Daily Racing Form has served as the most trusted source of news and information about the sport since 1894, and moving forward we have decided to provide a free daily playbook – something that both hardcore horseplayers and casual observers can reference to get informed of each day’s action.

2:30 WO 1st MALIBU UPROAR (#7, 9-2) won his penultimate start/season opener at this level on the grass. You can ignore his last dull race, which was taken off the turf. -Ron Gierkink

Lucky More might have meaningfully more to give when he kicks off his season in the featured ninth race Sunday at Sha Tin in Hong Kong.

The great French trainer Jean-Claude Rouget told Scott Burton of the Racing Post earlier this week that he believed 3-year-old fillies Love and Raabihah occupied the top positions on his list of contenders for the 2020 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. Love, the Aidan O’Brien-trained smashing winner of the Epsom Oaks, won the Yorkshire Oaks last month and is being trained up to the Oct. 4 Arc. Rouget should have a fairly good read on Raabihah since he trains her.

Realm of Flowers had an ideal conclusion to her Australian autumn campaign in May with a first career group stakes win in the Group 3 South Australia Fillies Classic at Morphettville Racecourse.

Realm of Flowers made a sharp rise through the class ranks in the first five months of the year, going from a maiden race winner at a mile in January to the win in the South Australia Fillies Classic at 1 9/16 miles.

Phoenix Thoroughbreds, the global racing operation founded and run by Amer Abdulaziz Salman, has been banned by the British Horseracing Authority in the wake of money-laundering allegations involving a fund run by Salman.

In a statement, the BHA said that the stable’s runners will be banned “until further notice,” and that all accounts associated with the stable have been “suspended.” Phoenix Thoroughbreds, which has operations in Europe, the Middle East, Australia, and the U.S., runs a number of horses in partnership with other racing entities.

Ghaiyyath is taking his talents to Ireland this weekend, and what he already has done in Dubai and England this year – crunch all competition – he’ll be widely expected to do in his first trip to the Emerald Isle.

SHA TIN SELECTIONS
(Sunday, 13 September, 2020)

At first glance, the odds seem like a mistake. Vow and Declare, the winner of the Group 1 Melbourne Cup in Australia last November, was 50-1 in future-book betting on Thursday for Saturday’s Group 1 Makybe Diva Stakes.

But the one-mile distance of the $545,200 Makybe Diva Stakes does not necessarily fit Vow and Declare, who is best suited to races at 1 1/2 to two miles. The race is run at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, the same venue as the Melbourne Cup.

The Kentucky-bred gelding Yulong Storm is having a perfect year in Australia, going unbeaten in three starts since late July.

Two of the wins have occurred at Swan Hill Racecourse outside of Melbourne, the venue of Yulong Storm’s appearance in a six-furlong handicap on Friday. Yulong Storm is trained by Nathan Hobson, who is based at Swan Hill.

Melarita, a 5-year-old New Zealand-bred mare, has won three of four starts in Australia since she returned to racing in April after a six-month break.

Her only loss in that span was a third in a handicap for fillies and mares at Sandown Racecourse on July 1. Melarita rebounded to win a handicap against males at Sandown Racecourse on Aug. 1.

That victory, and her overall recent record, makes Melarita an odds-on favorite to win again in a handicap for fillies and mares at 1 1/4 miles at Mornington Racecourse near Melbourne on Thursday.