The outcome of the Group 1 All Aged Stakes at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney, Australia, on April 19 might have been different if Benedetta had a clean run through the stretch.

Traffic issues cost Benedetta dearly, leading to a fifth-place finish by 2 3/4 lengths in the $955,500 All Aged Stakes at seven furlongs.

An equally lucrative prize at a shorter distance may work for Benedetta in Friday evening’s Group 1 Doomben 10,000 Stakes at Doomben Racecourse in Brisbane. The six-furlong race has a purse of $960,000 and drew a competitive field of 14.

Paul Lally:

R1 8-3-1-10

R2 5-1-4-7

R3 1-5-4-3

R4 4-5-1-3

R5 11-5-3-9

R6 10-5-8-3

R7 7-6-10-4

R8 8-3-9-10

R9 2-3-5-9

Best Bet R7 N7 Glory B

Longshot R6 N10 Rich Horse

Play 3 QQP 1-4-5

Tom Wood:

R1:       9-3-4-8

R2:       7-4-1-5

R3:       5-1-2-12

R4:       5-1-4-3

R5:       4-9-1-11

R6:       4-8-5-1

By Declan Schuster

Angus Chung is looking forward to gaining further riding experience in Great Britain when he joins Ralph Beckett’s Kimpton Down Stables in Kimpton, Hampshire over Hong Kong racing’s off-season following the 2024/25 term’s conclusion on 16 July.

By Leo Schlink

Michael Chang will consider a tilt at the HK$4.2 million G3 Sha Tin Vase Handicap (1200m) on 31 May with Lady’s Choice after the much-improved gelding upstaged a class field of rising talents to win the Class 2 Pok Fu Lam Reservoir Road Handicap (1200m) at Sha Tin on Saturday (10 May).

By Charm Spirit, Lady’s Choice (119lb) led all the way under Matthew Poon to score at odds of 13/1, defeating Bottomuptogether (132lb) by three quarters of a length with Tomodachi Kokoroe (120lb) a head further way in third.

Happy Valley Selections

Favorites prevailed in the French Guineas races Sunday at Parislongchamp, but one just barely, the other only by dint of a stewards’ decision.

Henri Matisse, 2-1 favorite for the Poule d’Essai des Poulains, looked when he split horses with a little more than a furlong to race like he’d win by daylight, but whether Henri Matisse’s run flagged, he idled after making the lead, or the colt Jonquil found something more after being passed, Jonquil came back strongly and missed by a diminishing head.

Panja Tower was a forgotten 3-year-old in Japan, until the final furlong of Sunday’s Grade 1 NHK Mile at Tokyo Racecourse.

Dismissed at 41-1 in American pools, Panja Tower closed from 10th of 18 with three furlongs remaining, rallying seven-wide. Panja Tower steadily progressed toward the front and held off late threats from Magic Sands and Cerbiatto to win by a head.

Admire Zoom, the likely favorite in Sunday’s Grade 1 NHK Mile at Tokyo Racecourse in Japan, was the winner of the Grade 1 Asahi Hai Futurity in December.

Winners of that race are often named champion 2-year-old male, but Admire Zoom lost the award to the equally talented Croix du Nord, the winner of the Grade 1 Hopeful Stakes in Japan in late December.

Both were second in their first starts of 2025 – Admire Zoom in the Grade 2 New Zealand Trophy at Nakayama on April 12, and Croix du Nord in the Grade 1 Japanese 2000 Guineas at Nakayama on April 20.