When it rains, it pours and all the news from Hong Kong racing’s Information Highway over the past few days- it almost seemed like making up for lost time- nearly made us get stuff in Hendrix’s Crosstown Traffic.
There was information about the reasons why The Zac Attack almost had his name changed to “Spike” Purton by Hong Kong’s voracious Chinese media when checking into hospital to ensure all was hunky John Dory after a night on the town with some of the other boys and their wives.
Our mate Caspar Fownes scaled such dizzying heights with high blood pressure on Wednesday night that he had to be hospitalized and missed out on seeing the his Domineer spank its rivals.
Thankfully, he text us to say he was “nearly fine”.
Meanwhile, the HKJC FINALLY confirmed what many had known for almost two weeks- that Tye Angland would not be returning to Hong Kong- whereas three horses from the stables of David Hall and Peter Ho were withdrawn on Wednesday after found to have prohibited substances in their system- but nothing sinister in this.
It was something like man-eating plant in The Little Shop Of Horrors bellowing, FEED ME, and being fed junk food.
Now, if someone can tell us why the HKJC continues to throw money away by using that horribly over-the-top American voice-over person on wallpaper “badvertising” of its simultaneous broadcasts- amongst its other racing content- and just how abrasive he sounds in a VERY Ted Knight cornball way.
Hong Kong aside and while we sit and watch Macau’s Lost Vegas casino industry come apart at the seams, the drums have been becoming increasingly Niki Lauda about Mainland Chinese investments surging in South Africa led by a multi-billion dollar investment in a project in the Modderfontein area of Johannesburg by Shanghai Zendai Property and Perfect (China), which, last year, made the first Chinese investment in the country’s wine industry with its acquisition of the 25 hectare of the Val de Vie estate.
What’s any of this to do with horse racing?
Possibly plenty as the aggressive Perfect (China) is rumored to have recently been checking and cross-checking South Africa’s breeding industry and the country’s racecourses in what we call The Variety Club Syndrome.
As they say, Stay Tuned.
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THE FAST TRACKER WONDERS WHO’LL STOP THE RAIN.
After what seems an eternity, Joao Moreira returns to action today- probably a tired Magic Man who was despatched by John Moore to Singapore to give Military Attack its final piece of work ahead of taking its place on Sunday in the SIA Singapore Cup had to then turnaround and return here for today’s meeting before leaving tonight for Singapore, riding in his former home base and then back in Hong Kong the next day.
As for today’s ATV Cup Day meeting, which will mean the usual wolf whistles and the chorus of diiiiiiiiiiiiius when the station trots out its cavalcade of stars and starlets, it’s another of those mixed up meetings of all-bother and turf races- there are a number of first-starters and some of the best young sprinters seen this season whereas it looks as if John Size might kick ahead-gently- in the Trainers Premiership though John Moore, already in Singapore sleeping with his horses, won’t be letting him get too far.
Dougie Whyte rides two of the best young sprinters in Do You Get It for Size and Rad for David Hall though has a total of a measly six rides in the ten-race card.
No wonder he was looking so chilled at Thursday’s special dinner for a small group of owners and friends along with Richard Gibson, Chris So and Hugh Bowman at the new fine dining restaurant called The Chalk at Happy Valley Racecourse.
With the weather continuing to be unsettled with a pissed off Thor waking Hong Kong up at 4am with a huge clap of thunder, I’ll just assume that the track conditions will be the same as that of last week when horses drawn the inside in those all-bother races had a distinct advantage.
*R1 RIGHTEOUS/EVER SHINY/RIBOT LEGACY/BRILLIANT DREAM
Either The Magic Man or The Zac Attack should get off to a winning start with the latter on first starter Righteous from the Benno Yung yard.
R2 AMAZING GIFT/INFINITE COURAGE/STREET CAT/OPTIMIZATION STAR
One of those watching briefs in a race too confusing to bother about when there are far better races where the odds of making a profit are high.
R3 CONFUCIUS ELITE/BOULD MOVER/CITY POWER/HELLO KIMBERLEY/
An extremely tough race made even more difficult by it being an all-dirt race and with the weather gods holding the key. A good outsider could be Bould Mover and knowing how keen Tony Cruz is to give Alvin Ng a few winners, this could lead at very good odds and gas the rest of the runners.
