HK International Races - Nominations

Love this meeting. Have a go at the fourfold on the G1s every year - never won much though!

Excelebration in the mile at anything over 6/4 would be nice, assuming it's a target.

Will be my 4th year, Happy Valley on the Weds night for the jockey challenge prior to this is a must too. Will be an interesting mile if they run Ambitious Dragon in it, he looked back to his best last Sunday.

AD's trainer is running a bit scared of Cirres Des Aigles and may duck the Cup as a result . Not quite sure why as CDA is vulnerable over 10f with a crawl of a gallop as he showed last year. Hopefully the Aussie sprinter Sea Siren comes through the Patinack Classic ok later on today and makes the trip for the Sprint along with Singapore star Super Easy ( runs in the trial race at Sha Tin next week ).

Not too sure Millard's running scared, I think they believe AD is just a better horse over the mile. I would tend to agree at HK level but not too sure against top class - he looked fantastic the other week and is down to run in the trial next week, I think he runs better fresh so not too sure why he needs the run next week when the main event it only a month away.

Glorious Days is going to be an interesting runner on Sunday now he's tried in blinkers.

Final noms announced last night at HV http://www.hkjc.com/english/corporate/racing_news_item.asp?in_file=/english/...

No Europeans in the Sprint is a shocker but they have been a standing joke in terms of their ''success'' rate for a long number of years . Never seen a stronger contingent from Europe in the Vase which they always win . Plenty of Japanese in the Mile and the Sprint with the Euros a bit light on quality in the Mile where the locals look strong

Glorious Days looked very smart in the mile trial the other day, but was getting 5lbs from AD, think he won with something in hand though. Lucky Nine looks to have the sprint at his mercy, beat everything very well on Sunday and they had left something to work on. It was well known though that Little Bridge hasn't been working very well. Vase looks a very tricky race indeed.

If you want to watch replays of the trials from last Sunday http://racing.hkjc.com/racing/Info/Meeting/Results/English/Local/20121118/ST/7

Sprint = Curren Chan, Little Bridge, Lucky 9
Mile - Ambitious Dragon
Cup - Cirrus, Calif memory
Vase - Foog, Sea Moon

The Cup is a very interesting field. Suspect CDA will be around 6/4 with british bookies so there could be e/w value in some others.

At the prices published at the moment I would take Glorious Days at 4-1 for the mile. I can't see Lucky Nine getting beaten and at 7-2 is a massive price, can't see it being that price on the day. CDA priced up at 11-8.

Xtension each way at 11's too for me in the mile. Wait until nearer the time for Vase and Cup.

Totally with you regarding Lucky Nine HK, he is just so tough and consistent. The draw is the only worry for me!

Zaidan is one horse I will be keeping an eye on as well, I think he could be a bigger price with the UK bookies and will probably be my EW bet for the Cup if he runs.

MR D - I wouldn't be too worried about the draw, he won from 9 last week. Zaidan is a decent animal, not too sure he's completely up to this standard though. I'm not convinced about CDA either, he's had a couple of cracks at Sha Tin and hasn't run that well though the lack of pace last year wouldn't have suited him - still wouldn't take 11-8 against last years winner at 9-2 who looks as good as ever. The cup and vase are both day of race bets for me - though they all will be as we don't get AP with the HKJC!! I'm leaving AD out of the mile too as I think he's reached his peak now.

Xtension is a great e/w price. Shame no bookie is going 1/4 odds.

We've had rain for 2 days with more to come, the forecast was for more until Sunday but it looks like drying out now. Was going right up CDA's path but he will get good going now.

I'm hope there ain't much rain coming HK, it will not suit my two horses I backed Antepost. I took the plunge on Zaidan for the Cup at 20-1 EW and my old mate Master Of Hounds, also at 20-1 EW for the Mile.

I took on board what you said HK regarding Zaidan and agree he probably isn't good enough to win but the fact he was only a head behind California Memory last time and the big price difference between the two swayed me. I just hope it doesn't rain too much, quicker the better.

There are some good horses running in the Cup this year and it looks a tough one to predict. Cirrus is the real class act and super consistent performer but his record at Sha Tin is very off putting.

