World’s Best Racehorse of 2019 – in fact, there were three of them.

Enable, Crystal Ocean, and Waldgeist were announced as the tri-winners of Longines's annual award at a luncheon Wednesday in London.

Andrew Le Jeune:

R1: 8-2-5-9
R2: 12-10-2-9
R3: 9-11-8-4
R4: 9-1-8-5
R5: 8-11-10-9
R6: 4-1-5-6
R7: 6-8-2-7
R8: 12-7-1-6
R9: 4-3-7-10

Best: R8 N12 Winning Feeling
Each/way: R7 N6 Reynolds
Play: Q/QP R8 2-6-8

Graham Cunningham:

R1: 2-12-5-9
R2: 12-2-10-9
R3: 9-2-11-8
R4: 1-3-2-9
R5: 2-10-11-9
R6: 4-1-11-7
R7: 2-8-10-12
R8: 9-12-7-4
R9: 4-12-7-3

Relentless Me will start in Wednesday’s second division of the $186,634 Hoi Yuen Handicap at Happy Valley Racecourse in Hong with a good excuse for his 11^th place finish at Sha Tin Racecourse on Dec. 8.

Relentless Me, trained by former Hong Kong champion jockey Doug Whyte, threw a tantrum before the start and briefly had his right front leg over a rail. Even though he sustained a small cut, according to the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s website, Relentless Me was allowed to start.

HAPPY VALLEY SELECTIONS
(Wednesday, January 22, 2020)

The change in leadership in Hong Kong’s turf mile division is official.

Waikuku won Sunday’s Group 1 Stewards’ Cup at Sha Tin Racecourse, the third consecutive race in which the 5-year-old gelding has finished in front of Beauty Generation, the Hong Kong Horse of the Year for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons.

In the $1.28 million Stewards’ Cup around a one-turn course, Waikuku closed from last in a field of seven to catch pacesetter, and 9-5 second choice, Beauty Generation. Waikuku won by a neck under jockey Joao Moreira as the 1-2 favorite.

R1: 6-4-2-8

R2: 1-8-11-6

R3: 3-1-6-2

R4: 4-2-1-12

R5: 3-1-5-2

R6: 13-4-6-2

R7: 1-2-6-4

R8: 8-11-3-9

R9: 11-10-8-6

R10: 2-8-7-11

Best: R10 N2 Smart Patch

Each/way: R2 N1 Melbourne Hall

Play: Q/QP R10 2-7-8

Tom Wood:

R1:         4 – 6 – 5 – 1

R2:         6 – 4 – 3 – 1

R3:         1 – 3 – 6 – 2

R4:         1 – 2 – 4 – 3

R5:         3 – 1 – 5 – 7

When Beauty Generation won the Group 1 Stewards’ Cup at a mile on turf at Sha Tin Racecourse in Hong Kong in January 2019, the victory was his sixth success of a 10-race winning streak.

Beauty Generation was honored as Hong Kong’s Horse of the Year for the 2018-19 season, his second consecutive title.

SHA TIN SELECTIONS
(Sunday, January 19, 2020)

What is the shelf life of a promising performance from a young horse?

It’s been a good long while – two years and about three months, to get more specific – since Magic Lily showed plenty of promise, finishing third to the multiple Group 1-winner Laurens in the Group 1 Fillies' Mile at Newmarket.

Andrew Le Jeune:

R1: 7-4-8-9
R2: 9-2-8-11
R3: 5-10-9-4
R4: 11-2-4-1
R5: 7-3-9-1
R6: 1-5-6-3
R7: 2-5-12-7
R8: 1-6-11-8
R9: 2-3-1-9

Best: R5 N7 Surrealism
Each/way: R8 N1 Heart Conquered
Play: R8 Q/QP R8 1-6-11

Tom Wood:

R1: 8 – 9 – 3 – 11
R2: 9 – 2 – 8 – 11
R3: 5 – 11 – 4 – 3
R4: 4 – 2 – 9 – 3
R5: 3 – 7 – 6 – 10
R6: 4 – 5 – 7 – 1
R7: 5 – 7 – 2 – 9
R8: 8 – 6 – 1 – 3
R9: 2 – 1 – 3 – 9