Fifty horses, split evenly between locals and internationals, have been selected by the Hong Kong Jockey Club for the four Group 1 races Dec. 9 that make up the Hong Kong International Races at Sha Tin Racecourse.
Nine Japan-based horses are among the selected runners, as are eight horses with English connections, four from Ireland, two from France, and one each from Australia and Singapore. No U.S.-based horses will make the trip to Hong Kong this year.
HAPPY VALLEY SELECTIONS
(Wednesday, November 21)
Brett Davis
R1: 7-5-1-4
R2: 6-1-11-9
R3: 1-10-9-7
R4: 4-2-1-6
R5: 11-6-12-5
R6: 5-8-6-11
R7: 9-1-8-4
R8: 3-10-2-7
Best Bet – R3: #1 Khaki
Longshot – R6: #5 Clear Choice
Best Play – R6: #Q/Qp 5,6,8
Paul Lally
R1: 7-1-5-4
R2: 1-3-11-9
R3: 1-10-7-4
R4: 2-6-11-1
R5: 1-6-8-5
R6: 3-8-7-10
R7: 9-7-1-11
R8: 3-6-10-2
Eagle Way was the big mover in the latest set of ratings published Monday by the Hong Kong Jockey Club. HKJC handicapper and chief race planner Nigel Gray raised Eagle Way’s rating six points to 124 after the 5-year-old came from last behind a taxing pace and swept to victory in the Group 2 BOCHK Jockey Club Cup.
Breeders’ Cup Turf and two-time Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Enable will race again as a 5-year-old in 2019, owner Khalid Abdullah’s Juddmonte Farms announced on social media Monday.
A tweet from the Juddmonte account said “a third Arc will be her main target.”
No horse has won the Arc three times. Treve won the race as a 3-year-old of 2013, won it again at 4 in 2014, but finished fourth in 2015 bidding to become the first three-time Arc winner.
If, as they should, the Hong Kong International Races next month exceed the preps for them Sunday at Sha Tin Racecourse, those are going to be some very appealing races.
All three of the major races Sunday produced strong performances, but Beauty Generation still stood out. The highest-rated horse in Hong Kong won the Group 2 Jockey Club Mile by three lengths and set a course record of 1:32.64 for 1,600 meters despite drifting out through the entire homestretch run and crossing the line closer to the stands-side rail than the inside fence.
Brett Davis
R1: 1-11-5-3
R2: 11-6-4-2
R3: 3-2-10-9
R4: 2-9-4-12
R5: 1-5-3-4
R6: 1-5-4-6
R7: 3-4-2-9
R8: 2-7-4-1
R9: 10-14-12-1
R10: 11-2-7-12
Best Bet: R8 n2 Mr Stunning
Longshot: R9 n10 Eptimum
Best Play: R6 Quin 1/ 4,5
Andrew Le Jeune
R1: 5-1-11-10
R2: 11-3-13-6
R3: 3-9-6-2
R4: 2-10-9-4
R5: 1-7-3-2
R6: 1-5-4-8
R7: 3-9-1-4
R8: 2-7-3-1
R9: 1-4-10-14
R10: 11-4-2-12
Best Bet: R10 N11 Noble Steed
The most important race card so far this Hong Kong season, Sunday’s program at Sha Tin Racecourse, is all about readying the local forces for the most important race card of the whole Hong Kong season.
Featured are three Group 2, $542,766 stakes preps for the Hong Kong International Races on Dec. 7.
Race 6 is the Jockey Club Mile over 1,600 meters, a prep for the Group 1 Hong Kong Mile. Race 7 is the Jockey Club Cup, a 2,000-meter prep for the Group 1 Hong Kong Cup and the Group 1 Hong Kong Vase. And race 8, the Jockey Club Sprint, is a prep for the Hong Kong Sprint.
Gosden-trained horses took home five different awards, including Horse of the Year, which went to Roaring Lion.