R4 WINNER’S DELIGHT/GOLDLAND DANCER/VERDANE/KING HARADASUN/CRIMSON HEART
The way Winner’s Delight and Goldland Dancer won their last starts on the all-weather track, I guess one cannot leave them out though I worry about the latter carrying topweight.
Many will be trying to snag the HUGE Triple Trio jackpot up for grabs- well over $10 MILLION- but, if even one of the two horses mentioned doesn’t run into the top three placings, many would have been eliminated in the first leg of the bet.
R5 HARBOUR MASTER/OLE OLE/CHAMPAGNE DAYS/ALWAYS SOMETHING
Harbour Master with Moreira up for Moore should take this out though some real roughies could fill the minor placings in the first Quartet race of the world and the middle pin in the Triple Trio.
*R6 TOP ACT/DO YOU GET IT/LUCKY SCEPTER/MEGA CHAMPION
A betting race and where Do You Get It and Lucky Scepter clash again.
When they last met, Dougie Whyte outrode apprentice Dickie Lui on an extremely unlucky Lucky Scepter.
Lui retains the ride and it will be interesting to see if the galloper’s last run was a fluke or if it is really up to the quality of Do You Get It.
I doubt it and feel that the Tony Millard-trained Top Act with the popular Karis Teetan aboard is the horse to beat.
*R7 EYE ON YOU/SELKIRK STAR/KING OF HOUSEHOLD/MR GINGER John Size debuts former Queensland galloper Eye On You and looks the one to win with Joao Moreira up, but don’t discard Selkirk Star, which Neil Callan has done all the work on, and King Of Household that has worked extremely well.
*R8 REWARDING HERO/SECRET SHAM/PLEASURE GAINS/SUPER LIFELINE
It’s the ATV Cup and if a Cup race, well, it means John Moore entering his usual army of runners- five here- with Secret Sham (Moreira) and Rewarding Hero (Berry) looking the stable elects and both very capable of running the quinella- with Pleasure Gains being the fly in the ointment.
R9 RAD/PENIAPHOBIA
Both horses are racing up a class after their last-start wins, but look like heading higher with Dougie Whyte on David Hall’s exciting Rad and Neil Callan- the favorite jockey of Chief Steward Kim Kelly- is, rather surprisingly, aboard the Tony Cruz-trained Peniaphobia- which the Durban Demon rode at its last start.
One can only assume that the connections of Peniaphobia- said to mean, “happiness index” in Chinese-don’t want Matthew Chadwick on their horse?
Being the first leg of the third Double Trio, I’ll be taking these as double bankers and throw in a few roughies as legs where Charity Spirit must be included.
*R10 WONDERFUL MOMENTS/SUN PINS/OWNERS PRIDE/I’M IN CHARGE
The wide barrier draw of Wonderful Moments puts me off having it on a win line with Sun Pins and Brett Prebble up looking the one to beat.
Prebble has been flying under the radar for the past two seasons and not exactly in huge demand- baffling when one thinks of his years of intense rivalry with Dougie Whyte and the most in-demand jockey in town.
Having said this, the jockey known for his strength in a finish, might make a late comeback this season as proven by his win on Wednesday aboard Victory Hero for long-time supporter Caspar Fownes and a pretty decent looking book of rides today.
Meanwhile, Hard Ball Get will be backed by many in Western Australia where it raced before being sold to connections in Hong Kong.
Personally, I don’t think the horse is -anywhere good enough to win this, but could run into a placing with Hughie Bowman on it for the first time.
Other place chances include Owner’s Pride, Principal and, possibly, Real Supreme.
