Skalleti’s first race came Oct. 7, 2018, at the Hippodrome Courbier on the outskirts of Nimes, a city in the south of France about 75 miles northwest of Marseille. The distance was 1 1/2 miles, the winner’s share of the purse roughly $6,800, the racecourse itself – which hosts jumps races, flat races, and turf harness races – a tiny drop in the ocean of European flat racing.

By Leo Schlink

Zac Purton has claimed ultimate honours in the HK$800,000 LONGINES International Jockeys’ Championship tonight (Wednesday, 9 December) at Happy Valley after clinching a tense contest from Joao Moreira in a dramatic finale to the four-race series.

Tied with Moreira on 18 points heading into the deciding race of the contest, Purton collected an invaluable two after dead-heating for third aboard Flying Bonus with Wind N Grass (Tom Marquand).

By Scott Burton

There has been something mesmerising about the sight of Vincent Ho sitting and waiting to pull the trigger aboard Golden Sixty during his inexorable rise to superstar status.

Eight of the other jockeys facing the red hot favourite in the G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Mile on Sunday (13 December) won’t have the luxury of waiting to find out exactly when he presses ‘go’ on the talented gelding but jockey William Lee will be hoping that turning into the Sha Tin straight, Romanised might be going just as ominously.

By David Morgan

Aidan O’Brien is satisfied with reports out of Sha Tin as his stable’s travelling trio Magical, Order Of Australia and Mogul wind up for Sunday’s (13 December) HK$95 million LONGINES Hong Kong International Races, but believes the task of winning will be as tough as ever.

“We don’t expect it to be easy. Those races in Hong Kong are absolutely world class standard,” O’Brien said by telephone from his Ballydoyle base. “The horses just did a canter (on Tuesday) and the lads seem happy with them at the moment.”

by Declan Schuster

Ricky Yiu heads to Sunday’s (13 December) LONGINES Hong Kong International Races with a three-pronged assault across the four-race HK$95 million showcase spearheaded by Voyage Warrior, who will look to secure his trainer a fourth G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint (1200m) success.

Yiu is the most successful trainer in the Sprint with three wins, thanks to Fairy King Prawn (1999) and Sacred Kingdom (2007 and 2009) and this weekend Voyage Warrior will look to fulfill his prodigious potential with a win in the HK$22 million sprint.

by Leo Schlink

Champion British jockey Ryan Moore believes Magical is primed to forge rare new territory for Aidan O’Brien in the HK$28 million G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Cup (2000m) when the Irish globe-trotter vies for an eighth G1.

Magical currently shares top billing at Ballydoyle for the most wins at the highest level, occupying a cluttered mantle along with dual LONGINES Hong Kong Vase winner Highland Reel, Ascot Gold Cup champion Yeats, Minding and Rock Of Gibraltar.

Two starts into her career, Shamani is attracting attention in Australia.

After finishing third in her debut in October, Shamani was the 9-5 winner as the favorite of a maiden race at Wyong Racecourse on Nov. 26. The 4-year-old Southern Hemisphere filly is likely to be a slightly better price when she has her debut against winners in a one-mile handicap at Wyong on Thursday.

The handicap is the sixth race on a seven-race program that begins at 9:35 p.m. Eastern, or 6:35 p.m. Pacific, on Wednesday. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.

By Declan Schuster

Exultant is already proven as one of the best stayers Hong Kong has ever produced but this Sunday (13 December) at Sha Tin he has the chance of creating a significant slice of history by becoming the first locally-trained dual winner of the G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Vase (2400m).

And champion jockey Zac Purton is going into the HK$20 million staying test with an aura of positivity that yet another consistent effort from the five-time G1 winner will see him challenge for a sixth top-level success.

Rising British star Tom Marquand will use vital experience gleaned on tight-turning tracks in England and Australia to offset a lack of familiarity with Happy Valley’s famed contours when he tackles the LONGINES International Jockeys’ Championship on Wednesday, 9 December.

Seeking to bookend a phenomenal season, the 22-year-old will partner Very Sweet Orange, Nunchuks, Surrealism and Wind N Grass in the HK$800,000 four-race contest and hopes he can share the limelight – and spoils - with partner and fellow jockey Hollie Doyle.

Paul Lally:

R1 1-3-4-2
R2 5-4-3-6
R3 8-3-4-1
R412-5-2-1
R5 1-11-4-8
R6 7-2-5-4
R7 1-8-5-2
R8 4-12-2-3
R9 11-4-2-9

Best Bet R7 N1 Reel Bizzy
Longshot R8 N4 Wind N Grass
Play R7 qqp 1-5-8

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Tom Wood: