Graff, a 5-year-old Australian-bred horse, won his first group-level stakes in the Group 2 Caulfield Stakes at five furlongs on Oct. 17 in Melbourne, Australia, only to finish sixth in the Group 1 VRC Classic at Flemington Racecourse on Nov. 7.

Graff starts in Friday’s Group 3 Standish Handicap at six furlongs at Flemington, which would seem to be an ideal drop in class from those starts. But the presence of red-hot rivals Defiant Dancer and Sirius Suspect will make for a more difficult assignment for Graff in the $122,880 Standish.

Savvy Clown will be favored to win his third consecutive start in a handicap at 1 3/16 miles at Gosford Racecourse in Australia on Thursday, and will have a familiar rival as a target.

Savvy Clown, a 4-year-old New Zealand-bred gelding, has won his last two starts and 3 of 7 races in his career. At Gosford, Savvy Clown will  carry top weight of 129 pounds against three well-regarded rivals in Microna (127.8 pounds), the filly Alchermes (125.6), and Divine Eleven (124.5).

In early betting on Tuesday, Savvy Clown was the 3-1 favorite. The others were 5-1.

SHA TIN SELECTIONS
(Friday, January 01, 2020)

As has become customary, Joao Moreira was the headline act with a Boxing Day quartet but, in Richard Gibson’s eyes, mafoo (stable assistant) Josephine Kwok deserved acclaim as the unsung heroine at Sha Tin on Sunday (26 December) following Wellington’s stunning win in the Class 3 Long Ke Handicap (1000m).

Posting his fourth win from five starts, Wellington vindicated Gibson’s faith by powering to victory in 56.51s under Zac Purton as the gelding returned from an eight-month lay-off.

Heritage Sash will have his third start following a four-month layoff in a six-furlong handicap at Doomben, Australia, on Wednesday, a race that provides the gelding an excellent chance to end a seven-race losing streak.

Heritage Sash is winless since winning a six-furlong handicap at Gold Coast Racecourse in May. Since returning to action in November, Heritage Sash has finished fifth of seven in a six-furlong handicap at Ipswich Racecourse on Nov. 11, and a much better second by about a half-length in a six-furlong handicap at Doomben on Dec. 11.

SHA TIN SELECTIONS
(Saturday, 26 November) 

Mark McNamara:

R1 – 1.4.5.9

R2 – 7.11.5.10

R3 – 2.10.7.14

R4 – 9.7.11.4

R5 – 3.6.4.9

R6 – 5.2.12.1

R7 – 10.14.6.7

R8 – 4.2.1.7

R9 – 1.2.8.5

R10 – 1.2.4.8

R11 – 4.9.5.14

Best Bet – R7 N10 Robot Warrior

Longshot – R6 N5 El Valiente

Play – R6 – Q/QP R6 2.5.12

Tom Wood:

R1: 4-1-5-2

R2: 2-11-5-7

R3: 14-2-7-9

R4: 10-9-7-11
R5: 6-9-3-4

R6: 12-11-2-9

R7: 11-10-5-6

R8: 2-4-3-6

R9: 1-2-11-9

R10: 1-2-4-8

Magical, a seven-time Group 1 winner, has been retired to become a broodmare, her connections announced this week.

Since his return to racing in late November after a six-month break, Wyangle has had a campaign in Australia geared toward Thursday’s Ted Ryder Cup at Wagga Wagga Racecourse.

Wyangle, trained by Gordon Yorke, was second by three-quarters of a length in a handicap at 6 1/2 furlongs at Wodonga Racecourse on Nov. 27 and won the Ted Prelude Stakes at about a mile at Wagga Wagga on Dec. 7.

David Hayes fully comprehends the difficulty of succeeding in Hong Kong with first-season arrivals, but the Australian Hall Of Fame trainer hopes Super Axiom can continue to buck the trend at Happy Valley on Wednesday (23 December).

An eye-catching winner on debut over 1000m at Sha Tin on 29 November, the three-year-old travels to Happy Valley to contest the first section of the Class 3 Venus Handicap (1200m), having risen 12 points on the basis of his slashing first-up effort.