Sha Tin Selections
(Wednesday, December 18, 2024)

Five weeks after beating maidens in a one-mile race at Kyoto Racecourse in Japan, Admire Zoom returned over the same course and distance to win Sunday’s Grade 1 Asahi Hai Futurity and clinch the title of champion 2-year-old male.

Ridden by Yuga Kawada, Admire Zoom, who paid $17.20 in American pools, was always near the front, stalking 93-1 Daishan Ra for the first six furlongs. In early stretch, Admire Zoom took the lead and scooted clear, winning by 2 1/2 lengths over 2-1 favorite Museum Mile.

The undefeated colts Arte Veloce and Total Clarity will dominate the betting in Sunday’s Grade 1 Asahi Hai Futurity at Kyoto Racecourse in Japan with Arte Veloce expected to go favored.

Both Arte Veloce and Total Clarity have won twice, in races for first-time starters in the summer and Grade 3 stakes.

Arte Veloce won the Saudi Arabia Royal Cup at a mile at Tokyo on Oct. 5 in his last start, while Total Clarity won the Niigata Nisai Stakes at a mile at Niigata Racecourse on Aug. 25 in his most recent appearance.

Pierre Ng heads into Sunday’s (15 December) fixture at Sha Tin with a team of nine spread across eight of the 10 races, including Healthy Healthy (125lb) and I Give (126lb) – both engaged in a quality HK$2.84 million Class 2 Lukfook Jewellery Cup Handicap (1000m).

Also in the feature dash is Fast Network (129lb), a three-time winner from four starts, who has hit the ground running in Hong Kong for trainer Dennis Yip and jockey Zac Purton, while Healthy Healthy will gun for a hat-trick of wins on debut in Class 2 this Sunday.

Tom Wood: 
R1: 6-2-7-9 
R2: 3-2-4-14 
R3: 8-1-5-3 
R4: 6-10-1-7 
R5: 9-11-8-4 
R6: 4-8-1-3 
R7: 4-8-7-5 
R8: 9-6-10-2 
R9: 6-1-7-12 
R10: 2-3-4-11 
BEST: R4 N6 CIRCUIT JOLLY (WIN) 
VALUE: R5 N9 GOLD MASTER (EW) 
PLAY: R5 QQP 8,9,11 

Gringotts, the 5-year-old New Zealand-bred gelding, has had a career-changing streak in recent months in Australia.

After finishing second by a neck in the $1 million Alan Brown Stakes in October, Gringotts won consecutive starts in the $1.96 million Big Dance Stakes on Nov. 5, and the Group 3 The Gong Stakes on Nov. 23.

Sha Tin Selections
(Sunday, December 15, 2024)

Harry Bentley enjoyed a landmark evening at Happy Valley tonight (Wednesday, 11 December) by riding his 100th winner in Hong Kong atop Atomic Force (134lb) in the Class 3 Nightjar Handicap (1000m) for trainer Cody Mo.

Bentley, 32, commenced riding in Hong Kong in April, 2021. He rode five winners through his first stint before returning for the following two seasons to post 25 wins each time. His 2023/24 campaign is his best so far with 39 triumphs including one Group 3.

Tom Wood:

R1: 1-6-2-4
R2: 2-1-8-6
R3: 6-4-1-2
R4: 2-3-10-8
R5: 2-1-7-10
R6: 8-2-6-1
R7: 10-2-3-4
R8: 3-2-1-10
R9: 2-8-1-7

BEST: R6 N8 NINJA DERBY (WIN)
VALUE: R4 N2 BITS SUPERSTAR (EW)
PLAY: R8 QQP 1,2,3

Nick Child:

By Declan Schuster

Francis Lui went a long way to boosting his trainers’ championship defence with a four-timer at Sha Tin on Sunday (8 December) and the affable horseman takes a team of three to Happy Valley on Wednesday night (11 December) as he aims to keep the ball rolling.

Lui’s quartet sees him reach 16 wins from 144 runners across 27 of the 88 scheduled race meetings this term, with only five handlers currently ahead of him: Pierre Ng (23 wins), David Hayes (20), Mark Newnham (20), Danny Shum (19) and Caspar Fownes (18).