HAPPY VALLEY SELECTIONS
(Wednesday, June 5, 2019)
:: Hong Kong: Free PPs, picks, and analysis
Race 1: #5 Tashidelek, #8 Salto Olimpico, #7 God Of Dragon, #1 Giant Turtle
Race 2: #5 Golden Cannon, #3 Lucky Shiny Day, #11 Winning Circle, #4 Godspeed
Race 3: #4 Snap Fit, #11 Demon’s Rock, #6 Hong Kong Win, #2 Everbrave
Race 4: #5 Reliable Team, #1 Oriental Elite, #4 Packing Rockstar, #10 High Rev
Before he was well beaten in two of Hong Kong’s seven-figure races for 4-year-olds earlier this year, Green Luck won for the first time on the circuit at Happy Valley Racecourse in December.
The Australian import struggled in races at Sha Tin Racecourse through the winter, but returned to Happy Valley on May 1 and won a handicap at about a mile and 50 yards.
Wednesday, Green Luck starts in the $248,841 Wong Nai Chung Gap Handicap at Happy Valley, which at 1 1/8 miles should provide a test.
Indy Champ zoomed to an upset win in his Grade 1 debut in Sunday’s $1.96 million Yasuda Kinen at Tokyo Racecourse in Japan, beating the accomplished females Aerolithe and Almond Eye, who were second and third.
Almond Eye, Japan’s Horse of the Year in 2018, had her first start of the year in Japan in the Yasuda Kinen. She won the $6 million Dubai Turf at Meydan in the United Arab Emirates in her 2019 debut on March 30.
Indy Champ, a Grade 3 winner at a mile on turf in Tokyo in February, earned a fees-paid berth in the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Santa Anita with the win.
Sottsass blew past the heavily favored Persian King and won the Group 1 Prix du Jockey Club by two lengths Sunday at Chantilly Racecourse.
It was the third win in the French Derby in the last four years for trainer Jean-Claude Rouget, who was unable to attend the race because of an acute medical condition that arose over the weekend, the nature of which had not been reported as of Sunday morning in America.
SHA TIN SELECTIONS
(Sunday, June 2)
:: Hong Kong: Free PPs, picks, and analysis
Brett Davis
R1: 7-1-6-10
R2: 1-4-2-14
R3: 1-12-3-8
R4: 8-1-3-9
R5: 10-3-2-1
R6: 2-1-5-13
R7: 2-1-13-8
R8: 11-8-7-3
R9: 9-10-5-7
R10: 9-7-14-2
R11: 8-5-14-2
Best Bet – R6: #2 Joyful Heart
Longshot – R8: #11 Jenerator
Best Play – R1: Q/Qp 1,6,7
Tom Wood
Anthony Van Dyck, the Old Flemish master, was anything but a paint-by-numbers guy, but when his namesake won the English Derby on Saturday in England, it was all about the numbers.
Anthony Van Dyck came through along the inside under Seamie Heffernan to beat Madhmoon by a half-length. For Heffernan, it was Derby win No. 1 in attempt No. 12, his participation in so many English classics owing almost entirely to his long association with trainer Aidan O’Brien.
Champion’s Way is the rare 3-year-old with a chance at a group stakes win in Hong Kong, and the handicap system used in the jurisdiction helps his cause Sunday in the Group 3, $414,619 Lion Rock Trophy Handicap.
Almond Eye makes it easy for jockey Christophe Lemaire to brag about her ability.
A winner of seven consecutive races, the most recent of which was the $6 million Dubai Turf at Meydan Racecourse in the United Arab Emirates on March 30, Almond Eye will be an odds-on favorite to win Sunday’s Grade 1 Yasuda Kinen at Tokyo Racecourse.
Lemaire, who has ridden the 4-year-old Almond Eye in seven of her eight starts, thinks the filly is in peak form.
Anapurna rallied in the final sixteenth to win Friday’s Group 1 English Oaks at Epsom Downs, giving legendary jockey Frankie Dettori a fifth win in the classic race for 3-year-old fillies.
Trained by John Gosden, Anapurna (8-1) closed on the inside through the uphill finish to edge 3-1 Pink Dogwood by a neck. The Gosden-trained Mehdaayih was the 11-4 favorite, but could only finish seventh after encountering trouble in the stretch.
Persian King has ascended the throne among French 3-year-olds this season, and despite a poor draw is widely expected to maintain his reign Sunday at Chantilly in the Group 1 Prix du Jockey-Club.
France’s version of the Derby is contested at 1 5/16 miles around right-handed bends and drew 15 entrants who will race over a course termed good-to-soft as of Friday.
