Last month at Del Mar, a pair of Japan-based horses won two Breeders’ Cup races, the first time a horse from Japan had won at the Breeders’ Cup. Five weeks later, Japanese horses have a serious chance to win all four Group 1s on the Hong Kong International Races card Sunday at Sha Tin.
Skip to main content
Create Your DRF Account
New to DRF?
Everything you could possibly
need in one place
need in one place
Register
Don't have an account?
Register Here
DRF Past Performances
Last Saturday, the veteran Australian gelding Niccanova was third by slightly less than a length in the Tattersall’s Recognition Stakes at Doomben.
Friday, Niccanova is entered in the $93,275 Brisbane Handicap at about a mile at Doomben in what will be the quickest turnaround of his career, but a situation far from unprecedented.
Group 1-winning trainers Frederic Rossi, Cedric Rossi, and Charley Rossi were among 15 people taken into French police custody Tuesday, according to multiple published reports in France and England. The arrests took place in Marseille and Paris as part of an investigation into doping and forgery, the reports said.
Paul Lally:
R1: 4-7-2-3
R2: 8-4-2-1
R3: 8-2-1-3
R4: 8-2-9-11
R5: 5-9-10-4
R6: 10-2-1-5
R7: 5-7-6-8
R8: 7-10-4-3
R9: 12-4-2-10
Best Bet R9 N12 Fa Fa
Longshot R5 N5 Viva Hunter
Play R5 qqp 5-9-10
Tom Wood:
R1: 4-11-7-6
R2: 8-2-4-3
R3: 2-8-3-1
R4: 8-2-9-10
R5: 4-9-3-1
R6: 4-5-11-10
R7: 7-6-5-11
R8: 7-2-4-1
R9: 12-4-2-8
It’s Classified had a rude debut against winners in Australia in July, finishing seventh of nine Southern Hemisphere 3-year-old fillies in a seven-furlong handicap at Sandown Racecourse in Melbourne.
Nearly five months later, farther to the west in the Australian state of Victoria, It’s Classified should have an easier time in a handicap for fillies and mares at 5 1/2 furlongs at Warrnambool on Thursday. Trained by Lindsey Smith, It’s Classified has had four starts, winning her third race against maidens at seven furlongs at Geelong in early July.
Mon, 12/06/2021 - 16:47
Happy Valley is not an easy track to ride. One turn is wider than the other, there are undulations to unbalance horse and rider, and obtaining a decent position before a homestretch much shorter than Hong Kong’s larger racecourse, Sha Tin, is of great importance.
And the Wednesday card at Happy Valley is all about the riders. Four of the program’s 10 races – the fourth, fifth, seventh, and eighth – form the International Jockey’s Championship, an annual Happy Valley fixture the Wednesday before the Hong Kong International Races on Sunday at Sha Tin.
The Australian gelding Solar Apex had an easy time in two handicaps at Gosford Park in September, winning consecutive races for the first time in his career.
A jump in class, and a move to higher-profile venues in Sydney in October and November, led to three straight losses.
Solar Apex, trained by Chris Waller, has been entered in a slightly easier handicap at a mile at Warwick Farm Racecourse in Sydney on Wednesday. Solar Apex is back to racing at the same level as his September races, a leading reason he was the 9-5 favorite as of Monday to beat seven rivals.