Savvy Nine has lost his first four starts of the Hong Kong racing season – just like he did a year ago before capturing the Group 3 January Cup at Happy Valley.
The 2022 January Cup, at $480,000 Happy Valley’s richest race, comes up Wednesday and Savvy Nine is in with a chance again. He’s one of nine entered to race 1,800 meters and gets in with a feathery 113 pounds, 20 fewer than top-rated Ka Ying Star.
Jockeys Hugh Bowman, who famously rode the Australian supermare Winx from 2015 to 2018, and the journeyman Brodie Loy, who has won more than 400 races, each rode the filly Never Second to wins in Australia in December.
On Wednesday, apprentice jockey Dylan Gibbons rides Never Second in a six-furlong handicap for fillies and mares at Warwick Farm Racecourse in Sydney. The race drew a field of 11 and is restricted to apprentice jockeys.
Raid the Bar had a two-race winning streak end abruptly with a last-place finish among nine in a handicap at 1 1/2 miles at Sandown Racecourse in Melbourne, Australia, on Dec. 22.
Raid the Bar broke from the outside post, raced wide and faded through the stretch. After the race, jockey Jake Noonan told stewards that Raid the Bar would have been better suited racing behind rivals.
The Nov. 26 program at Canberra Racecourse in Australia was not run on the most pleasant afternoon. The turf was heavy and it rained most of the day.
Peyton Place finished third in a seven-furlong handicap that day, setting the pace before fading to lose by about 3 1/2 lengths to Girls are Ready.
Peyton Place has won on heavy turf in the past, but has shown better results through his 40-race career on good turf – conditions expected for Monday’s Moruya Cup at about seven furlongs at Moruya Racecourse.
On a Promise had a five-race winning streak end with a seventh-place finish in a minor handicap at Orange Racecourse in Australia on Dec. 14.
The setback was predictable. On a Promise had compiled some of the wins in lesser races and was 10-1 when beaten by 3 3/4 lengths at Orange.
Still, the 6-year-old gelding has good form in recent months, suggesting he is a longshot to consider in Sunday’s minor Gilgandra Cup at a mile at Gilgandra Racecourse. Gilgandra is an agricultural community located well northwest of Sydney.
Paul Lally:
R1 8-11-12-2
R2 10-2-11-1
R3 1-5-2-11
R4 7-2-6-4
R5 7-2-1-4
R6 1-9-4-6
R7 7-4-13-3
R8 5-2-1-3
R9 5-1-10-4
R10 10-3-1-7
R11 1-13-12-9
Best Bet R4 N7 Master Montaro
Longshot R6 N1 Pakistan Friend
Play R4 QQP 2-6-7
Mark McNamara:
R1 8.1.12.5
R2 2.5.11.10
R3 1.5.11.2
R4 2.6.5.3
R5 3.2.6.1
R6 4.6.7.8
R7 7.4.13.12
R8 5.2.3.6
R9 5.10.4.2
The Hong Kong sprint division has been void of stars for a surprisingly long time, but maybe Master Eight can step into the breach.
Four-year-old Master Eight debuted last season in Hong Kong and won twice. Off between June and October, he returned to action this fall and has won two more races, and so Master Eight brings a perfect 4-for-4 record to his toughest test yet, the Group 3 Bauhinia Sprint Trophy Handicap on Saturday at Sha Tin.
A forecast for scorching temperatures in Melbourne, Australia, on Saturday has led racing officials to push the program at Flemington Racecourse to a late-morning start.
The earlier card makes watching an intriguing nine-race program easier for North American viewers. First post time is 6:35 p.m. Eastern or 3:35 p.m. Pacific on Friday. Temperatures could reach 100 degrees in Melbourne.
