Brett Davis - Selections
R1 - 4-3-1-7
R2 - 8-7-1-9
R3 - 3-1-9-4
R4 - 4-2-3-11
R5 - 4-9-3-10
R6 - 11-2-4-3
R7 - 5-3-12-10
R8 - 12-1-4-6
Best - R1 n4 Smart Salute
2nd Best - R5 n4 D B Pin
Longshot - R8 n1 High And Mighty
Best Play - R1 TCE 4 Banker(Win) from `1,3,5,7
Paul Lally- Selections
R1 1-4-3-11
R2 7-8-6-1
R3 9-1-3-7
R4 2-9-4-11
R5 4-3-5-9
R6 2-4-3-11
R7 10-12-2-7
R8 4-9-11-1
Mubtaahij, who finished second in the 2016 Dubai World Cup, will have his prep for a second run in the $10 million race when he starts Thursday night at Meydan Racecourse in the $160,000 Curlin Handicap.
Mubtaahij undoubtedly will be heavily favored to win the listed race over about 1 1/4 miles on dirt, but while he is a far more accomplished horse than any of his rivals, Mubtaahij will be making his first start since Oct. 8, and last winter the horse did not run to his best form until the World Cup itself.
Jockey Joao Moreira is the runaway leader in the jockey standings on the Hong Kong circuit this year. Through Sunday, Moreira had 97 wins, well clear of second-place Zac Purton, who has 51 victories.
Moreira and Purton have mounts that will be a focus for bettors in Wednesday’s $225,489 Sai Kung Handicap for turf sprinters at Happy Valley Racecourse. The Sai Kung Handicap is run at five furlongs and is the fifth race on an eight-race program, which begins at 6:15 a.m Eastern.
Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.
Rapper Dragon is in position to sweep Hong Kong’s three-race series for 4-year-olds.
After winning the Hong Kong Classic Mile on Jan. 22, Rapper Dragon won the second leg, Sunday’s $1,288,560 Hong Kong Classic Cup at 1 1/8 miles on turf at Sha Tin Racecourse.
The third and final race of the series is the BMW Hong Kong Derby at 1 1/4 miles on March 19. No horse has ever won all three races.
SHA TIN SELECTIONS
Sunday, Feb. 19, 2017)
Brett Davis - Selections
Race 1: 6-1-2-3
Race 2: 1-8-11-12
Race 3: 10-9-5-8
Race 4: 1-6-11-8
Race 5: 7-4-3-12
Race 6: 3-1-6-10
Race 7: 5-3-6-10
Race 8: 1-8-4-13
Race 9: 3-4-11-8
Race 10: 2-8-13-9
There’s a Kentucky Derby prep race Sunday – on the other side of the world.
The Hyacinth Stakes, over about one mile on dirt at Tokyo Racecourse in Japan, is the second of two races in the so-called Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby. The two-race sequence was introduced for this year by Churchill Downs to allow a Japan-based horse to qualify for the Kentucky Derby field, which is capped at 20 runners.
SHA TIN SELECTIONS
(Sunday, Feb. 19, 2017)
RACE 1: #5 Giddy Giddy, #1 Consistent, #7 Highland Dragon, #3 Jimson The Famous
RACE 2: #8 Chung Wah Spirit, #11 Morethanlucky, #1 Momentum Lucky, #3 Top Laurels
RACE 3: #10 Packing Starcraft, #1 Penang Hall, #5 Destin, #14 Five Stars Agent
RACE 4: #9 Travel Comforts, #4 Mega Red, #6 Arizona Blizzard, #1 Most Beautiful
The improving 3-year-old Sea Jade won his fifth start of the Hong Kong season on Thursday night at Happy Valley, dead-heating for the victory in the Happy Valley Trophy Handicap.
Sea Jade took the lead in upper stretch of the Happy Valley Trophy Handicap and held it to the very last jump, when a final surge from Blocker Dee produced a dead heat. The winning pair had a half-length on Lucky Year and Archippus in the 1,200-meter Class 1 handicap.
