HAPPY VALLEY SELECTIONS
(Wednesday, January 20, 2021)

Layoffs have not been an issue for the 5-year-old Australian gelding Herzegovina, who starts in a five-furlong handicap at Muswellbrook Racecourse on Monday.

Herzegovina has not raced since a ninth in a handicap at 6 1/2 furlongs at Warwick Farm on Sept. 2. A winner of 4 of 27 starts, Herzegovina won a handicap in June 2019 after a layoff of more than seven months.

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Paul Lally:

R1 9-1-2-10

R2 4-13-1-10

R3 1-3-2-4

R4 9-1-10-8

R5 2-3-8-10

R6 1-5-13-9

R7 14-1-13-3

R8 5-12-10-9

R9 5-6-4-8

R10 11-8-14-13

Best Bet R10 N11 My Sugar

Long Shot R4 N9 El Valiente

Plays R4 QQP 1-9-10

Tom Wood:

R1:  1-4-2-9

R2:  10-13-1-2

R3:  1-3-2-4

R4:   8-4-10-6
R5:   2-1-8-10

R6:   1-7-13-3

R7:   13-14-1-3

R8:   5-12-4-9

R9:   5-6-4-10

R10: 4-8-11-14

The Sunday feature at Sha Tin could have implications as far afield as Dubai.

Kings Shield, the top weight and likely favorite in featured race 3, already has been entered in the Godolphin Mile, the Group 2 dirt fixture in late March at Meydan Racecourse, trainer Frankie Lor told Hong Kong Jockey Club publicity this week. Glorious Artist, another Lor trainee in the Sunday feature, also was an early entrant into the Godolphin Mile, though Lor clearly said Kings Shield is the better prospect for Sunday success.

Away from the high-profile metropolitan tracks in Sydney, the gelding Upper House is in the midst of an excellent span of results in Australia. 

He won a handicap at Canberra Racecourse on Nov. 27, finished third by about three-quarters of a length at Orange Racecourse on Dec. 14, and won on Christmas Eve in a handicap at Wagga Wagga.

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By Declan Schuster

Kings Shield (133lb) has developed into a dominant force on the dirt in Hong Kong and this Sunday (17 January) at Sha Tin he’ll look to stamp his authority on the surface once again in the Class 1 Egret Handicap (dirt, 1650m), doing so with a trip to Dubai on the radar.

“Everyone knows he is a dirt horse so I think he has a really good chance - he just needs to carry a big weight,” Lor said of the British import, who holds top billing on the dirt in Hong Kong as a 109-rater after scoring his third course and distance win last November.

Bulletin, the winner of the 2018 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Churchill Downs, will have his first start in nearly seven months in a tough handicap at Rosehill Gardens Racecourse in Sydney, Australia, on Saturday.

It’s a difficult race for his first start in that country.

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SHA TIN SELECTIONS
(Sunday, January 17, 2021)

A six-month layoff was not an issue for Penshurst in a handicap at 7 3/4 furlongs at Murwillumbah Racecourse in Australia on Dec. 28.

An 8-1 chance, Penshurst closed from sixth in a field of eight to win by 1 1/2 lengths for his second victory in three starts. The sharp record – back in June and more recently – has left the gelding Penshurst with a leading chance in Friday’s Ballina Cup at about a mile at Ballina Racecourse.

By Leo Schlink

Teaming with the prolific Joao Moreira, Peter Ho struck a David and Goliath blow for the smallest stable in Hong Kong by lodging his 600th career winner, prompting the veteran trainer to laud his former champions Mr Medici and Packing Winner.

Elated after Baby Storm won the Class 5 Wistaria Handicap (1650m) at Happy Valley, Ho reflected on the peaks and troughs of a career which include producing elite performers, contesting a Melbourne Cup and also the challenges of competing against much larger yards.