Master of Hounds is a seasoned globe trotter now and I think Sha Tin will suit him a lot, especially if he gets an uncontested lead!!! His ability to ping from the gates quickly could be a big advantage and IMO getting to the front will be his best chance of getting a win or a place! He looked in good condition from the photographs I viewed on the HKJC website a couple of days ago and I'm just hoping for a good draw now. If he does he could have a cracking chance. The two other ones I like in the race are Packing Whiz and Grand Prix Boss but I can't make my mind up which one to go with yet.

I'm going to wait for the draw before I make any other bets but I'm really looking forward to Sunday, it's always a great meeting.

Keep us posted on the weather conditions HK.

Some more rain today,not really heavy though. More rain forecast for tomorrow morning and then some on Friday but it will be dry on Sat and Sun so should still be good going. Good luck on Zaidan, he's one of my favs as I had him last year when he won a HKGP1 race at 15-1, he may have been a head behind but was getting 5lbs. They seem very happy with Cirrus and if he gets a better run will be nigh on impossible to beat but that's the IF and the Sha Tin factor and would you take 6-4 (come Sunday and drunk I probably will!!), I think the locals will smash into it though.

I really can't see past Lucky Nine in the sprint. I'll wait on the draw tomorrow for the mile before committing to Glorious Days, I think there's a lot more to come from him now the blinkers are on - I do agree with Packing Whizz though, he looks a cracking horse.

The vase is nigh on impossible though!!

Tomorrow night at Happy Valley is fun for the jockey challenge.

On another note Pausanias - now called Helene Fun Star - is trying to break his HK duck in a class 3 over 1200m on Sunday, he's had 12 goes so far!!!

Fato - check this out before backing Xtension http://www.hkjc.com/english/corporate/racing_news_item.asp?in_file=/english/...

Cheers Accie, very interesting.

In previous years when Cathay was the sponsor, there was a specific website for these races (cxphkir.com or something). I cant find anything like that this year?

Looking forward to the barrier draw now :)

Try this http://campaign.hkjc.com/en/2012-longines-hkir/2012-lgir-index.aspx

That's the stuff!

I'm quite liking the look of Packing Whiz - upwards trajectory so could find his peak here. Glorious Days also looks tempting with Ambitious Dragon seemingly regressing over the last 18m.

I can certainly make a case for the Japanese sprinters, and Sea Siren doesnt loook like a mug. Really struggling with that one tbh.

Sounds like Dunaden has travelled well so I'd fancy him to be in the mix. I'm not interested in the French challengers at the head of the market. Sea Moon deserves his current odds, and the other one that could be a spot of value is Dancing Rain. That means putting a line through her Ascot Run on the basis that she needed it...

Might do some perms with 2 from each race and 3 from the sprint :) Just need to narrow it down

Sprint - Sea Siren, Lord Kanaloa, Lucky Nine, Time after Time
Mile - Glorious Days, Packing Whiz
Cup - Cirrus, Calif memory
Vase - Dunaden, Sea Moon, Dancing Rain

Weather is perfect now, no more rain forecast and should be sunshine all the way at the weekend - there will be no ground excuses! I can't argue with your selections there Fato though Carlton House is interesting me. Will know more once the draw is made a bit later today

Little Bridge out of the sprint

Lucky nine in 12......that's halved my bet!! Glorious Days in 3 has doubled that onen

Lucky nine in 12......that's halved my bet!! Glorious Days in 3 has doubled that onen

Lucky Nine has not been very lucky with the draw, that's a bit of a nightmare HK. Hopefully his price might drift now, if it does I will play! Prebble will have to use his magic out of the gates and hope the gaps appear!!!

I made a bit of a error with Zaidan HK, I didn't notice he was getting 5lbs off California Memory in his last race.

Alain de Royer-Dupre sounded bullish about Giofra in the Cup yesterday, she might be my back up bet. He has had some great success over the years at this meeting and she might be able to emulate one of my favourite mares Pride. She will love the drying ground as well.

"She did well this morning on the turf course. She might be slightly underrated in the Cup but I warn you, she is an exceptional filly. Look at her form! The only blip is her 6th place in the Prix Jean Romanet last summer at Deauville, but the course was not good there and she stumbled going out of the stalls, and then injured herself. Last time, she finished third in the Prix de l'Opera (G1) on a ground she did not like at all. But don't get it wrong, it takes a very good horse to beat the Brits in their backyard like she did in the Falmouth Stakes in July. Giofra has travelled very well to Hong Kong and I am expecting a very good performance from her on Sunday. The horse I fear the most in the Cup is Saonois. I don't think that his age is a problem. When they are that good, age does not matter, and he should like the way races are run here."

