Brett Davis – Selections
R1 – 4-3-8-9
R2 – 4-8-1-9
R3 – 4-9-1-7
R4 – 10-4-3-1
R5 – 4-3-10-5
R6 – 6-1-5-3
R7 – 10-3-2-8
R8 – 3-1-2-6
Best – R3 N4 Master Albert
Longshot – R2 N4 Lotus Breeze
Best Play – R4 Q/Qp 3,4,10
Paul Lally:
R1 6-8-4-9
R2 9-1-3-6
R3 7-4-6-9
R4 4-1-3-10
R5 4-10-5-3
R6 9-1-6-3
R7 10-3-8-2
R8 7-2-3-5
Best: R5 N4 Endearing
Long: R6 N9 Magnetism
PlaysQQp 1-6-9
Andrew Le Jeune:
The Group 1 Prix Ganay on Sunday at Longchamp was supposed to be a coming-out party for Ghaiyyath. Instead, it turned into a coming-back party for Waldgeist.
Ghaiyyath, who overwhelmed a short field in leading all the way April 7 in the Group 2 Prix d’Harcourt, either regressed off that eye-catching win in his first start of the season or just wasn’t capable of coping with a step up in class. He was beaten by a pair of Group 1 winners, finishing third as a sharp Waldgeist rolled to a 4 1/2-length victory and Study of Man nipped Ghaiyyath for second.
Win Bright, a 47-1 outsider, scored a shocking win in Sunday’s Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Sha Tin Racecourse in track-record time for 2,000 meters, or 1 1/4 miles, on turf.
A Japanese shipper, Win Bright was timed in 1:58.81 and prevailed by three-quarters of a length over 8-5 favorite Exultant. Ridden by Masami Matsuoka, Win Bright raced in midpack in the field of 13 and overcame traffic in early stretch before reaching the front in the final sixteenth.
Fierement won for the first time against older horses in Sunday’s spring running of the Grade 1 Tenno Sho at Kyoto Racecourse in Japan, his first win since the Grade 1 Japanese St. Leger last October against 3-year-olds.
Ridden by Christophe Lemaire, Fierement had no difficulty with the marathon two-mile distance of the $2.598 million Tenno Sho, the springtime championship for stayers in Japan. Fierement, the 9-5 favorite in a field of 13, ran toward the rear of the field for the first mile and moved closer to the front with six furlongs remaining.
SHA TIN SELECTIONS
(Sunday, April 28)
:: Hong Kong: Free PPs, picks, and analysis
Brett Davis
R1: 7-6-1-8
R2: 1-13-10-14
R3: 1-4-10-5
R4: 3-9-5-4
R5: 8-1-2-3
R6: 1-3-4-9
R7: 1-5-4-2
R8: 6-12-4-5
R9: 13-6-7-9
R10: 2-12-1-3
Best Bet – R1: #7 Happy Alumni
Longshot – R3: #10 Sunshine Warrior
Best Play – R3: Q/Qp 1,4,10
Andrew Le Jeune
R1: 8-7-6-5
One of these days it seems logical that the 4-year-old Etario will win a major race in Japan. He certainly has enough seconds, and narrow losses in the last year.
Etario has one win in 10 starts with seven second-place finishes, a trend that could be reversed in Sunday’s spring running of the Grade 1 Tenno Sho at Kyoto Racecourse. A two-mile turf race, the $2.598 million Tenno Sho is the springtime championship for stayers in Japan.
The winning margin April 7 in the Prix d’Harcourt was 1 1/2 lengths, but bare win margins can deceive.
Though Ghaiyyath crossed the finish 1 1/2 lengths in front of Soleil Marin in the Group 2 Prix d’Harcourt, the race long had been decided.
The owners of Hong Kong star Beauty Generation chose a local campaign over international adventures this spring, and from that perspective, things could not be going better.
Rather than travel for the $6 million Dubai Turf on March 30 (a trip for which trainer John Moore lobbied), Beauty Generation stayed home and easily won the Chairman’s Trophy Stakes on April 7. That race was a prep for the Group 1, $2.3 million Champions Mile on Sunday at Sha Tin Racecourse, but the Champions Mile somehow came up a softer race than the Chairman’s Trophy.
