A handful of lightly raced horses look like the most interesting horses in the featured seventh race Sunday at Sha Tin Racecourse in Hong Kong.
The Sunday feature, as the Hong Kong season winds to a close, is a Class 2 handicap for horses rated 80-100 and run at 1,200 meters (about six furlongs). Post time if 4:05 a.m. Eastern.
A man named O’Brien won the Irish Derby on Saturday at The Curragh. That happens all the time – but not with this O’Brien.
Joseph O’Brien, the former jockey and the current son of 12-time Irish Derby-winning trainer Aidan O’Brien, won his first classic race as Latrobe edged Rostropovich in the 1 ½-mile fixture. Donnacha O’Brien, Joseph’s brother, rode the winner.
Aidan O’Brien trains Rostropovich as well as third-place finisher Saxon Warrior, fourth-place Delano Roosevelt, and fifth-place The Pentagon.
Waldgeist, at 4, is becoming a specialist in races at 1 1/2 miles on turf.
After winning a Group 3 race in May and a Group 2 race in June at that distance, Waldgeist can win a Group 1 for the first time at 1 1/2 miles in Sunday’s $467,160 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud in Paris.
They have walked willingly into a cage of lions, the connections of the England-based colt Dee Ex Bee, and we will see how they look coming out.
Twelve times, starting in 1997 with Desert King, Aidan O’Brien has trained the Irish Derby winner. He has four in Saturday’s edition of the Group 1 race at The Curragh, including the high-level colt Saxon Warrior, but Dee Ex Bee’s connections bypassed a start last week at Royal Ascot to travel to Ireland and take on the O’Brien quartet, and they might be rewarded for their boldness.
SHA TIN SELECTIONS
(Sunday, July 1, 2018)
RACE 1: #1 Top Ace, #7 Soccer Brave, #11 Jimson The Famous, #9 Lucky Win Win
RACE 2: #2 Bumble Baby, #3 Gentle Breeze, #2 Goko, #6 Fame And Fortune
RACE 3: #5 Sangria, #2 Fiama, #4 New Elegance, #9 Good Days
RACE 4: #1 Star Of Patch, #2 Honest Way, #5 Victory Power, #7 Absolucool
RACE 5: #2 Chater Thunder, #11 Elusive State, #6 Gouten Of Garo, #13 Lucky Shiny Day
HAPPY VALLEY SELECTIONS
(Wednesday, June 27)
:: Hong Kong: Free PPs, picks, and analysis
Brett Davis
R1: 3-9-4-1
R2: 6-4-2-8
R3: 1-2-10-7
R4: 10-1-2-7
R5: 7-1-5-4
R6: 5-2-1-6
R7: 8-2-6-12
R8: 12-8-6-10
Best Bet - R8: #12 Sam's Love
Longshot - R7: #8 Iron Boy
Best Play - R7: Q/Qp 2,6,8
A splint bone injury detected in January has kept the 4-year-old gelding Insayshable off the track in Hong Kong for the last six months.
Insayshable had a solid debut in Hong Kong last December, finishing third in a minor handicap at Happy Valley Racecourse. Insayshable makes a long-awaited second start in Wednesday’s $237,027 Manawatu Racing Club Challenge Trophy at 1 1/8 miles on turf at Happy Valley.
HAPPY VALLEY SELECTIONS
(Wednesday, June 27, 2018)
RACE 1: #1 Bo Duke, #3 Penzance, #7 Rock The Tree, #11 Holy Unicorn
RACE 2: #4 Split Of A Second, #8 Deal Maker, #6 Jolly Bountiful, #10 Fantastic Fabio
RACE 3: #5 Ocean Roar, #10 Oriental Elite, #7 Lucky Lucky, #1 I'm The Conquist
RACE 4: #1 General Dino, #2 Sichuan Boss, #8 Little Island, #5 Forever Posh
Exultant justified his status as an odds-on favorite by winning his second Group 3 race in recent weeks in Sunday’s $382,331 Premier Plate at 1 1/8 miles on turf at Sha Tin Racecourse in Hong Kong.
Ridden by leading jockey Zac Purton, Exultant, who shared top weight of 133 pounds, closed from off the pace in a field of eight to take the lead with a quarter-mile remaining. Exultant (3-4) finished 1 1/4 lengths in front of 6-1 Gold Mount, giving trainer Tony Cruz a sweep of the exacta. Dinozzo (5-1) rallied from the back of the field to finish third.
Mikki Rocket ended a streak of nine consecutive graded stakes losses with a first-ever Grade 1 win in Sunday’s $2,644,357 Takarazuka Kinen at Hanshin Racecourse.
The win gave Mikki Rocket an automatic berth to the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Churchill Downs on Nov. 3, although trainer Hidetaka Otonashi said after Sunday’s race that the Grade 1 Japan Cup at Tokyo Racecourse on Nov. 25 is an autumn goal.