Fownes is disappointed but says he's not had the horse in better shape - I'm dubious as last year he said that about all of his horses for this meeting!! I am disappointed as this was my banker so now it's back to the form guide!!! I may have to nail Glorious Days to the floor instead. Still can't decide on Vase or Cup, think I may wait until 5 mins before the off.

Saonois does look a live threat if CDA does have a Sha Tin issue. He's a fair price too.

I'm a bit stumped on the Vase. Sea Moon travelled well to last season's BC and is fairly lightly raced. He beat Dunaden fair and square IMO, but Dunaden obv has C&D form. Can't help thinking that Dancing Rain is a big price. Am I mad?

Not mad at all Fato, good fillies/mares do run well here - my fav live performance of all time was snow fairy 2 years ago, that was amazing. Was just thinking we've mentioned a lot of horses and come Sunday won't have a winner between us all! This year I'm not changing my mind on the day like I did last year and missed backing CM and L9 after telling everyone in our party to back them both!! I will make my decision on selections on Saturday night. I may be with you on DR!

This is a decent form guide http://racing.hkjc.com/racing/content/PDF/RaceCard/20121209_starter_all.pdf

CDA out of the cup

Shame as it would've been nice to see whether or not it was the Sha Tin factor that was coming into play in previous years. On the punting side it makes the decision easier plus bumps up the returns on any 4folds :)

Those who like conspiracy theories may point to 2 favs from overseas injured in the week before the cup race 2 years in succession - both with similar injuries. BTW - we've had rain this morning with some more to come over the day, bright sunshine and 20 degrees tomorrow. will post my final selections later once I've changed my mind many times!!!

Sea Moon out too now

WTF is going on......The Club's Veterinary Regulation Department has this morning (8 December) advised that an examination of AMBITIOUS DRAGON has found that horse to be moderately lame in the right hind leg.

AMBITIOUS DRAGON will again be examined tomorrow morning (9 December) at which time a decision will be made as to the horse's suitability to race in the LONGINES Hong Kong Mile.

Always do a cheeky ew acca and trebles on these, with the hope of waking up to a bulging betting account on Sunday morning.  Managed to hit 3/4 last year!  This year's...

Red Cadeaux
Siyouma
Lord Kanaola
Giofra

Will back Giofra in the Cup on track if the price holds with the JC, currently 15/1, some of the French horses are silly prices at the moment - do like the longshot Military Attack with UK books though

Doumen and Mosse rolling back the years...anyone remember Jim and Tonic? they know how to jet set a horsie and still win in hong kong. Siyouma will be interesting because Doumen had the option of either the Cup or the Mile and went for the Mile even though the Cup is slighlty below its usually level.

Going to be an excellent night. Got my office Christmas Party. Come home then straight into the UFC fights (top quality tonight) Nate vs Henderson, SHogun vs Gustaffson...someone is getting f**ed up in that shogun fight. Then Pacquiao vs Marquez IV and then finally hong kong. Will take a caffiene pill around 3am imo.

Good luck and have fun tomorrow HKAccie.

Many thanks ELG - Monday off work as once we get back from Sha Tin we have the City v Utd game on in the pub at 9.30pm, Monday is always a struggle!!

At the moment I'm looking at the following so everyone can ignore them!!

Vase - Meandre and Dancing Rain
Sprint - Lucky Nine and Lord Kanaloa
Mile - Glorious Days and Xtension or Packing Whizz (may just do tierce and perm quinella), it's a hard one to pick and won't be seeing too much of my money
Cup - Carlton House and California Memory.

Good luck to all.

They really are dropping like flies at Sha Tin, it's not just the horses either, Christophe Lemaire is struggling to be fit with a bout of influenza.

The races look wide open to me now and it's been tough trying to work it out with the way the draw has gone. I was all set to play big on Lucky Nine but horses drawn in double figures have a wretched record in the Sprint and at shortish odds I don't think I'm going to risk it now. This fella is one of my favourite horses and I'm gutted how it's worked out again, the draw did him in Dubai as well! The heart could still rule the head but it all depends on how big a price I can get.

