Unraced in 12 months, Giga Kick returns to the venue of his greatest win in Friday’s Group 3 Concorde Stakes at five furlongs at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney, Australia.
The Concorde Stakes has a purse and position on the calendar that hardly befits a Group 3 race. With a purse of $670,300, the Concorde is an attractive prize, and is a key prep race for the world’s richest sprint – the $13.4 million Everest Stakes at six furlongs at Randwick on Oct. 19.
When the veteran gelding Lion’s Roar finished a close third in the Scone Cup in Australia in June, he narrowly missed a chance to join the list of qualifiers for the $2.01 million Big Dance Stakes in November.
Lion’s Roar has another chance to qualify for the Big Dance when he starts in Thursday’s $167,800 Wyong Cup at 1 5/16 miles at Wyong Racecourse.
The first two finishers of 33 races at tracks throughout the state of New South Wales are eligible for the Big Dance Stakes at a mile, which will be held at Royal Randwick Racecourse on Nov. 5.
By Declan Schuster
It’s easy to see why trainer David Hayes is excited about Ka Ying Rising, the sprinting sensation who was last season crowned Hong Kong Champion Griffin and Most Improved Horse.
Returning in Sunday’s (8 September) HK$3.72 million Class 1 HKSAR Chief Executive’s Cup Handicap (1200m) at Sha Tin, the four-year-old begins a campaign that Hayes hopes encompasses a HK$26 million G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint (1200m) tilt.
Hong Kong-based riders Vincent Ho and Karis Teetan were unable to notch a win in the third and final legs of the World All-Star Jockeys series at Sapporo Racecourse in Japan today (Sunday, 25 August), with Teetan finishing joint-fifth overall behind eventual winner Joao Moreira, while Ho ranked eighth overall after running a creditable fourth in the final leg of the series.
Preparing to compete against Hong Kong’s stellar jockey roster, Britney Wong is committed to learning from the world’s best riders as she embarks on the opening phase of her career as an apprentice jockey in her home city.
Wong, 25, is Hong Kong’s first homegrown female jockey to ride full time in the city since the retirement of Kei Chiong in 2018. Indentured to David Hall, Wong is determined to work hard and take her opportunities after learning to ride at The Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Apprentice Jockeys’ School.
By Leo Schlink
Aiming to extend a remarkable consistency, David Hall hopes Flying Ace can kick-start his stable’s quest for more success in the HK$3.72 million Class 1 HKSAR Chief Executive’s Cup Handicap (1200m) when the 2024/25 Hong Kong season opens at Sha Tin on Sunday (8 September).
Hall notched 44 wins last season to match his previous best haul – set in 2022/23 – crowning another fine campaign with Invincible Sage’s triumph in the G1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize (1200m).
There may be Group 1 sprint stakes in Australia in the short-term future of Gatsby’s, provided the colt runs to expectations in Friday’s Group 3 San Domenico Stakes at Rosehill Gardens Racecourse in Sydney.
Gatsby’s won his first start in five months in the Rosebud Stakes at 5 1/2 furlongs at Rosehill Gardens on Aug. 17, and will race at the same distance in the $136,000 San Domenico Stakes for Southern Hemisphere 3-year-olds.
Bradsell won the Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes on Friday at York Racecourse in a performance more impressive than his three-quarter-length margin of victory.
Tracking the early leader, the Czech horse Ponntos, Bradsell zoomed to the lead in the final quarter-mile and was well clear with a half-furlong to run before Believing made up some ground. Believing never looked like she would get there, and Hollie Doyle, Bradsell’s jockey, said her mount had idled after opening daylight on the field.
