The Haydock Sprint Cup is the only Group 1 race in Europe on Saturday, but a race over the all-weather track at Kempton will attract more attention.

SHA TIN SELECTIONS
(Sunday, 6 September, 2020)

Large fields, huge pools, big payouts – Hong Kong racing has everything bettors want. The average handle per card at Sha Tin and Happy Valley is $1.13 billion Hong Kong, which equates to approximately $150 million U.S. Winners at Sha Tin average a $17.82 payoff; at Happy Valley, the number is $20.42.

DRF’s guide provides an explanation of the data available for Hong Kong racing, details the structure of racing there, and offers closer look at the two racing tracks – Sha Tin and Happy Valley. The guide also provides an explanation of the various bet types.

His pedigree has influences from the top of Japanese and Australian racing. His stable is known for producing top-class runners.

No wonder Bucharest is a highly regarded 3-year-old in Australia. The colt won his debut in a maiden race at 7 1/2 furlongs at Newcastle Racecourse on Aug. 13 and will have his second start in a one-mile handicap at Warwick Farm Racecourse outside of Sydney on Wednesday.

In his six-year career, the 10-year-old Australian-bred gelding Lucky Elixir has never won three consecutive races. The chance arrives Monday in a handicap at 1 5/16 miles at Tamworth Racecourse.

A winner of 7 of 69 starts, Lucky Elixir has won his last two starts. They came in handicaps at 1 1/8 miles at Gilgranda Racecourse on Aug. 1 and at 1 5/16 miles at Scone on Aug. 18. In both races, Lucky Elixir closed from off the pace to win as the favorite. He is likely to have that role on Monday.

A layoff of more than three months may revive the fortunes of Magnajet, a 4-year-old Southern Hemisphere colt who starts in a five-furlong handicap at Sale Racecourse in Australia on Sunday.

From early March to mid-April, Magnajet finished first, third, seventh and first in four sprint handicaps. Magnajet was given a rest after finishing last of 12 in a handicap at Cranbourne on May 8 as the 5-2 second choice.

Australian cup races at smaller venues have become common in the 2020 campaign of At Witz End, the 5-year-old Southern Hemisphere gelding.

The races are often competitive handicaps and are some of the biggest events at each track. In a normal year, cup days would be a local draw, even on a weekday. This year, Australian tracks, like so many around the world, are not hosting spectators.

In the span of a hour on Aug. 15, Behemoth and Savatiano won group stakes in Australia in their first starts since losing Group 1 races in May.

Behemoth won the Group 3 Spring Stakes at six furlongs at Morphettville Racecourse outside of Adelaide, while Savatiano won the Group 2 Lawrence Stakes at seven furlongs at Caulfield Racecourse in Melbourne.

Those wins have led to Saturday’s Group 1 Memsie Stakes at Caulfield, where Behemoth and Savatiano lead the betting in what could result in a first Group 1 win for one of them.

Since he beat maidens in his second career start in Australia last November, Zorro’s Dream has finished last of eight as the 6-5 favorite in a statebred stakes at Ballarat Racecourse and was later gelded.

Nine months later, Zorro’s Dream returns to action in a six-furlong handicap at Mornington Racecourse in the Australian state of Victoria.

Trained by Mitchell Freedman, who through Tuesday has won with 2 of 11 runners this month, Zorro’s Dream was the 2-1 second choice in early betting in a field of 12. Mensa Missile was a slight favorite.

For a colt purchased for $1.1 million as a yearling at Keeneland in 2017, Cadre du Noir still has much to prove.

Cadre du Noir began his career in England, where he had one win in five starts in 2018 and 2019. Cadre du Noir was shipped to Australia after a fourth-place finish in a handicap on the synthetic track at Kempton Park outside of London last October.