Perpetual Joyance ended the 2016-17 Hong Kong season in excellent form, finishing first and a close second in his last two starts.
Those performances alone make Perpetual Joyance capable of winning Wednesday’s $237,690 Yau Oi Handicap at six furlongs on turf at Happy Valley Racecourse in Hong Kong. The presence of leading jockey Joao Moreira on Perpetual Joyance might make the 5-year-old New Zealand-bred gelding the favorite.
Guignol won his second Group 1 race in the last 12 months in Sunday’s $296,475 Grosser Preis Von Baden at Baden-Baden Racecourse in Germany, earning a fees-paid berth in the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 4.
A 7-2 chance, Guignol, ridden by Filip Minarik, led throughout the Grosser Preis Von Baden at 1 1/2 miles on turf, finishing 2 1/4 lengths in front of Iquitos, the 6-5 favorite who rallied on the inside in the stretch but did not threaten the winner.
The 3-year-old Colomano finished third in the field of six.
Winx is testing the mettle of her backers as her historic winning streak continues.
In Saturday’s Group 2 Chelmsford Stakes at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Australia, Winx closed from sixth in the one-mile turf race to catch the runaway leader, Red Excitement, in the final 50 yards and win by a length.
The outcome was in doubt in early stretch when Red Excitement led by about six lengths, but the 6-year-old mare responded brilliantly under jockey Hugh Bowman to win her 19th consecutive race and her second race after a three-month rest during the Australian winter.
Paul Lally:
R1 1-3-5-7
R2 3-2-4-8
R3 3-1-2-7
R4 6-1-4-10
R5 1-2-8-10
R6 8-6-7-1
R7 5-12-1-3
R8 7-5-1-9
R9 6-14-10-2
R10 1-3-11-12
Best Bet R9 Fifty Fifty
Long shot R6 Savannah Wind
Best Play Quinella R9 Fifty Fifty/Travel Emperor
Brett Davis:
R1 - 1-3-5-7
R2 - 4-2-11-5
R3 - 7-3-1-6
R4 - 6-1-4-5
R5 - 2-10-6-8
R6 - 1-8-7-11-
R7 - 12-2-5-3-
R8 - 7-6-3-1
R9 - 3-6-14-10
R10 - 1-4-12-11
Iquitos will be favored to win the Group 1 Grosser Preis Von Baden at Baden-Baden Racecourse in Germany for the second consecutive year on Sunday, a race that offers a fees-paid berth for the winner to the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 4.
Iquitos had a European and Asian campaign following his win in the 2016 Grosser Preis Von Baden, a season that ended with a seventh in the Grade 1 Japan Cup at Tokyo Racecourse last November.
Its engines scarcely cooled from the 2016-17 season, the Hong Kong Jockey Club has revved them up again for the 2017-18 season, which begins Sunday at Sha Tin.
The season, as it did this year, runs through July, and thanks to HKJC efforts to broaden the international viability of its product, more race fans around the world than ever before know it.
Near England, a 4-year-old Irish-bred filly, tries to win her fifth stakes and first at the Group 2 level in Saturday’s $83,314 T. Von Zastrow Stutenpreis for fillies and mares at 1 1/2 miles on turf at Baden-Baden Racecourse in Germany.
The winner will receive a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf through the Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In program.
Winx will face several familiar rivals when she attempts to win her 19th consecutive race in Saturday’s Group 2 Chelmsford Stakes at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Australia.
A 6-year-old mare, Winx is part of a field of 12 in the $197,475 Chelmsford Stakes at a mile on turf. She will be closely watched at the start after breaking poorly in the Group 2 Warwick Stakes at Randwick on Aug. 19, her first start since May. Winx trailed the field by about four lengths early and rallied wide to win the seven-furlong race by a head, her narrowest margin of victory in 23 months.
SHA TIN SELECTIONS
(Sunday, September 3, 2017)
RACE 1: #5 Multigogo, #1 Lucky Lucky, #7 Peace Combination, #9 Winfull Patrol
RACE 2: #2 Je Pense, #4 Best Tango, #12 My Folks, #11 Supernatural
RACE 3: #3 Fabulous One, #1 Blizzard, #4 Seasons Bloom, #7 Southern Legend
RACE 4: #1 Harbour Nova, #6 Household King, #10 Sight Seeing, #4 Contribution
