It took a Horse of the Year to stop Eduardo’s winning streak in top sprints in Australia earlier this year.
Eduardo won the Group 2 Challenge Stakes at five furlongs at Royal Randwick Racecourse on March 6, beating 2019-2020 Australian Horse of the Year Nature Spirit, and followed with a win in the Group 1 Galaxy Stakes at 5 1/2 furlongs at Rosehill Gardens on March 27.
Nature Spirit beat Eduardo in the Group 1 T.J. Smith Stakes at Randwick on April 10. Eduardo was third, beaten 2 3/4 lengths.
Rocha Clock has developed in the last year from a filly who raced near the front early in her career to more of a closer.
The patient style led to a win in a sale progeny stakes at Flemington Racecourse last November and a third in the Group 3 Aspiration Stakes at Royal Randwick Racecourse in March.
Rocha Clock won a seven-furlong handicap at Randwick on April 21, and starts in Friday’s Group 3 Dark Jewel Classic for fillies and mares at seven furlongs at Scone Racecourse in the New South Wales countryside.
Little is likely to separate the Australian 3-year-olds Cream Rises and Sirens in the betting of a six-furlong handicap at Wyong Racecourse on Thursday.
A case can be easily made that each can win for the second time in his career.
Cream Rises, trained by Kylie Gavenlock, won his debut in a maiden race at 5 1/2 furlongs at Gosford Racecourse on April 21. Breaking from the rail in a field of nine, Cream Rises closed from fourth to take the lead in the final furlong and win by 4 3/4 lengths.
Paul Lally:
R1 12-5-4-9
R2 7-6-1-12
R3 1-4-3-8
R4 3-4-6-9
R5 10-1-9-5
R6 13-7-4-2
R7 1-9-4-11
R8 10-12-2-11
Best Bet R4 N3 Beauty Cheers
Longshot R6 N13 Mister Arm
Play Race4 QQP 3-4-6
:: Hong Kong: Free PPs, picks, analysis, replays, and live streaming
Tom Wood:
Feel the Rush finished third in the Group 1 New Zealand Oaks at 1 1/2 miles in March 2020 in her final start in that country.
So far, Australian racing has not been as kind.
Feel the Rush in winless in four starts in Australia, finishing 10th in her first three races and fifth in the Group 2 Chairman’s Stakes at 1 5/8 miles at Royal Randwick Racecourse on April 10 at 100-1.
Midweek racing in Hong Kong pops up at Sha Tin rather than the standard venue of Happy Valley this Wednesday, but the eight-race card has a very Valley feel.
Highlighting the action are a trio of Class 3 handicaps for horses rated 80-60, standard Happy Valley race fare. Race 3 will be contested over a straight 1,000 meters, race 7 over 1,400 meters, and race 8 at 1,200 meters.
:: Hong Kong: Free PPs, picks, analysis, replays, and live streaming
Paul Lally:
R1 1-2-5-3
R2 4-1-12-11
R3 10-3-1-5
R4 7-2-1-5
R5 11-7-1-4
R6 5-1-7-2
R7 9-4-2-1
R8 11-5-1-7
R9 4-9-5-10
Best Bet R3 N10 Savvy Kingman
Longshot R6 N5 Seaweed Fortune
Play R6 QQP 1-5-7
Mark McNamara:
R1 1-10-5-7
R2 4-12-11-1
R3 10-3-1-6
R4 7-2-1-3
R5 6-11-2-4
R6 1-7-2-6
R7 5-4-3-9
R8 11-5-2-8
R9 4-10-3-8
Best Bet R7 N5 Be Ready
Schnell Meister is a lightly raced and somewhat unexposed colt who will have a leading role in Sunday’s Grade 1 NHK Mile on turf for 3-year-old colts and fillies at Tokyo Racecourse in Japan.
A rare German-bred racing in Japan, Schnell Meister has won 2 of 3 starts, and was beaten in his stakes debut when second by 1 1/4 lengths in a Grade 2 at 1 1/4 miles at Nakayama Racecourse on March 7.
The distance may have been too far for Schnell Meister, who won a maiden race at 7 1/2 furlongs at Sapporo last September and an allowance race at a mile at Nakayama last December.