Shining Ace seems to thrive when he has to overcome trouble.

At Sha Tin Racecourse in Hong Kong in June, and again at Happy Valley Racecourse on Oct. 16, Shining Ace raced in traffic, but recovered to win six-furlong handicaps on turf.

Wednesday at Happy Valley, Shining Ace can win consecutive starts for the second time in the last six months in the $184,960 Hebe Hill Handicap at six furlongs.

Shining Ace, trained by John Size, has conditions in his favor. Shining Ace is a stalker, who will have a pace to follow from runners such as Planet Star and Tang Fleming.

HAPPY VALLEY SELECTIONS
(Wednesday, 30 October, 2019)

Alson, second in the Group 1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere on Oct. 6, won his first Group 1 race in his final start of 2019 in Sunday’s $276,975 Criterium International at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris.

The final Group 1 race for 2-year-olds of the European season turned out to be a match race. Only four were entered in the Criterium International, with the field reduced to three after Wichita was scratched on Sunday morning. The filly Lady Penelope was withdrawn at the start after becoming upset in the gate.

Almond Eye returned from a layoff of more than four months to win her second Grade 1 or Group 1 race of the year in Sunday’s $2.675 million Autumn Tenno Sho at Tokyo Racecourse in Japan.

The Tenno Sho served as a prep for the Japan Cup on Nov. 24, a race Almond Eye won last year en route to the title of 2018 Japanese Horse of the Year.

Ridden by Christophe Lemaire, Almond Eye (3-5) closed from the middle of a field of 16 to take the lead with a furlong to go before drawing off to win by three lengths over 8-1 Danon Premium, who finished a neck in front of 19-1 Aerolithe.

Lys Gracieux won her second consecutive Group 1 or Grade 1 race in as many countries with a strong rally in Saturday’s $3.4 million Cox Plate at Moonee Valley Racecourse in Australia.

Sent off favored, Lys Gracieux (3-2) closed from off the pace to take the lead in the final sixteenth, pulling clear to win by 1 1/2 lengths over 15-2 Castelvecchio, a 3-year-old having his first start against older horses.

The Class 2 Kwangtung Handicap Cup, headed by top-rated Elusive State, is the featured race on an all-dirt program Sunday at Sha Tin Racecourse in Hong Kong.

The 1,650-meter Kwangtung is the fourth of nine races over what the Hong Kong Jockey Club officially terms Sha Tin’s all-weather track but is actually a sand-based dirt course.

Alson and Armory, second and third in the Group 1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere on the undercard of the Prix de l’Arc de Tromphe on Oct. 6, are part of a four-horse field in Sunday’s $276,975 Criterium International at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris, the final Group 1 of the year for 2-year-olds in Europe.

The Group 1 Vertem Futurity on Saturday at Doncaster in England is going to look a lot like an Aidan O’Brien team workout.

The Ireland-based master trainer has five of the six entrants in the one-mile race for 2-year-olds formerly called the Racing Post Trophy. O’Brien runs heavily favored Mogul, second-choice Innisfree, as well as Louisiana, Iberia, and Royal County Down. Andrew Balding-trained Kameko, second by a neck to Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf-bound Royal Dornoch in the Royal Lodge Stakes, is the only entrant from outside the O’Brien yard.

SHA TIN SELECTIONS
(Sunday, 27 October, 2019)

Brett Davis – Selections

R1 – 3-1-8-10
R2 – 1-10-5-2
R3 – 3-9-1-10
R4 – 9-1-2-3
R5 – 3-6-1-2
R6 – 3-1-5-4
R7 – 9-6-2-10
R8 – 5-2-3-1
R9 – 1-9-3-7

Best – R4 n9 Playa Del Puente
Longshot – R2 n1 Super Fun
Best Play – R1 Q/Qp 1,3,8,10

Andrew Le Jeune:

R1: 3-1-5-2
R2: 4-6-10-8
R3: 9-10-6-1
R4: 2-9-5-1
R5: 8-3-4-7
R6: 1-3-4-2
R7: 2-6-10-1
R8: 5-1-3-10
R9: 1-3-9-6