Paul Lally:
R1: 1-8-9-4
R2: 1-11-7-4
R3: 7-5-4-1
R4: 2-4-5-13
R5: 1-6-2-11
R6: 13-9-3-2
R7: 4-9-8-5
R8: 3-1-6-7
R9: 6-2-5-3
R10: 7-11-4-9
Best Bet R5: N1 Excellent Chariot
Longshot R9: N6 Excellent Daddy
Play R9: 2-5-6 QQP
Mark McNamara:
R1: 1.4.9.2
R2: 9.1.11.7
R3: 11.5.7.2
R4: 2.1.6.4
R5: 2.3.11.7
R6: 9.13.3.2
R7: 8.9.1.4
R8: 7.6.4.3
R9: 3.2.5.1
Shotgun Alli showed little in her first two starts last November and December, finishing sixth and eighth.
Six months later, the situation has changed remarkably. Shotgun Alli beat maidens in her first start in five months on May 27 at Gosford Park and followed that success with her first victory against winners in a handicap on June 13 at Hawkesbury Racecourse.
Thursday, Shotgun Alli will start against fillies and mares in a handicap at 6 1/2 furlongs at Hawkesbury, holding an excellent chance for a third consecutive win.
Joao Moreira has a hammerlock on the Hong Kong jockey standings during the 2020-21 season, adding three more wins to his total last Saturday at Sha Tin, and Moreira could be on another winner in the featured seventh race on a rare Thursday card at Sha Tin.
Moreira rides Looking Great, one of 11 entries in race 7, a Class 2 handicap for horses rated 100-80 and carded over 1,800 meters on grass. The 10-race card begins at 10 p.m. Pacific on Wednesday night, and you can catch all the action at DRFBets.com.
A series of narrow losses in the last six weeks has done nothing to damage the reputation of Smokin’ Romans, who will start favored in a competitive handicap at 1 5/16 miles at Sandown Racecourse in Melbourne, Australia, on Wednesday.
A handicap at 1 5/8 miles at Australia Park in Werribee outside of Melbourne, Australia, on Sunday is a reunion of sorts from a similar handicap at Sandown Racecourse earlier this month.
Cernan, who finished third, is one of four runners from that race who are part of the 10-runner field at Werribee.
In her brief career, Santa Barbara’s reputation has far outpaced her performance, and she once again is an early favorite for an important overseas race, this time the Group 1 Pretty Polly on Sunday at The Curragh.
Off a debut win at age 2, Santa Barbara was the 5-2 favorite for the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket in May, and after she finished fourth in that race, it was believed she merely needed more distance than that straight-course mile to shine. Accordingly, Santa Barbara went favored at 5-2 in the 1 1/2-mile Oaks at Epsom on June 4 – where she finished fifth.
The Japanese older mare Chrono Genesis has been raced sparingly in the last year. It is usually worth the wait.
This year, Chrono Genesis has had one start, finishing second by a neck to Mishriff in the Group 1 Sheema Classic in Dubai in March. Mishriff won the $20 million Saudi Cup in Saudi Arabia in February.
Chrono Genesis, 5, had five starts in Japan in 2019 and 2020, winning three Grade 1 races in that span.
There are several Happy Valley specialists atop the ratings for the featured 10th race Saturday in Hong Kong, the problem for them being that this card is being held at Sha Tin.
Hong Kong Win, Massive Pocket, and Shining Ace are the top-rated horses in this Class 2 turf handicap over 1,200 meters, and all have done their best work at Hong Kong’s city track, Happy Valley, rather than at the more spacious and traditionally shaped Sha Tin oval.
The 3-year-old filly Odeum is unlucky to be in the midst of a five-race losing streak entering Saturday’s Group 1 Tattersall’s Tiara Stakes for fillies and mares at Eagle Farm Racecourse in Australia.
In the Group 2 Dane Ripper Stakes for fillies and mares at 6 1/2 furlongs at Eagle Farm on June 12, Odeum closed steadily with a wide trip to lead briefly in the final furlong, only to be caught in the final strides by Brooklyn Hustle. Odeum was beaten less than a half-length.
