The races are arriving quickly this spring for Eagle Way, the two-time stakes winner in Hong Kong.

Last Sunday, Eagle Way was third in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup at 1 1/4 miles at Sha Tin Racecourse. This Sunday, Eagle Way will start favored in the Group 3 Queen Mother Memorial Cup at 1 1/2 miles at Sha Tin.

Trainer John Moore said before the $3.059 million Queen Elizabeth that the two races were on Eagle Way’s agenda, provided the 5-year-old Australian-bred gelding recovered quickly from last week’s race.

Happily soared to the top of Europe’s 2-year-old division with Group 1 wins in Ireland and France in a three-week span last fall. The success did not translate to the United States. Happily finished last as the 2-1 favorite after a troubled trip in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Del Mar last November.

Six months after that setback, Happily is nearing her 2018 debut in Sunday’s Group 1 English 1000 Guineas for 3-year-old fillies at Newmarket Racecourse. The loss in California has not damaged her reputation in Europe.

SHA TIN SELECTIONS

(Sunday, May 6, 2018)

RACE 1: #4 Styling City, #5 Quadruple Double, #3 Speed Vision, #6 Romantic Bonanza

RACE 2: #2 Good Choice Ahead, #5 Penzance, #3 The Show, #8 The Legend

RACE 3: #1 Yourthewonforme, #3 Kwaichung Brothers, #9 Otouto, #14 Winningli

RACE 4: #3 Prawn Baba, #1 Eagle Way, #2 Exultant, #8 Goldfield

RACE 5: #8 Super Eighteen, #2 Have Fun Together, #4 Little Bird, #10 Gracious Ryder

Just because Aidan O’Brien won’t be attending the English 2000 Guineas on Saturday does not mean Aidan O’Brien is not winning the 2000 Guineas.

O’Brien will be at Churchill Downs to saddle Mendelssohn in the Kentucky Derby, but he has the ammunition back in England to knock out a ninth Guineas win.

SHA TIN SELECTIONS

(Wednesday, May 2)

Brett Davis
R1: 4-3-10-9
R2: 6-4-13-1
R3: 4-10-6-2
R4: 6-2-7-5
R5: 2-1-6-11
R6: 9-6-3-1
R7: 14-2-11-13
R8: 4-7-10-5
Best Bet - R5: #2 Lotus Breeze  
Longshot - R7: #11 Marqula
Best Play - R6: Quin 3,6,9

SHA TIN SELECTIONS

(Wednesday, May 2, 2018)

RACE 1: #4 Fantastic Fabio, #5 Rochford, #12 Catchmeifyoucan, #9 Corre Rapido

RACE 2: #7 Rock The Tree, #2 Glenealy Prize, #1 Sempiternal, #6 Double Point

RACE 3: #1 Giddy Giddy, #6 Goldie Flanker, #2 Most Beautiful, #5 Elite Spirit

RACE 4: #6 Calculation, #2 Classic Emperor, #4 Fight Hero, #7 Divine Boy

RACE 5: #11 Starlot, #2 Lotus Breeze, #3 Bond Elegance, #4 Gallant Return

Classic Emperor was having a fine winter season in Hong Kong before he was sent to Dubai earlier this year. In two starts at Meydan Racecourse, Classic Emperor unseated his rider in his first start in February and finished eighth in his next appearance in March.

Classic Emperor is back in Hong Kong and on his preferred surface in Wednesday’s $236,981 Victoria Racing Club Trophy at about a mile and 50 yards on the dirt course at Sha Tin.

Cracksman began his 4-year-old season the same way he ended his 3-year-old campaign – with a definitive Group 1 victory.

Rainbow Line, the Grade 2 winner of a turf marathon in Japan in March, won the first Grade 1 race in Sunday’s spring running of the $2.66 million Tenno Sho at Kyoto Racecourse in Japan, but was vanned off after the race when he showed signs of lameness in a foreleg.

Rainbow Line (5-1) won the Tenno Sho at two miles by a neck over 2-1 favorite Cheval Grand. Ridden by Yasunari Iwata, Rainbow Line closed from the back of the field of 17 and fought his way through traffic to catch stretch leader Cheval Grand in the final furlong.

HONG KONG - John Size, well on his way to his 10th Hong Kong training title since 2001, has cornered the market on sprinters.

Size swept the trifecta Sunday in the Group 1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize with Ivictory, Mr Stunning, and Beat the Clock. Those three, and the sidelined Group 1 winner D B Pin, represent 10 of Size’s 73 winners at the current Hong Kong season, which began in September. Those four horses have accounted for four group stakes wins this year.