HAPPY VALLEY SELECTIONS
(Wednesday, May 08, 2024)
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DRF Past Performances
The timing was perfect.
Elmalka, ridden by Silvestre de Sousa, closed from last of 18 to win Sunday’s Group 1 English 1000 Guineas for 3-year-old fillies at a mile at Newmarket Racecourse in a shocking result.
Elmalka paid $88.20 in American pools, but was only 28-1 with British bookmakers.
The filly’s few supporters watched in suspense as Elmalka closed steadily through the final sixteenth to grab the lead on the line, edging 11-1 Porta Fortuna, who was second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Santa Anita last November.
Jantar Mantar, Japan’s champion 2-year-old male of 2023, returned to a mile for the first time since December and in the process ended a two-race losing streak in Sunday’s Grade 1 NHK Mile for 3-year-olds on turf at Tokyo Racecourse.
Jantar Mantar, who paid $5.10 in American pools as the favorite in a field of 18, finished 2 1/2 lengths in front of Ascoli Piceno, the champion 2-year-old filly of 2023.
In his turf debut, Notable Speech upended Europe’s 3-year-old division with a surprise win in Saturday’s Group 1 English 2000 Guineas at a mile at Newmarket Racecourse.
Notable Speech (who paid $25.60 in American pools) closed from the back of a field of 11 to take the lead from 9-1 Rosallion, who led briefly with less than a quarter-mile remaining.
Jantar Mantar was the champion 2-year-old male in Japan in 2023 on the basis of his win in the Grade 1 Asahi Hai Futurity at a mile last December.
The mile appears to be Jantar Mantar’s best distance, and why he was one of the early favorites to win for the first time in 2024 in Sunday’s Grade 1 NHK Mile on turf at for 3-year-olds at Tokyo Racecourse.
Fallen Angel was deliberately given a brief four-race campaign as a 2-year-old in Europe last year, a season that ended with a Group 1 win in the Moyglare Stud Stakes at The Curragh in Ireland last September.
She did not start in the major stakes at Newmarket, England, last fall, or at the Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita in November despite holding a fees-paid berth. Instead, the long-range focus was Sunday’s Group 1 English 1000 Guineas for 3-year-old fillies at a mile at Newmarket.
Harry Bentley hopes a combination of a light weight, rain-affected ground and natural stamina will be sufficient for Five G Patch to provide Tony Cruz with a fourth victory as a trainer in the HK$4.2 million G3 Queen Mother Memorial Cup Handicap (2400m) at Sha Tin on Sunday (5 May).
Cruz, who previously won the staying test with Supreme Rabbit (2003), Super Pistachio (2011) and Exultant (2018), is represented this weekend by La City Blanche and Five G Patch, who finished sixth to Romantic Warrior in last Sunday’s (28 April) G1 FWD QEII Cup (2000m).
After seventh-place finishes in consecutive Group 1 races in Australia in March, the 3-year-old colt Ducasse benefited from a drop in class by winning the Group 3 Carbine Stakes at a mile at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney on April 7.
The victory has given Ducasse the role of early favorite in Friday’s Group 2 Queensland Guineas at a mile at Eagle Farm Racecourse in Brisbane.
Acknowledging Russian Emperor faces a formidable challenge in the HK$4.2 million G3 Queen Mother Memorial Cup (2400m) at Sha Tin on Sunday (5 May), Douglas Whyte is hopeful the globe-trotting stayer can make a strong return to racing despite conceding significant weight to all his rivals.