 4-year-old classic series. Scheduled for March 20 next year, the Derby follows the Classic Mile over 1,600 meters and the Classic Cup at 1,800 meters.
Efforia’s consistency puts him at the fore of a field of 16 in Sunday’s Grade 1 Arima Kinen at 1 9/16 miles at Nakayama Racecourse. The $5.02 million Arima Kinen consists of a field partially determined by a vote of fans and brings together many of Japan’s leading horses.
The ultra-consistent Efforia has lost once in six starts in Japan, finishing a nose behind Shahryar in the Grade 1 Japanese Derby in May.
Yardstick, the 4-year-old Australian gelding, has been ambitiously campaigned at times in his career, running poorly in a Group 1 race last year and finishing seventh in the South Pacific Stakes at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney in April.
Yardstick has not raced since he finished fifth of 10 in a six-furlong handicap at Randwick in July that included several runners with multiple wins.
For his comeback, Yardstick has been given an easier assignment – a six-furlong handicap for nonwinners of two races at Gosford Racecourse on Thursday.
Paul Lally:
R1 1-10-7-11
R2 3-7-11-5
R3 4-5-3-1
R4 3-1-6-2
R5 11-9-10-12
R6 9-11-3-5
R7 11-5-3-8
R8 4-9-5-6
R9 12-7-8-3
Best Bet R6 N9 Lucky Archangel
Longshot R5 N11 Swot Troopers Wind
Play R5 9-10-11
Tom Wood:
R1:7-1-10-3
R2: 6-3-2-5
R3:9-4-1-3
R4:3-8-6-7
R5:9-1-10-6
R6:2-5-9-4
R7:5-2-3-11
R8:11-9-4-5
R9:1-12-11-7
BEST: R4 N3 SAVVY KINGMAN (WIN)
VALUE: R7 N5 STOCK LEGEND (EW)
PLAY: R4 QQP 3,6,8
