SHA TIN SELECTIONS
(Sunday, October 22, 2017)
RACE 1: #6 Lucky Time, #13 Nice Fandango, #8 Ocean Elite, #1 California Aspar
RACE 2: #1 Morethanlucky, #6 Ambitious Pins, #4 Great Treasure, #2 First Fontein
RACE 3: #1 Beloved, #3 Unbeatable Guts, #5 Wingold, #13 Bliss Cartel
RACE 4: #4 Green Energy, #1 Circuit Hassler, #12 Experto Crede, #6 Razor Quest
Trainer Aidan O’Brien will start Johannes Vermeer in the $2,353,200 Caulfield Cup in Australia in an attempt to match the late Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel’s 2003 mark of 25 Grade 1 or Group 1 wins in a season.
As of Wednesday, Johannes Vermeer was the 7-2 favorite in a field of 17. The race has a post time of 1:30 a.m. Eastern on Saturday, and 10:30 p.m. Pacific on Friday.
Brett Davis:
R1 - 7-8-11-4
R2 - 6-4-5-2
R3 - 4-6-2-1
R4 - 12-2-3-6
R5 - 3-2-12-9
R6 - 6-10-4-3
R7 - 10-1-7-2
R8 - 7-1-9-6
Best - R2 n6 Cheerfuljet
Longshot - R4 n12 Happy Friendship
Best Play - R5 Trio 3/2,4,9,12
Paul Lally:
R1 5-7-3-8
R2 6-1-5-2
R3 6-4-10-1
R4 2-3-5-1
R5 2-3-12-7
R6 6-1-4-5
R7 1-4-10-3
R8 1-12-7-6
Best Bet R7 Fantastic Feeling
Longshot R8 Quick Return
Best Play 1-4-10 QQp
Best Step, the 4-year-old gelding, has become a different horse the last six months in Hong Kong.
After losing his first three career starts, including one race by a nose, Best Step has won three of his last four races, rising in class in Hong Kong’s handicap ratings. Best Step will start as a logical selection Wednesday in the first division of the $167,793 Queen’s Road Central Handicap at six furlongs on turf at Happy Valley Racecourse.
HAPPY VALLEY SELECTIONS
(Wednesday, October 18, 2017)
RACE 1: #2 Winfull Patrol, #4 Winning Controller, #7 Haymaker, #8 Rocket Let Win
RACE 2: #6 Cheerfuljet, #1 Great Joy, #8 Mr Kool, #5 Beauty Connection
RACE 3: #1 Grand Harbour, #2 Istanbul Bey, #6 Polymer Luck, #4 Wah May Baby
RACE 4: #3 Fruitful Life, #2 Gold Velvet, #7 Sweet Bean, #1 Audacity
Aidan O’Brien got his 24th Group 1 win of the season as U S Navy Flag led an O’Brien-trained sweep of the top four places in the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes on Saturday at Newmarket.
U S Navy Flag was near or on the lead from the start and never was threatened through the final furlong, coming home 2 1/2 lengths ahead of 50-1 runner-up Mendelssohn. Seahenge finished another 2 1/2 lengths back in third and was a head better than Threeandfourpence.
Redzel’s tactical advantage over Vega Magic proved the difference Saturday at Royal Randwick in the world’s richest turf race.
Sitting a perfect pressing trip under Kerrin McEvoy, Redzel took command of the $7,774,000 Everest Stakes 300 meters out, winning by just less than one length. Vega Magic was a neck better than longshot Brave Smash in third, as Chautauqua, whose good finish came too late, was three-quarters farther back in fourth.
SHA TIN SELECTIONS
(SATURDAY, OCTOBER 14)
Brett Davis
Race 1: 5-1-2-9
Race 2: 4-3-12-7
Race 3: 6-14-1-9
Race 4: 12-7-4-2
Race 5: 5-8-6-9
Race 6: 5-1-2-4
Race 7: 10-5-7-9
Race 8: 3-13-5-9
Race 9: 7-5-10-8
Race 10: 10-8-3-14
Best Bet - Race 2: #4 Empire Star
Longshot - Race 5: #6 Penzance
Best Play - Race 7 Trio 10/5,7,9,11
Laurens won the tightest of photos over September to capture the Group 1 Fillies Mile on Friday at Newmarket.
Magic Lily finished third with favored Magical a one-paced fourth under Ryan Moore. Magical and September both are trained by Aidan O’Brien, who scratched likely favorite Happily from the Fillies Mile, a seven-furlong straight course race for 2-year-old fillies, earlier Friday. Happily is a possible runner in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, though O’Brien has other candidates for that race.
A pair of Class 2 handicaps, one at about one mile, the other at about six furlongs, headline a 10-race card Saturday at Sha Tin Racecourse in Hong Kong.
Eastern Express barely scrapes into race 6, the race over 1600 meters (about one mile), with a rating of 100 in a handicap restricted to horses rated 80-100. Making his first start of the Hong Kong season, Eastern Express packs top weight of 133 pounds, including jockey Zac Purton, in what trainer John Size might or might not be using as a stepping-stone to targets later this fall and winter.
