Month: January 2020

Mr Stunning has been runner-up in the past two editions of the Group 1 feature. Mr Stunning has a score to settle in Sunday’s (19 January) Group 1 Centenary Sprint Cup (1200m) at Sha Tin and trainer Frankie Lor believes his top-class charge is in the right shape to prevail. The seven-year-old was denied a hat-trick of wins in the Group 1 LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint (1200m) when his old foe Beat The Clock sped to victory last month. Mr Stunning is out to avenge not only that defeat but…

Apprentice Adin Thompson has won a Birdsville Cup and is now focused on Qld metropolitan racing. Emerging Queensland apprentice Adin Thompson has his strongest book of rides to date as he strives for his first metropolitan Saturday win at Eagle Farm. Thompson was the leading apprentice in Queensland last season and he rode the country circuit with the iconic Birdsville Cup among his victories. His results have continued this season as he concentrates on metropolitan and provincial racing. He has ridden four metropolitan winners, all of them achieved at midweek…

Rattan sees off Beat The Clock in the Group 2 Sprint Cup last April. Richard Gibson is unperturbed by the outsider labels tagged to his stable stalwarts Rattan and Wishful Thinker as they stride into Sunday’s (19 January) two Group 1 features at Sha Tin Racecourse with eyes fixed on snagging a share of the lucrative prize fund. “They’re both in really good nick,” Gibson said. “We’ll take our chance in both events as outsiders.” Rattan will take on Beauty Generation’s might and Waikuku’s burgeoning class in the HK$10 million…

Vigor Fame ensures doubles for Jimmy Ting and Silvestre de Sousa. Jimmy Ting bagged a treble last Wednesday and continued his hot Happy Valley form last night (Wednesday, 15 January) with a double courtesy of Flying Godspell and Vigor Fame. That gave the trainer five wins from his last 12 runners at the downtown venue, a haul complemented by two second placings, and he was quick to give praise to the two men in the saddle, Silvestre de Sousa and Matthew Poon. De Sousa was at his focused, punching best…

Hong Kong Win posts a swift time under Joao Moreira. Hong Kong Win put on a masterclass of sit-and-sprint dash in the Connaught Handicap (1000m), at Happy Valley last night (Wednesday, 15 January). Clocking 56.31s to break a 14-year Class 3 record for the course and distance. “He was ready to win, he was feeling so good in himself,” jockey Joao Moreira said after the four-year-old had stalked a hot pace and then shot past the lead pair to win by two and three-quarter lengths. “It was impressive but circumstances…

Highly Proactive takes the finale under Karis Teetan. Highly Proactive (132lb) put up a rallying fightback to outpoint Shining Ace (133lb) in a thrilling finish to the Class 3 Chater Handicap (1200m) at Happy Valley last night, Wednesday, 15 January. Shining Ace had the 1.9 favourite on the ropes half-way down the home straight, but with Karis Teetan driving mightily, Highly Proactive lifted and edged past the top-weight. “He’s a fighter,” Teetan said. “When the second horse came three deep on the home turn I couldn’t sit there, I had…

Group 2 Eight Carat Classic (1600m) winner Jennifer Eccles. Photo: Trish Dunell Bargain filly Jennifer Eccles will be out to maintain her lead in the lucrative New Zealand Bloodstock Filly of the Year Series when she contests Saturday’s Group 3 New Zealand Bloodstock Desert Gold Stakes (1600m) at Trentham. The Shaune Rtichie-trained filly shed the tag of New Zealand’s best maiden when winning the Group 2 Eight Carat Classic (1600m) last start in the hands of James McDonald, having previously been placed in the Group 1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas…

RV chairman Brian Kruger has hit out at the Melbourne Racing Club’s involvement in The Everest. The chairman of Racing Victoria has hit out at the Melbourne Racing Club’s involvement in the $14 million Everest in Sydney. The MRC, one of three metropolitan racing clubs in Melbourne, struck a deal with the Australian Turf Club for its slot in the 2019 Everest at Randwick on October 19, the same day as the Caulfield Cup. A week earlier, the winner of the Schillaci Stakes at the MRC meeting at Caulfield was…