Loves Only You, who won the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf on Nov. 6 at Del Mar, tops a list of 21 international shippers among the horses selected to compete in the Hong Kong International Races on Dec. 14 at Sha Tin Racecourse. 

As of Nov. 24, the Hong Kong Jockey Club listed 48 selected runners for the four Group 1 races on the HKIR program. The roster of prospective starters reflects horses the HKJC expects to be among the entries taken the week of the races, so few defections should be expected.  

Ascot Racecourse in Perth, Australia, is home territory for Elite Street, who will be a solid favorite in Saturday’s Group 1 Winterbottom Stakes at six furlongs at that venue.

Elite Street has won 6 of 8 starts at Ascot, including the 2020 Winterbottom Stakes, the 5-year-old gelding’s only victory at the highest level in four starts. In February and March, Elite Street started in three Group 1 races at Melbourne area tracks against the country’s toughest sprinters, but was not a factor.

Contrail’s undefeated record ended with a second-place finish in his eighth start in the 2020 Japan Cup at Tokyo Racecourse.

The losses have continued this year, with narrow misses in two starts in Grade 1 races in April and October. A 4-year-old colt, Contrail has one more chance for redemption before retirement. Contrail will be an odds-on favorite in Saturday’s Grade 1 Japan Cup at 1 1/2 miles.

SHA TIN SELECTIONS
(Sunday, November 28, 2021)

A stalking style has been a valuable asset for the Australian gelding Ready to Humble, who has won 6 of 17 starts.

A 5-year-old, Ready to Humble came from a few lengths off the pace to win the Snake Gully Cup at seven furlongs at Gundagai Racecourse on Nov. 12 as the 5-2 favorite. The same tactic could work in Friday’s $71,900 Wodonga Cup at about a mile at Wodonga Racecourse, located northeast of Melbourne.

Paul Lally:

R1 1-7-4-2
R2 8-11-6-1
R3 4-2-10-5
R4 7-4-2-8
R5 1-3-4-7
R6 1-6-2-5
R7 5-11-1-2
R8 8-6-2-7

Best R8 N8 Drops of God
Longshot R7 N5 Yo Beauty
Play R7 QQP 1-5-11

Andrew Le Jeune:

R1: 2-1-7-4
R2: 8-11-5-10
R3: 2-5-3-11
R4: 8-2-7-4
R5: 1-3-11-4
R6: 3-1-11-10
R7: 11-3-1-5
R8: 8-2-12-4

Best: R1 N2 Ginson
Each/way: R4 N8 Faithful Trinity
Play: R1 Q/QP #1-2-7

Mark McNamara:

Sight Success, one of three entrants trained by John Size, tries for a third straight win when he faces nine foes in the featured Bruntsfield Handicap on Wednesday at Happy Valley.

Last Hong Kong racing season, Sight Success missed by a nose carrying 130 pounds in a Class 3 handicap run over 1,200 meters at Happy Valley, and that is the formidable weight assignment he’ll try to carry to victory in the last of eight races, a Class 2 handicap at 1,200 meters.

HAPPY VALLEY SELECTIONS
(Wednesday, November 24, 2021)

No one is going to beat Golden Sixty in a one-mile Hong Kong race if the gelding is going to run like he did Sunday at Sha Tin. Making his first start since April 25, Golden Sixty ran his last 400 meters just about as fast as is possible for a Thoroughbred, landing the Group 2, $610,000 Jockey Club Mile by one length.

Gran Alegria went out in a blaze of glory Sunday at Japan's Hanshin Racecourse, storming down the center of the track to capture her second straight Mile Championship.