By Leo Schlink

Tony Cruz will bid for a seventh victory in the HK$4.2 million G3 Sa Sa Ladies’ Purse Handicap (1800m) at Sha Tin on Sunday (3 November) when the dual Hong Kong champion trainer accelerates the LONGINES Hong Kong International Races (HKIR) campaigns of Beauty Joy, Five G Patch and La City Blanche.

Cruz first claimed the Ladies’ Purse in 1976 as a jockey on Crossfire and has since added five other victories as a trainer with Russian Pearl (2004), Willie Detroy (2005), Hello Pretty (2006), Time Warp (2018) and Furore (2020).

Paul Lally: 
R1 11-2-3-1 
R2 8-1-7-2 
R3 1-2-5-13 
R4 4-8-2-5 
R5 4-10-8-5 
R6 6-2-5-8 
R7 4-3-7-13 
R8 6-1-10-2 
R9 9-2-8-11 
R10 10-1-11-14 
Best Bet R6 N6 Mr Energia 
Longshot R8 N6 Alsonso 
Play R3 1-2-5 

Ascoli Piceno, the champion 2-year-old filly of 2023 in Japan, will start in Australia for the first time in the $6.57 million Golden Eagle Stakes at 7 1/2 furlongs at Rosehill Gardens in Sydney, Australia, on Friday night.

Should she win, the victory will be well-deserved. Ascoli Piceno drew post 17 in a field of 20. At Rosehill Gardens, races at that distance are around one turn, beginning from a backstretch chute with a lengthy run to the turn. The stretch covers two furlongs.

By Michael Wrona, International Racing Expert

By Declan Schuster

Trainer Caspar Fownes will cast a menacing Karma into uncharted territory on Sunday (3 November) when the sizeable chestnut – outclassed on paper but in career-best form – contests the HK$4.2 million G3 Sa Sa Ladies’ Purse Handicap (1800m) at Sha Tin.

By Leo Schlink

Laying down a marker for the HK$4.2 million G3 Sa Sa Ladies’ Purse Handicap (1800m) at Sha Tin on Sunday (3 November), Caspar Fownes fired in a Happy Valley treble on Wednesday night (30 October) to move into second place on the Hong Kong trainers’ championship.

Sha Tin Selections
(Sunday, November 03, 2024)

Riding high after a breakthrough double in Hong Kong on Sunday afternoon (27 October) at Happy Valley, trainer David Eustace returns to the iconic city circuit on Wednesday (30 October) armed with a trio of runners as he aims to build on a productive weekend.

“The support’s been quite good and thankfully they’ve ran well. It gives you encouragement that whatever you’re doing and the routines the horses are in are working,” Eustace said.

Victories by a pair of Hong Kong debutants – Horsepower and Young Emperor – highlighted the Happy Valley meeting on Sunday (27 October) when David Eustace, Vincent Ho, Zac Purton and Luke Ferraris shone with doubles.

Formerly known as Fire Follower when trained in Australia by Anthony Freedman, Frankie Lor-trained Horsepower earned a PP Bonus of HK$1.5 million after sweeping to victory in the Class 3 Zhuhai Handicap (1000m) under Purton.