After the eight all-weather “greyhound” races that took place at Shatin on Wednesday which still hauled in a massive turnover of over HK$900m, horse racing returns to Group 1 status on Sunday. What a shocking night of racing it was on Wednesday and my fault for even having a bet when two of my hoodoo horses were running- Sean Woods’ Saddlers Lodge and Paul O’Sullivan’s Gem Of India and with the racing gods trying to remind me of this by screening that piece of nonsense featuring the two trainers as racing’s Laurel and Hardy.
Paul O’Sullivan and Sean Woods.
After watching the first two races, it didn’t take an Einstein to realize that it was a totally leaders-biased track and so out went all the homework done for the Six Up and Triple Trio bonuses and which is why they were not won.
Surely, there should be more effort on race day/night/Truffaut when it comes to programming? Right now, the tail is wagging the dog like it’s always done and with no one really thinking this through as this is how it’s always been and which makes all that talk and tipping the night before an utter waste of time and makes knobs of tipsters like the three amigos on Racing To Win- and which is not to say any of this is their fault. Hardly. They are foot soldiers and do as they’re told and that’s it. They don’t get paid the big bucks to think and advise Change.
Brett “Shorty” Davies, Darren “Tex” Flindell and Clint “Hoppy” Hutchison ride into the studios.
The pre-race day program is made to look more like a hindrance than a help and, as mentioned, with this having nothing to do with the hosts; If these experts have no idea how the track will race the day before the races when the program is recorded, what chance do us dumbass punters have- and why bother to watch it?
“Think it will rain, Hoppy?” “Let me ask Freddie, Tex.”
In fact, what’s the point of the program- unless in a short-form format- when the ‘LIVE’ broadcast is of far more relevance? Ah, but then again, this is how it’s always been so why rock the boat and re-examine the rudder? Whatever the case, these ‘live’ broadcasts compared to all that tipping the night before is the tail wagging the dog. Forgetting any track bias, what if the skies unexpectedly opened on race day and with the tips done for a Good track? Hey, the Guru is no racing pundit nehru but just putting something out there for some common sense mass debating.
“Let’s shoot the varmint, Tex!” “Later, Shorty. In the back.”
Still with Wednesday night- and sometimes the Guru can go on and on sounding as if a samosa is gagging him and choking next to a dog with a bone- while reading the Stipes Report, I couldn’t help thinking that in the name of fair play and that oft-repeated word called “integrity”, there should be some sorta Punters Panel Report. And why not? After watching some of the races in Oz on Friday and Saturday, I have to wonder what the fuck many of the Stewards could have been looking at. Their navels? Looking the other way? Trying to get in touch with their inner selves?
If I didn’t know better, I might even think some of these Michael bastions of the sport- bet that name spooked a few people- and protectors of any dodgy races were working in cahoots with bookies. But this would be like saying there are bent coppers, that some righteous men of the cloth have unholy habits and politicians wage their own wars for profit which, of course, we all know just never ever happens and that Jimmy Savile thoroughly deserved his knighthood.
And so to Sunday at Shatin and it truly is a great looking card and what promises to be a brilliant afternoon of racing.
But a word of caution: Since Friday, the Rain Gods have visited Hongkers. If the skies open up on race day, well, forget all form and reach for your lucky horse shoe magic pin, close your eyes, stick it in, so to speak, and see where it lands.
The other thing to factor in is that all the Cup races on Sunday are important lead ups for their dates with International destiny in mid-December. Would they be going hell for leather to win at all costs and jeopardize their main objective- the International Races less than a month later? This is what I keep thinking about.
Anyway, getting to the racing, in Race 9, the Jockey Club Sprint, I really cannot see Lucky Nine or Little Bridge winning this race. That bridge was burnt when the horse made the trip to Japan and which I feel has taken its toll on the animal. Lucky Nine is a lovely horse, but not the horse it once was.
Give me the horse representing Singapore in this race- the Michael Freedman-trained Super Easy which is going “the wrong way” for the first time in its career- but there’s a first time for everything.
Rumours are getting lounder that Freedman has done as much as he can in Singapore and hopes to make a move to Hong Kong which is easier said than done, but he’ll be out to prove that he has what it takes to succeed in this town. Other horses I like in this races are Cerise Cherry- despite its shocking barrier draw- and either of these John Moore runners- Leading City or Cindi Lauper’s Time After Time.
With three other of his horses in the race, Moore won’t just be sending them around to be merry or even to be Mary. He plays to win and ensure that his harem of cash-rich owners have “face” and win something even if it might not be on International Day. Moore The Merrier needs their D-Cups to runneth over.
As for The Jockey Mile, Ambitious Dragon looks unbeatable with Glorious Days, wearing blinkers for the first time, to run the quinella.
And when it wins, The Zac Attack will strike a pose like this again. (Is he wearing Pampers?????)
In The Jockey Club Cup over 2000 meters, Packing Whiz will be all the rage, but I would keep two other John Moore runners in Irian and Dominant very safe along with the Tony Cruz trained California Memory. and shoot me for saying this, but Dougie Whyte on a- shudder- Sean Woods horse- Autumn Gold which ran a brilliant race first up to come second a few weeks ago. As you know, the WW combo is something I keep well away from but this just might be the horse that breaks the curse and exorcises the demon from the woods.
Elsewhere, in Race 10, despite its wide draw, I like Zac Purton on President Lincoln- and make a point to watch Steven Spielberg’s brilliant movie”Lincoln”- along with another one drawn out in the boonies in It Has To Be With You and, for odds, California Dude- drawn barrier 10- Outdoor Pegasus and, perhaps, Fun Rider which is much better than what we have recently seen.
With eleven races on the card, the meeting ends with The Peak sure to start favorite. Again, it has drawn out in the boonies and running up in class, I am unsure if Dougie Whyte, who will be riding at 118 pounds which means he means business, will be able to ride the same stalking race as the last time. I think The Peak will be well under the odds and if it can win this 1200 metre race, fine. But, if at the short and curlies, it’s not for me. The Peak has too big a mountain to climb for me and might need to catch a tram ride to win this time.
I’ll be looking at Charles The Great with Neil Callan up whom John Moore might not use as much as last season and when his win on Straight Gold put a dent in the trainer’s relationship with the great Darren Beadman, another Moore runner in Cosmic Boom and the one which could easily cause a boilover which is better than popping a festering boil- Fat Choy Hong Kong.
Elsewhere, Fabulous November [Race 1], Little Cow [Race 4] and Galaxy Prancer [Race 6] should win their races. Race 2 looks very tough and with the meeting in mind, quinella/place and tierce bets possibly being where you might find some value coupled with the hotpots- unless the hotpots fail
Other bibs and bobs: Plans by some to purchase the Gai Waterhouse-trained King’s Dominion bit the dust when Lady GaiGai decided to hold on to the horse. It ran at Rosehill on Saturday. She should have sold the thing.
In Perth, Someone sent notoriously bad tipster Big Wes Anderson a text which he at least had the balls to read out aloud: “You couldn’t tip shit out of a bucket.”
On the subject of balls, Race 2 at Ascot saw a horse called Lost East Estes- say it out ALOUD- run- against hotpot The Rising.
It came last and The Rising rose to the occasion.
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