There’s a Big day ahead for Dragon and Red September 22, 2023 RACING is back in Hong Kong at Sha Tin on Sunday for a 10-race programme, including a couple of all-weather contests and featuring the first Group Three contest of the season; the Celebration Cup (7.00am), a seven-furlong handicap. Although only half-a-dozen contenders line up, this has the makings of a puzzle more difficult to solve [...]
Galvanic can go Dancing towards a win for Fownes September 19, 2023 EXPECT the Caspar Fownes fan club to be out in force when city-track Happy Valley resumes with another eight-race midweek programme in Hong Kong today. The proclaimed King of the Valley may have relinquished his crown to Francis Lui last season, but you can guarantee the former four-time champion trainer will be going all out [...]
Danny Shum’s charge to move on Up And Up this season September 19, 2023 BANK on the Danny Shum-trained UP AND UP to prove much better than his present handicap mark when he lines up in the Hung Luen Handicap (2.45pm) over the extended mile. This former UK galloper, known as Ikhtiraaq when trained by Owen Burrows, and subsequently Sir Michael Stoute, was a winner over seven furlongs and [...]
It should be Greenwich’s Mean Time at Sha Tin September 15, 2023 IT WILL be good to see jockey Vincent Ho make a belated return to action when he partners four gallopers on a 10-race programme at Sha Tin in Hong Kong on Sunday. The 33-year-old suffered a horrific injury when his horse crashed to the turf in Japan at the end of July, fracturing a bone [...]
Caspar Fownes can expect to be Proud of his Dragon September 15, 2023 IT HASN’T been easy for bettors in the first week of the new Hong Kong racing season, with only three market leaders obliging in 18 races, and a few long odds-on shots vanquished along the way. With weather conditions still unpredictable and showers forecast again over the weekend, patience is going to be a key [...]
EP: 229 Doncaster, Chester & Hong Kong September 15, 2023 The final classic of the season takes place at Doncaster on Saturday as this year’s three-year-old generation line up in the Group 1 St. Leger, the highlight of this weekend’s racing. We also look at a couple of TV races at Chester on the same afternoon. City AM Racing editor Bill Esdaile previews the best [...]
Shum’s Denfield to go Splendidly at Happy Valley September 12, 2023 WITH the weather finally relenting in Hong Kong after a typhoon and catastrophic floods in the past 10 days or so, it’s all systems go for iconic track Happy Valley to host its first meeting of the season, with an excellent eight-race programme. With crowds expected to flock through the turnstiles to celebrate the occasion [...]
Excellent should be Peerless once again from stall two September 12, 2023 OMENS are looking good for the Frankie Lor-trained EXCELLENT PEERS to register his fifth win of his career, in the Mui Wo Handicap (3.50pm) over six furlongs. This course and distance specialist found life tough in the latter stages of last season, with a series of awkward draws and troubled journeys going against him, although [...]
All Is Good for Purton to strike on Lucky September 8, 2023 RACEGOERS are in for a treat for the start of the 2023/24 Hong Kong season at Sha Tin on Sunday, when one of the world’s top-rated sprinters Lucky Sweynesse, with Zac Purton aboard, reappears in the Class One HKSAR Chief Executive’s Cup (6.55am), a Class One handicap over six furlongs. No one can accuse trainer [...]
Hewitson looking for Super Fast start to new season aboard Dragon September 8, 2023 FORM students take note! Weather and surface conditions may once again play an important role when determining winners at Sha Tin on Sunday. Heavy rainfall on Thursday and Friday, caused the city to be flooded, with more rainfall recorded in a single hour (over six inches) since records began in 1884. With showers expected over [...]