The 3-year-old fillies Bold Manner, Charm School and Sirileo Miss meet for the first time in a handicap at 6 1/2 furlongs at Sandown Racecourse in Melbourne, Australia, on Wednesday, each with an excellent chance to win for the second time in her brief career.

The fillies have taken divergent paths to reach Wednesday’s race, which is run on the Lakeside course that is the inner of two courses at Sandown. The Lakeside course has a slightly shorter stretch than the outer Hillside course.

Any of the three could be favored in a highly competitive field of 13.

Saturday is race day, which is huge, the point of this whole endeavor, but Sunday is travel day, and that will be very welcome, too, for Miguel Angel Silva.

HAPPY VALLEY SELECTIONS
(Wednesday, March 24, 2021)

Paul Lally:

R1 2-7-5-10

R2 1-2-5-7

R3 1-8-9-2

R4 1-4-13-3

R5 5-2-10-4

R6 12-11-1-6

R7 8-10-7-12

R8 1-2-3-13

R9 4-2-10-1

R10 11-9-12-4

Best Bet R8 1 Sky Darci

Longshot R6 12 New Future

Play R8 QQP 1-2-3

Andrew Le Jeune:

R1: 5-7-2-3

R2: 7-14-2-1

R3: 1-10-2-6

R4: 1-3-4-9

R5: 2-5-3-8

R6: 6-14-12-1

R7: 8-4-12-9

R8: 2-1-7-14

R9: 4-6-3-2

R10: 9-14-12-11

Best: R5 N2 Leading Fortune

The Group 1 Golden Slipper Stakes, and four other races at that level, were postponed a week after excessive rain forced the cancellation of an all-stakes program Saturday at Rosehill Gardens Racecourse in Sydney, Australia.

Four other top-level Saturday programs at Rosehill Gardens and Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney over the next month have been postponed one week as a result, meaning the five-Saturday Sydney autumn racing carnival will conclude April 24 instead of April 17.

Mrs Sippy was a neck away from her third win in her last five starts in a one-mile handicap on the Lakeside course at Sandown Racecourse in Melbourne, Australia, on March 10.

A 5-year-old Australian-bred mare, Mrs Sippy appears to have emerged from the race in top condition, and will have a quick turnaround to Sunday’s Bairnsdale Cup at a mile at Bairnsdale Racecourse on the southern coast, east of Melbourne.

Minella Indo shook off a challenge from stablemate A Plus Tard in the final three furlongs to record an 8-1 upset in Friday’s Grade 1 Cheltenham Gold Cup at Cheltenham Racecourse, continuing a week of dominance for Irish-based horses in the biggest week of steeplechasing in England.

Minella Indo ($19.40 in American pools) gave trainer Henry De Bromhead and jockey Jack Kennedy their first career wins in the $651,843 Cheltenham Gold Cup, steeplechase racing’s most prominent weight-for-age race.

She’s unbeaten, she has a handy running style, and she has already beaten males. There is several things going in favor of the filly Four Moves Ahead for Saturday’s Group 1 Golden Slipper Stakes for 2-year-olds at Rosehill Gardens Racecourse in Sydney, Australia.

In 2020, Hong Kong harbored a standout 4-year-old, Golden Sixty, who swept through the 4-year-old Classic Series, winning the series’ final leg, the Hong Kong Derby, by a nose despite having to pass 10 rivals in the homestretch.

There’s no such star among this 4-year-old class, but there are a number of talented horses set to do battle Sunday at Sha Tin in the $3.09 million Hong Kong Derby.

The domination of Irish horses at the Cheltenham Festival in western England continued on Thursday, though not in the predicted manner.

On the seven-race program, six winners were from stables based in Ireland, notably the Grade 1 winners Allaho in the $368,164 Ryanair Chase at 2 5/8 miles and Flooring Porter in the $333,432 Stayers’ Hurdle at three miles.