Thu, 09/28/2017 - 13:46

Newmarket stakes might be launch pad to Breeders' Cup 2-year-old races

Two-year-olds take the spotlight on a Saturday card at Newmarket that includes a pair of Group 1 races as well as a Breeders’ Cup Challenge Win and You’re In race for the BC Juvenile Turf.

Thu, 09/28/2017 - 12:01

Enable favored to beat males in Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe

Emily Shields
Ulysses finished 12th in his only attempt at a Group 1 race.

Enable, a winner of four consecutive Group 1 races in England and Ireland since early June, will be an odds-on favorite to win Europe’s most prestigious race, the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, at Chantilly, France, on Sunday.

If Enable prevails against as many as 17 rivals, she will be the first 3-year-old filly to win the Arc since Treve in 2013 and the seventh female to win the race in the last 10 runnings.

Enable was supplemented to the Arc for approximately $141,000 this week.

Thu, 09/28/2017 - 10:49

Beauty Only starts Hong Kong season in Celebration Cup

Hong Kong Jockey Club
Beauty Only wins last year's Hong Kong Mile at Sha Tin.

Beauty Only, the champion miler in 2016-17 in Hong Kong, will race for the first time this season in Sunday’s Group 3 Celebration Cup at seven furlongs at Sha Tin Racecourse.

Beauty Only’s title year was highlighted by a win in the Hong Kong Mile last December, and the same race is a goal this season.

The Celebration Cup and the Group 3 National Day Cup at five furlongs on turf on Sunday’s program are the first group stakes of the 2017-18 Hong Kong season. Both races are worth $384,216.

Thu, 09/28/2017 - 10:39

Andrew Hawkins' Hong Kong selections and analysis for Sunday, October 1, 2017

SHA TIN SELECTIONS

(Sunday, October 1, 2017)

 

RACE 1: #8 Flying Noble, #7 Paddington, #3 None Other, #2 Multimax

RACE 2: #7 Ho Ho Feel, #1 Jolly Gene, #5 Gorgeous Again, #2 Sergeant Titanium

RACE 3: #2 Star Of Patch, #5 Super Euro Star, #3 Numero Uno, #1 Lang Tai Sing

RACE 4: #6 Good Days, #1 A Beautiful, #8 Sunny Orient, #4 Laugh Out Loud

RACE 5: #2 Morethanlucky, #5 The Show, #11 Win For Charity, #4 Enormous Honour

Tue, 09/26/2017 - 20:30

Thunder Stomp, Brave Legend aim to repeat recent victories

Thunder Stomp and Brave Legend look like the most interesting participants in a trio of Class 3 handicaps headlining the Wednesday night card at Happy Valley Racecourse in Hong Kong.

Both horses rise considerably up the ratings after big wins in their respective seasonal debuts. Thunder Stomp starts in race 7, a one-circuit 1,650-meter race, while Brave Legend goes in race 6, a 1,200-meter dash around roughly 1 1/2 turns of Happy Valley’s tight and irregularly configured course.

Tue, 09/26/2017 - 10:16

Hong Kong selections for Wednesday, September 27, 2017

HAPPY VALLEY SELECTIONS

(Wednesday, September 27)

 

Brett Davis 
Race 1: 2-5-3-8
Race 2: 1-2-7-12
Race 3: 1-10-6-9
Race 4: 2-8-11-1
Race 5: 5-7-2-4
Race 6: 11-1-12-3
Race 7: 3-12-8-7
Race 8: 9-8-4-10
Best Bet - Race 6: #11 Starlight  
Longshot - Race 1: #3 Look Eras
Best Play - Race 3: Quin  1,10

 

Mon, 09/25/2017 - 10:31

Andrew Hawkins' Hong Kong selections and analysis for Wednesday, September 27, 2017

HAPPY VALLEY SELECTIONS

(Wednesday, September 27, 2017)

 

RACE 1: #6 I'm The Won For U, #3 Look Eras, #8 The Legend, #2 Generous Bobo

RACE 2: #7 Haymaker, #2 Show Mission, #1 Massive Millennium, #5 Rocket Let Win

RACE 3: #1 Little Island, #9 Fine With Me, #2 Works Of Art, #3 Celestial Arrow

RACE 4: #5 Rock The Tree, #11 Spicy Double, #1 Victory Follow Me, #4 My Gift

Sat, 09/23/2017 - 10:07

Mongolian King totes more weight in Yuen Long Handicap

Mongolian King beat six of the 13 horses he faces Sunday at Sha Tin in the featured $238,162 Yuen Long Handicap – and don’t think the Hong Kong Jockey Club handicapper doesn’t know it.

Mongolian King carried 120 pounds when he won Sept. 3, but his rating is up six points after that victory, and in Sunday’s 10th and final race (post time: 5:45 a.m. Eastern), his impost is up to 127. Mongolian King, a 5-year-old New Zealand-bred gelding, started showing steady improvement midway through last season, but bettors will be pondering the height of his ceiling in Sunday’s race.

Thu, 09/21/2017 - 12:49

Andrew Hawkins' Hong Kong selections and analysis for Sunday, September 24, 2017

SHA TIN SELECTIONS

(Sunday, September 24, 2017)

 

RACE 1: #6 Je Pense, #4 King Bountiful, #1 Industrialist Way, #3 Cloud Nine

RACE 2: #9 Oriental Fantasia, #5 Actuariat, #1 A Fast One, #4 Smiling Glory

RACE 3: #4 Endearing, #11 Multigogo, #8 Creme Brulee, #2 All You Know

RACE 4: #1 Wingold, #3 Soul Achiever, #14 Starry Starlies, #11 Plain Blue Banner

RACE 5: #3 Red Elysees, #8 Newswire Free, #6 Autopay, #5 Contribution

Tue, 09/19/2017 - 11:42

Hong Kong packages three major stakes for April card

The Hong Kong Jockey Club on Tuesday announced the creation of a Group 1 stakes triple-header on April 29 next year.

The HKJC has combined on one card the Champions Mile over 1,600 meters, the Chairman’s Sprint Prize over 1,200 meters, and the Queen Elizabeth II Cup over 2,000 meters.  The Champions Mile and the Chairman’s Sprint Prize were moved one week to create the program.

All three races got purse increases for the 2018 edition. The QE II is worth $3.075 million, the Champion’s Mile $2.3 million, and the Chairman’s Sprint Prize $2.05 million.