The 7-year-old gelding North America won the Al Maktoum Challenge Round 1 by roughly the breadth of a continent. And if he breaks alertly and makes the lead, the place North America likes to be, he’ll probably win the Group 2, $450,000 Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 on Thursday at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai.

Solar Patch is unraced since July and far behind his five rivals in experience in Thursday’s $334,565 Chinese New Year Cup at Sha Tin Racecourse in Hong Kong.

Solar Patch was sidelined by a splint bone injury, which kept him out of action for the first half of the Hong Kong season, which began in September. Thursday’s holiday card, the 44^th of 88 programs this year, is designed to give Solar Patch a much-needed prep race in advance of a potential start in the Hong Kong Derby on March 17.

SHA TIN SELECTIONS

(Thursday, February 7, 2019)

:: Hong Kong: Free PPs, picks, and analysis

RACE 1: #2 Red Elysees, #5 Family Leader, #9 Le Panache, #7 Positively High

RACE 2: #1 Savvy Seven, #6 Jumbo Bus, #3 Money Winner, #2 Management Star

RACE 3: #8 Triumphant Light, #10 Sunny Orient, #9 Scarborough Fair, #1 Fire And Gold

SHA TIN SELECTIONS

(Saturday, February 2)

:: Hong Kong: Free PPs, picks, and analysis

Brett Davis 

R1: 3-5-9-10

R2: 3-9-4-10

R3: 2-7-6-4

R4: 9-1-8-4

R5: 10-1-9-6

R6: 8-3-7-4

R7: 3-9-8-4

R8: 4-5-12-2

R9: 13-3-4-11

R10: 11-7-6-1

Best Bet – R8: #4 Top Laurels  

Longshot – R4: #8 Loriz

Best Play – R4: Q/Qp 1,8,9

Paul Lally

Drafted got a great setup and won the Group 3, $200,000 Al Shindagha Sprint, featured race Thursday night on the World Cup Carnival card at Meydan Racecourse.

His trainer, Doug Watson, now has won the Al Shindagha, a 1200-meter (about six-furlong) dirt race three years in a row having landed last year’s edition with My Catch and the 2017 race with Cool Cowboy.

Circuit Number Two, the 4-year-old Australian-bred gelding, won consecutive starts in Hong Kong in July and September before finishing third in a handicap in October.

For a month following that race, Circuit Number Two’s exercise was limited to swimming at the new Conghua training center in China, which opened in the second half of 2018. Circuit Number Two returned to Sha Tin Racecourse in mid-January and will have his first start in more than three months in Saturday’s $248,515 Beas River Handicap at a mile on turf at Sha Tin.

SHA TIN SELECTIONS

(Saturday, February 2, 2019)

:: Hong Kong: Free PPs, picks, and analysis

RACE 1: #10 Ruminare, #7 Happy Sound, #3 District Express, #5 Massive Move

RACE 2: #3 Lucky Shiny Day, #11 Corre Rapido, #8 Court Ruler, #13 Little Fantasy

RACE 3: #7 Shining Ace, #2 Meridian Genius, #6 Lucky Thought, #4 Brilliant

Brett Davis:

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

Best – R5 N3 Smart Leader
Longshot – R1 N10 Happy Happy
Best Play – R8 Q/Qp 1,3,7

Tom Wood:

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

During 2018 the nearly omnipresent stable of trainer Steve Asmussen started horses at 34 racetracks in the United States and Canada. But here is something different even by Asmussen’s far-flung standards: Thursday at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai, Asmussen sends out a horse named Switzerland in the Group 3, $200,000 Al Shindagha Sprint Stakes.

Asmussen ran one other horse in Dubai who raced outside Dubai World Cup night. That was Curlin, who captured a handicap race in late February before crushing the World Cup a month later at the old Nad al Sheba track.

HAPPY VALLEY SELECTIONS
(Wednesday January 30, 2019)