Sun, 06/25/2017 - 17:51

House of Fortune, Thewizardofoz win HK's final group stakes

Hong Kong Jockey Club
House of Fortune wins the Premier Plate by 1 1/4 lengths.

Horse of Fortune and Thewizardofoz won Group 3 stakes at Sha Tin Racecourse in Hong Kong on Sunday, the final group stakes of the Hong Kong 2016-17 season.

Horse of Fortune won the $384,684 Premier Plate at 1 1/8 miles, a race overshadowed by the behavior of 1-2 favorite Pakistan Star, who refused to race shortly after the start. Pakistan Star was racing at the back of a field of five after the opening furlong when he stopped to a walk under leading rider Joao Moreira.

Sun, 06/25/2017 - 14:40

Japan's Satono Crown captures free spot in Breeders' Cup Turf

ARCADIA, Calif. - Satono Crown earned a fees-paid berth in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 4 with an upset win in Sunday’s Grade 1 Takarazuka Kinen at 1 3-8 miles on turf at Hanshin Racecourse in Japan.

Satono Crown (8-1) won the $2.6 million race by three-quarters of a length over 11-1 Gold Actor, who finished 1 1/2 lengths in front of Mikki Queen, the only mare in the field of 11. Kitasan Black, the 2016 Japanese Horse of the Year, raced wide for much of the race and finished ninth at 2-5.

Sat, 06/24/2017 - 14:59

The Tin Man by a neck in Diamond Jubilee as Royal Ascot meet comes to close

Early this week at Royal Ascot, all the horses in straight-course races clustered around the stand’s side rail, where the going appeared to be better, but by week’s end, it was the far-side rail that offered the best footing, and it was there that The Tin Man rallied on strongly to win the final Group 1 race of the 2017 Royal Ascot meet, the Diamond Jubilee on Saturday.

Sat, 06/24/2017 - 11:27

Hong Kong selections for Sunday, June 25, 2017

SHA TIN SELECTIONS

(Sunday, June 25)

 

Paul Lally

Race 1: 2-6-8-5

Race 2: 6-2-3-7

Race 3: 1-5-2-4

Race 4: 5-11-13-3

Race 5: 4-1-9-2

Race 6: 4-1-2-12

Race 7: 1-4-5-7

Race 8: 9-2-7-1

Race 9: 10-8-4-1

Race 10: 9-14-5-4

Best Bet - Race 8: #9 Win Win Ruby

Longshot - Race 10: #14 General Dino

Best Play - QQP Race 8: 2-7-9

 

Brett Davis 

Race 1: 11-2-8-9

Race 2: 6-2-3-1

Fri, 06/23/2017 - 18:06

Kitasan Black seeks third straight Grade 1 win at Japan's Hanshin

ARCADIA, Calif. - Kitasan Black, the 2016 Japanese Horse of the Year, will be a heavy favorite to win his third consecutive Grade 1 race in Sunday’s $2.6 million Takarazuka Kinen at 1 3/8 miles on turf at Hanshin Racecourse in Japan.

Kitasan Black won the Japan Cup last November and was second in the Grade 1 Arima Kinen on Christmas Day. This year, Kitasan Black is unbeaten in two starts in Grade 1 races: the Osaka Hai at 1 1/4 miles on turf at Hanshin on April 2, and the Tenno Sho at two miles on turf at Kyoto on April 30.

Fri, 06/23/2017 - 13:31

Winter, Caravaggio score odds-on wins at Royal Ascot

Caravaggio and Winter gave Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien a sweep of the two Group 1 races at Royal Ascot on Friday with short-priced favorites, extending the stable’s success at England’s most prestigious race meeting.

Through Friday, the fourth of five days at Royal Ascot, O’Brien had won three Group 1 races and four races overall.

Caravaggio (5-6) remained unbeaten after six races by winning the $506,520 Commonwealth Cup for 3-year-olds at six furlongs. Winter (4-9) won her third consecutive Group 1 race in the $544,509 Coronation Stakes for 3-year-old fillies.

Thu, 06/22/2017 - 16:26

Limato gets favored ground in Diamond Jubilee

Barbara D. Livingston
Limato (left) finishes sixth in the Breeders' Cup Mile.

Five-day race meets go fast, and already Royal Ascot 2017 is coming to a close, with Saturday’s final card headlined as usual by the Group 1 Diamond Jubilee Stakes.

The six-furlong, straight-course Diamond Jubilee, which has a post time of 11:20 a.m. Eastern, drew 19 final entrants and has Limato at the head of the betting market. It also includes trainer Bill Mott’s first Royal Ascot starter, Long On Value.

Thu, 06/22/2017 - 14:06

Top jockey Moreira rides topweights in pair of Group 3 stakes

Hong Kong Jockey Club
Pakistan Star will carry 133 pounds in Sunday's Premier Plate at Sha Tin.

Pakistan Star and Thewizardofoz are topweights in two Group 3 stakes on turf Sunday at Sha Tin. If that does not justify sufficient attention, both will be ridden by Joao Moreira, Hong Kong’s leading jockey this season.

Pakistan Star will carry 133 pounds in the $384,684 Premier Plate at 1 1/8 miles, a race that drew a field of six. Thewizardofoz will carry 133 pounds in the $384,684 Premier Cup at seven furlongs, a race that drew eight entrants.

Thu, 06/22/2017 - 11:25

Andrew Hawkins' Hong Kong selections and analysis for Sunday, June 25, 2017

SHA TIN SELECTIONS

(Sunday, June 25, 2017)

 

RACE 1: #2 Kwaichung Brothers, #3 The Full Bloom, #8 Yourtheoneforme, #11 Telecom Boom

RACE 2: #6 Travel Emperor, #9 Winfull Patrol, #2 Beaut Beaut, #3 Sacred Ibis

RACE 3: #1 Pakistan Star, #5 Eastern Express, #2 Horse Of Fortune, #4 Harbour Master

RACE 4: #5 Ivictory, #3 Winston's Lad, #6 Presidentparamount, #11 Intrepic

Wed, 06/21/2017 - 14:16

Highland Reel stalks, pounces in Prince of Wales's

Barbara D. Livingston
Aidan O'Brien earned his 300th Group or Grade 1 stakes win in the Prince of Wales's

A patient Highland Reel proved too tough against a top-class field in Wednesday’s Group 1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot, providing trainer Aidan O’Brien with his 300th career Group 1 or Grade 1 stakes win in a flat or jump race.

Highland Reel has at times set the pace in his races, notably in winning the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Santa Anita last November, but was a stalker in the $955,000 Prince of Wales’s Stakes at 1 1/4 miles, the richest race of the five-day Royal Ascot meeting.