Nichola Yuen became the latest product of The Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Apprentice Jockeys’ School to join the city’s riding ranks full-time on Tuesday morning (10 March) as she participated in Sha Tin barrier trials before being officially unveiled as a licensed jockey.
As she prepares to compete against some of the world’s leading jockeys at Sha Tin, the 25-year-old immediately set her sights on racing in the jurisdiction’s biggest races.
By Declan Schuster
David Hayes hopes China Win (121lb) can warrant last-minute selection for the HK$26 million 149th BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) when he contests Wednesday night’s (11 March) Class 3 Lyttelton Handicap (1800m) under Zac Purton.
Tom Wood
R1: 3-1-10-9
R2: 2-5-9-4
R3: 5-3-4-6
R4: 4-10-7-8
R5: 3-4-1-5
R6: 7-8-1-4
R7: 5-7-8-3
R8: 8-7-9-1
R9: 9-11-1-4
BEST: R3 N5 AMAZING AWARD (WIN)
VALUE: R8 N8 ACE CHAMPION (EW)
PLAY: R9 QQP 1,9,11
Mark McNamara
R1: 3.10.9.4
R2: 2.9.5.7
R3: 2.5.4.7
R4: 4.7.11.8
R5: 3.4.5.1
R6: 8.1.3.4
R7: 5.2.7.12
R8: 7.9.6.3
R9: 11.2.9.1
Best Bet R1 N3 Island Breezes
Value R3 N2 Stellar Swift
Play R5 Q/QP 3.4.5
For a gelding with four wins in seven starts in steeplechases, Majborough has not always been friendly to bettors. He has lost at odds of 1-2, 4-6 and 3-2 and has never paid more than 2-1 to win.
Majborough is expected to be an odds-on favorite in Wednesday’s Grade 1 Queen Mother Champion Chase at two miles at Cheltenham Racecourse in western England, the main race on the second of four days of the Cheltenham festival for hurdlers and steeplechasers.
The $536,200 Queen Mother Champion Chase is Majborough’s third start at Cheltenham for Irish trainer Willie Mullins.
In the 12th instalment of The Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Road to the Derby series, we zoom in on the galloper Me Tsui hopes will become his first BMW Hong Kong Derby runner since Wah May Star ran 11th in 2013.
Pope Cody entered this year’s Four-Year-Old Classic Series in the second leg, the HK$13 million Hong Kong Classic Cup (1800m) on 1 March, and showed he belongs in that company with a solid sixth, three and a quarter lengths off impressive winner Stormy Grove.
Italian jockey Andrea Atzeni, fresh from a four-timer at Sha Tin on Sunday (8 March), will reunite with the Chris So-trained Top Dragon in the HK$26 million BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m), the final leg of the Four-Year-Old Classic Series, on Sunday, 22 March. So is hoping that luck will finally be on their side.
By Leo Schlink
Andrea Atzeni’s surge up the Hong Kong jockeys’ championship gained further impetus at Sha Tin on Sunday (8 March) when the Italian produced a career-best quartet in Hong Kong, while Fast Network claimed the day’s feature to underline Ka Ying Rising’s supreme quality.
The famous four-day Cheltenham festival for hurdlers and steeplechasers begins in western England on Tuesday with familiar names prominent in the day’s leading race, the Grade 1 Champion Hurdle.
The 7-year-old mare Lossiemouth, a winner at the festival the last three years, will be favored to win the $621,400 Champion Hurdle over about 2 1/16 miles. Her annual victories at Cheltenham since 2023 have contributed to the dominance of Ireland’s Willie Mullins, the leading trainer at 12 of the last 15 festivals.
By Paul Ryding
David Hayes will be hoping a change in fortune can revive his trainers’ championship bid when he takes nine runners to Sunday’s (8 March) 11-race Sha Tin meeting.
The Australian Racing Hall of Famer had been the early pace-setter this season, but his strike rate has taken a hit amid a slew of near-misses since the start of February, and he now finds himself third in the trainers’ title race on 36 wins and 28 seconds behind Mark Newnham (36 wins, 32 seconds) and leader Caspar Fownes on 39 wins.