* Betting races
BEST BET R9 RAD NEXT BEST R6 TOP ACT LONGSHOT R8 PLEASURE GAINS QUADDIE R7-3 R8- 5,9 R9- 7,8. R10- 4,6,7,10
$16 for 100%
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SASSY SARIKA’S SIX UP
R5- 1,3,4,5,10 R6- 8 R7- 3 R8- 5,9,10 R9- 7 R10- 4,6,7,9
Total: $600 for 100%
Six Up (2) R5-1 R6-5,8 R7-1,3 R8- 5-9 R9- 7 R10- 6,7
Total: $160 for 100%
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Selections for Sha Tin from Third Dividend 17.5.14
SHA TIN (HKG) Sat 17.5.14 Day Races @HKJC_Racing Mixed-Turf (“C+3” Course/AWT) Weather: Mainly cloudy with showers. A few squally thunderstorms at first. Hot with sunny intervals in the afternoon with a maximum temperature of around 31 degrees. Moderate southerly winds. Source: http://www.hko.gov.hk/contente.htm
Race 1: TING KOK HANDICAP, 17/05/2014, 13:00, Class 4, Turf, “C+3” Course, 1200m, Good to Yielding 1 – Ribot Legacy (2) 2 – Righteous (7) 3 – Perfect Hedge (6) 4 – Brilliant Dream (3)
Race 2: YUEN SHIN HANDICAP, 17/05/2014, 13:30, Class 5, Turf, “C+3” Course, 1600m, Good to Yielding 1 – Triumphant Dragon (13) 2 – Follow The Wind (7) 3 – Infinite Courage (14) 4 – Cool Pal (6)
Race 3: DAI WAH HANDICAP, 17/05/2014, 14:00, Class 4, All Weather Track, 1200m, Wet Slow 1 – Hello Kimberley (4) 2 – Ambitous Glory (3) 3 – Startling Power (8) 4 – Grand Plus (10)
Race 4: DAI WANG HANDICAP, 17/05/2014, 14:30, Class 4, All Weather Track, 1650m, Wet Slow 1 – Verdane (3) 2 – Winner’s Delight (4) 3 – Goldland Dancer (1) 4 – Prince Of Sunshine (13)
Race 5: NAM WAN HANDICAP, 17/05/2014, 15:00, Class 3, All Weather Track, 1800m, Wet Slow 1 – Harbour Master (1) 2 – Champagne Days (5) 3 – Cartoon Fay Fay (10) 4 – Ole Ole (4)
Race 6: DAI HEI HANDICAP, 17/05/2014, 15:35, Class 4, Turf, “C+3” Course, 1400m, Good to Yielding 1 – Do You Get It (5) 2 – Top Act (8) 3 – Amazing Always (10) 4 – Lucky Scepter (2)
Race 7 (Q1): YUEN CHAU TSAI HANDICAP, 17/05/2014, 16:05, Class 3, Turf, “C+3” Course, 1200m, Good to Yielding 1 – Eye On You (3) 2 – Star Of Bond (7) 3 – Berlinski (4) 4 – Selkirk Star (1)
Race 8 (Q2): THE ATV CUP (HANDICAP), 17/05/2014, 16:35, Class 1, Turf, “C+3” Course, 1600m, Good to Yielding 1 – Rewarding Hero (9) 2 – Secret Sham (5) 3 – Flash Knight (6) 4 – Packing Whiz (3)
Race 9 (Q3): DAI SHING HANDICAP, 17/05/2014, 17:10, Class 2, Turf, “C+3” Course, 1000m, Good to Yielding 1 – Rad (7) 2 – Peniaphobia (8) 3 – Charity Joy (11) 4 – Ensemble (3)
Race 10 (Q4): KWONG FUK HANDICAP, 17/05/2014, 17:45, Class 3, Turf, “C+3” Course, 1400m, Good to Yielding 1 – Wonderful Moments (6) 2 – Sun Pins (7) 3 – Fantastic Kaka (9) 4 – Owners’ Pride (12)
BEST BET Race 6: Do You Get It (5)
NEXT BEST Race 9: Rad (7)
VALUE BET Race 4: Verdane (3) – Currently, $4.60
LONG SHOT Race 10: Owners’ Pride (12) – Currently, $11.00
QUADDIE ($100 get you 39%) 1.3.4.7 3.5.6.9 3.7.8.11 6.7.9.12
SIX UP 1.5 5 3 5.9 7.8 6
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SELECTIONS FROM THE BIG APPLE (@SW064351)
BEST BET Race 10, No. 6 Wonderful Moments Battled away steadily last time. Looks value in a race of little depth.
SECOND BEST Race 9, No. 8 Peniaphobia Progressive gelding who excels down the straight. Rate highly.
LONGSHOT Race 5, No. 11 Axiom Well rated and has the benefit of a good draw. Chance.
QUADDIE 3 / 3,5,6,9 / 7,8 / 6,7,9. $50 for 208.33%.
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PARTING SHOT
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