It was Arc trials day Sunday at Chantilly, but how much relevance the three races had to the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe next month is questionable.
Caravaggio and Happily won group stakes at The Curragh in Ireland on Sunday to earn automatic berths in Breeders’ Cup races at Del Mar on Nov. 3-4. They were two of three group stakes winners on the eight-race card for trainer Aidan O’Brien.
Caravaggio won the Group 2 Flying Five Stakes at five furlongs to earn a berth in the BC Turf Sprint at the same distance Nov. 4. Happily won the Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at seven furlongs to earn a spot in the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf at a mile Nov. 3.
Decorated Knight was last of 10 horses at three furlongs from home but first across the finish Saturday at Leopardstown Racecourse in the Group 1, $1.5 million Irish Champion Stakes.
A chestnut horse of modest size, Decorated Knight unfurled an outsized kick under Andrea Atzeni to notch his third Group 1 win of 2017. In February, Decorated Knight won the Group 1 Jebel Hatta in Dubai, and in May he captured the Group 1 Tattersalls Gold Cup at The Curragh.
Horse of Fortune and Romantic Touch, the first- and second-place finishers in the Group 3 Premier Plate Handicap in June, start their 2017-18 Hong Kong campaigns in Sunday’s $319,979 Kwangtang Handicap at Sha Tin Racecourse in Hong Kong.
Churchill was soundly beaten Aug. 23 in the Group 1 International Stakes at York, but even in defeat, he regained some prestige.
Europe’s best 2-year-old of 2016, Churchill won the English 2000 Guineas and Irish 2000 Guineas to begin his 3-year-old campaign, but trudged home a well-beaten fourth in the St. James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot in June. Freshened, Churchill returned in the International and beat everyone in a good field save Ulysses, the early favorite to win the Breeders’ Cup Turf.
SHA TIN SELECTIONS AND ANALYSIS
(Sunday, Sept. 10)
RACE 1: #9 Super Euro Star, #6 Richcity Fortune, #2 Laugh Out Loud, #1 Multimax
RACE 2: #3 Happy Sound, #7 Winning Vibe, #10 Kim Glory, #4 Unleashed Dragon
RACE 3: #1 Everest, #8 Hit A Home Run, #5 Ambitious Heart, #3 Unique Happiest
RACE 4: #1 Wingold, #3 Kwaichung Brothers, #2 Good Method, #12 Starry Starlies
HAPPY VALLEY SELECTIONS
(WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 6)
Brett Davis
Race 1: 1-5-2-8
Race 2: 7-3-2-1
Race 3: 2-1-5-7
Race 4: 5-8-7-4
Race 5: 8-2-6-3
Race 6: 5-10-9-2
Race 7: 6-8-3-11
Race 8: 3-12-1-2
Best Bet - Race 3: #2 Victory Follow Me
Longshot - Race 8: 2 Almababy
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.