The first classic race of the American season, the Kentucky Derby, lost it’s favorite, Omaha Beach, just three days before the race. The 2000 Guineas, the first European classic, lost its leading light, Too Darn Hot, about two weeks ago.

Omaha Beach, sidelined with an entrapped epiglottis, assumed his favorite’s role only after winning the Arkansas Derby in mid-April, but Too Darn Hot had been the Guineas favorite all winter before an untimely splint injury set him back.

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:

HAPPY VALLEY SELECTIONS
(Wednesday, May 1, 2019)

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.

What looked like an exhibition on paper played out like one on the Sha Tin Racecourse turf Sunday when Beauty Generation won the Group 1, $2.3 million Champions Mile for the second year in a row.

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.