International runners will dominate the betting in Saturday’s Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes at 1 1/4 miles at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney, Australia, but a local filly should be a danger.
Danon Premium, a five-time stakes winner in Japan, and Addeybb, a three-time stakes winner in England, were the leading choices in future-book betting Wednesday.
Group stakes and seven-figure races in Australia have been too difficult for the 3-year-old gelding Scout in recent months.
Scout, who starts as the highweight in Thursday’s TAB Queenland Thoroughbred Incentive Scheme 3-year-old Handicap at Gold Coast Racecourse, has won 3 of 10 starts in his career.
The first four Classic races on the English calendar have been postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic, it was announced Tuesday.
The English 1000 and 2000 Guineas, scheduled for May 2 and May 3 at Newmarket, and the Oaks and Derby at Epsom on June 5 and June 6 won’t be run as scheduled, the Jockey Club said in a news release.
Race organizers are considering alternative dates later in the year for the races. All racing in England has ceased through the month of April, though the sport still hopes to resume racing operations in May.
Selections for Hong Kong racing on Wednesday, April 8, 2020, at Happy Valley Racecourse.
Paul Lally
R1: 1-8-9-11
R2: 4-2-3-8
R3: 4-6-2-5
R4: 1-3-8-10
R5: 10-1-5-2
R6: 9-8-7-1
R7: 3-6-7-1
R8: 4-2-10-3
Best Bet: Race 8 - 4 Gentle Breeze
Longshot: Race 2 - 4 My Family
Play: Race qqp 2-4-10
In Europe, Surrey Thunder was a minor stakes winner in France, third in Group 3 races in France and Germany, and fifth in the German Derby, all in 2019.
In Australia this year, Surrey Thunder was fourth in his debut in the country, in a handicap at Rosehill Gardens on March 28. Now trained by Chris Waller, who looked after the world famous mare Winx, Surrey Thunder will have his second start in Australia in the Vinery Handicap at a mile at Warwick Farms Racecourse on Wednesday.
They’re busting down the doors to get into the featured eighth race Wednesday night at Happy Valley Racecourse in Hong Kong, with an overflow field of 14 entered in a wildly competitive Class 2 handicap.
Twelve can start in this 1,000-meter race around one turn that’s open to horses rated 100-80 in the Hong Kong handicap system; Seven Heavens and Styling City are stand-by starters, Hong Kong’s version of North American also-eligibles.
HAPPY VALLEY SELECTIONS
(Wednesday, April 8, 2020)
:: Hong Kong: Free PPs, picks, analysis, replays, and live streaming
The 2-year-old filly Queen of Style recorded consecutive wins within three weeks last November and December before the warm Australian summer began.
Last month, days before the Southern Hemisphere autumn, Queen of Style was second in a handicap at Callaghan Park in Rockhampton, a prep for Tuesday’s Capricornia Yearling Sale Classic, a sale-progeny race at six furlongs at the same venue.
Queen of Style has raced only at Rockhampton in her four starts. The track is home base for her trainer, Fred Smith.
Beauty Generation’s steady presence as an elite racehorse in Hong Kong stood in stark contrast Sunday to the more typical volatility to which even the most talented horses are susceptible.
Favored Waikuku took a major step backward finishing sixth in the Group 2, $548,270 Chairman’s Cup run spectator-free at Sha Tin. Waikuku had beaten Beauty Generation when last they met, but while Beauty Generation might not be quite the horse he was a year ago, he never has dropped off much, and consistency of performance is one quieter characteristic of a true star.
I’m a Cracker didn’t debut until March 12, winning a maiden race at 4 1/2 furlongs by nearly two lengths at Gunnedah, Australia.
The lack of race experience may work in the favor of the 4-year-old Southern Hemisphere gelding with a light weight assignment in Monday’s Emirates Park Handicap at 5 1/2 furlongs on turf at Scone Race Club. Gunnedah and Scone are about 80 miles apart, northwest of Sydney.
