Lambourn is the clear form choice
Curragh | Race 1: Dubai Duty Free Handicap
I kick off Irish Derby Day with MISSISSIPPI RIVER in what looks a very competitive race.
He won under Jack [Cleary] last time out at Leopardstown and I was twice a runner-up on him before that.
He’s very consistent and should run his race again but has to contend with a career high mark. Hopefully he’s still improving and the step up in trip should suit.
In the history of the Group 1 Irish Derby, 19 winners also won the Group 1 English Derby at Epsom Racecourse.
On Sunday, Lambourn will be an odds-on favorite to become the 20th to reach the milestone and give legendary trainer Aidan O’Brien his sixth Epsom-Irish double. He has won the Irish Derby a remarkable 16 times.
Lambourn will have familiar company. Lazy Griff and Tennessee Stud, second and third in the English Derby on June 7, are part of a field of 10 in the $1.46 million Irish Derby, run at 1 1/2 miles at The Curragh.
By Leo Schlink
Seeking to secure a record-extending 13th Hong Kong trainers’ championship, John Size hopes Wunderbar can successfully revert to Sha Tin’s straight course when the talented sprinter contests the HK$3.72 million Class 1 Pearce Memorial Challenge Cup Handicap (1000m) on Saturday (28 June).
With 64 wins, Size leads David Hayes (55) by nine wins with six meetings left in the season and will field 10 runners this weekend when Wunderbar will chase an eighth victory from only 13 starts.
A stable change earlier this year has revitalized the career of the 4-year-old New Zealand-bred filly Floozie, who has her Group 1 debut in Friday’s $458,700 Tattersall’s Tiara at seven furlongs at Eagle Farm Racecourse in Brisbane, Australia.
Floozie has won her last four starts, including three races at Eagle Farm, all since being transferred to Eagle Farm-based trainer Tony Gollan.
By Leo Schlink
The battle for the Tony Cruz Award as Hong Kong’s leading homegrown jockey intensified at Happy Valley on Wednesday night (25 June) when Matthew Chadwick’s double pushed him to within two wins of Matthew Poon with only six meetings remaining in the 2024/25 season.
Chadwick boosted his season’s tally to 34 – compared to Poon’s 36 – with wins on Tony Cruz-trained Superb Capitalist in the Class 3 St George’s Challenge Cup Handicap (1000m) and Me Tsui’s Another Zonda in the Class 3 Renfrew Handicap (1650m).
Paul Lally:
R1: 2-5-7-10
R2: 5-1-4-6
R3: 1-3-4-7
R4: 3-2-5-9
R5: 2-9-3-6
R6: 3-10-8-7
R7: 7-3-10-5
R8: 4-8-11-12
R9: 12-1-7-10
Best Bet R3 N1 Fun Elite
Longshot R8 N4 Outgate
Play R4 QQP 2-3-5
Tom Wood:
R1: 7-1-2-11
R2: 5-4-7-9
R3: 1-4-9-12
R5: 2-9-4-6
R6: 2-3-5-9
Always My Folks (120lb) is knocking on the door for a maiden win and Karis Teetan hopes Michael Chang’s three-year-old is able to make further headway in the Class 4 Hereford Handicap (1200m) at Happy Valley tomorrow night (Wednesday, 25 June).
Placed in both of his last starts by under a length, Always My Folks – a chestnut gelding by Capitalist – breaks from barrier nine against 11 runners at the city circuit, with Teetan wary of the wide draw but encouraged by the horse’s continued development.
Beauty Joy (129lb) almost certainly staved off retirement after the evergreen eight-year-old upstaged younger rivals to land the HK$4.2 million G3 Premier Plate Handicap (1800m) for Tony Cruz and Brenton Avdulla at Sha Tin on Sunday (22 June).
Nearing the end of his fifth Hong Kong season after an unbeaten four-race stint in Australia in 2020 when he raced as Talladega, the Sebring gelding showed no signs of fatigue in surging past BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) victor Cap Ferrat (126lb) and Bundle Award (115lb) in 1m 46.91s.
Keagan de Melo rejoiced in the biggest win of his Hong Kong riding career today (Sunday, 22 June) with a 25/1 victory aboard Copartner Prance (122lb) for trainer Francis Lui in the HK$4.2 million G3 Premier Cup Handicap (1400m) at Sha Tin.
Pressing forward from gate five in the nine-runner contest, Copartner Prance defiantly maintained his position at the head of the field throughout the race as Victor The Winner (132lb) sat second. Happy Together (128lb) made a late lunge, missing by only a head, as Lui’s charge savoured narrow success in 1m 21.15s (13.51, 22.33, 22.94, 22.37).
