Excellent Proposal takes another step down the path to stakes racing when he starts in the featured Chek Lap Kok Handicap on Sunday at Sha Tin Racecourse in Hong Kong.

For his first 123 starts, Gentleman Max, the 8-year-old gelding who races in Australia, was trained by Trevor Sutherland.

Gentleman Max was transferred to trainer Keith Dryden in August after Sutherland was suspended by stewards in the state of New South Wales over animal welfare issues. Gentleman Max was third and sixth in his first two starts for the new stable in handicaps at Canterbury Park on Sept. 9 and Sept. 23.

Enable’s greatness has shined on two continents over four seasons. In races between 1 1/4 and 1 1/2 miles on turf there has been no better horse, day in and day out, anywhere in the world since Enable came to the fore during her 3-year-old season of 2017. She already has joined the rarefied club of two-time winners of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, but if she is to become the first three-time Arc winner, Enable will have to slog through a bog Sunday at Longchamp.

The 3-year-old filly Fancy Blue may be based in Ireland with trainer Donnacha O’Brien but her best results this year have been in England and France.

Fancy Blue won the Group 1 French Oaks at 1 5/16 miles at Chantilly on July 5 and the Group 1 Nassau Stakes at 1 1/4 miles against older fillies and mares at Goodwood Racecourse in England on July 30.

SHA TIN SELECTIONS
(Sunday, October 4, 2020)

Oisin Murphy, champion jockey in England during 2019 and on his way to another title in 2020, tested positive for a metabolite of cocaine this summer in France.

The Arc’s loss appears to be the Breeders’ Cup’s gain.

Love, the standout Ireland-based 3-year-old filly, wasn’t among the 15 entries Thursday for Sunday’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp in Paris. That leaves Enable, seeking to become the first three-time Arc winner, as the favorite for the 1 1/2-mile fixture.

September was a very good month for Petaluma, a 5-year-old Australian-bred mare who starts in a handicap at Moruya Racecourse on Friday.

Petaluma was unbeaten in three starts in September, winning handicaps at Moruya on Sept. 1 and Sept. 14 and a handicap at Goulburn last Sunday. Those races ranged in distances from 7 1/2 furlongs to a little more than a mile. Understandably, Petaluma’s handicap rating has risen to an all-time high in her seven-race career.

Surprise Baby was fifth in the Group 1 Melbourne Cup last November, rallying from 20th in a field of 24 to lose Australia’s most famous race by less than a length.

All signs indicate Surprise Baby is moving forward to another appearance in the Melbourne Cup at Flemington Racecourse on Nov. 3. Saturday, Surprise Baby will have his second start of the year in the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes at Flemington, a race with ramifications for the Melbourne Cup and the Group 1 Caulfield Cup on Oct. 17.

Paul Lally:

R1 1-3-2-8
R2 2-4-5-8
R3 2-4-6-5
R4 2-3-4-6
R5 1-5-3-4
R6 8-2-1-7
R7 4-7-5-2
R8 1-6-9-4
R9 2-4-8-12
R10 4-8-12-3

Best Bet R9 N2 Uncle Steve
Longshot R10 N4 Not Usual Talent
Play R10 QQP 4-8-12

Tom Wood:

R1: 1-2-3-8
R2: 1-5-2-7
R3: 6-2-1-4
R4: 2-4-3-6
R5: 1-3-4-2
R6: 2-7-8-1
R7: 4-6-2-5
R8: 1-6-4-9
R9: 5-2-11-8
R10: 8-1-3-4