The draw wasn't kind to Giofra either and with Cirrus coming out her price with UK bookies has shortened a fair amount. I'm going to wait till the morning before I back her, it's sounds like the Hong Kong PMU could be the way to go with her! I backed Zaidan before the draw and he also got screwed (12), so I'm not that confident now.

I don't think I've ever changed my mind so much but I've backed a couple in each race apart from the Sprint.

Vase: Red Cadeaux EW and Dandino EW
Sprint: Lucky Nine (maybe)
Mile: Master of Hounds EW and Grand Prix Boss EW
Cup: Zaidan EW and Giofra (maybe)

Good luck, I think we are all going to need it tomorrow… or today if you're in Hong Kong!

I've changed my mind again.....it's just so hard, the more you look at it the more difficult they get! I like Grand Prix Boss ew Mr D and he looks good on his work this week. Saonois is a good price too in the cup. If you listen to Fownes he is very very bullish about Lucky Nine, reckons he's not had him in better shape.

Final selections......until tomorrow after a few beers

Meandre & Dunaden
Lucky Nine and Lord K
Mile - really can't decide
Cup - Carlton House and Saonios

The cup is going to be a no-pace race so it's going to take some luck winning it.

John Moore (trainer) did say he would use his other two horses in the Cup to make sure the pace of the race suited his two main hopes Irian and Zaidan!! It sounded like he wanted a true run race to me.

I hope the Cup is a no-pace race HK because the more I watch Zaidan the more I think he doesn't quite get the 1m 2f trip!

If there is no pace it could play into the hands of the speedier horses who have got form at a mile rather than the ones who are out-and-out 1m 2f horses. Giofra looks the one for me now!!!

Grand Prix Boss was a shade unlucky in the Championship Mile race at Kyoto and I think he could turn it around with Sadamu Patek. I agree HK, his work did look good and that's what made my mind up.

I think Zaidan is best at 1800m but he did well in the truly run trial the other week, getting 5lb from CM. Wonder if this could be Irian's year or if the G2 trial race was his target and he was fully wound up for it?

John Moore seemed more confident about Irian's chances and Gerald Mosse was very confident of a good run as well. GM said he had come on well from his last run and gave him better feel during his track work. There is till time for us to change our minds!!

I did say that this year I wasn't going to change my mind...... oh well......I'll sleep on it!!

I'm having my final mind change right now...! Will report back

Beer will make everything clearer tomorrow - I have another 6 races to try to solve too!!

Vase - Dunaden. I have some cover on Dancing Rain but the more I look at her form the weaker I think it is. He's a proven globetrotter and should be recovered from melbourne. Reportedly in good shape. The one I fear most is Meandre.

Sprint - Sea Siren. I was very sweet on Current Chan last year, but she didn't get the best draw and the race was a bit of a non-event for her. This time round it sounds like Lord Kanaloa has the edge on her for the Japanese, so I've got a side bet on him. Time After Time looks good, but the odds are pretty horffic for an animal that's not competed much at the highest level. He's lightly raced so could be anything. Lucky 9 wouldve been my pick if it werent for the draw. As it stands I'll go with the Aussie - well rated, and some fair G1 form under her belt. Drawn ok, just hope she's settled into Honkers ok.

Mile - Glorious Days. Going with the form here. Quite like the look of Packing Whiz, but think Siyouma is the biggest danger.

Cup - Saonois. Really fancy him, although guessing he could be unfashionable in HK and a big price there?! I have cover on California Memory, and think Carlton House and Giofra should also be in the mix.

So that's my big 4fold. Other bold ones have some money on too. Good luck chaps!

This Hong Kong meeting has been mind bending stuff so far. I think it's going to be very competitive and if I'm honest, I'm not that confident with my selections.

All the best!

Fato - I think we agree on most there.....I'm leaning towards getting the ball rolling on Dunaden. Though we've got an odds on top weight in race 1 that's won its first 2 runs, may take it on as the others are very long prices! Wonder if we will see the HKD 1 billion mark reached on total bet for the day?

All the best with all your bets - will be back uk afternoon time with some very drunken ramblings and after timing no doubt!

vase  LIBERATOR

mile master of hounds

cup  Autumn Gold to beat carlton house...or vice versa


had me eye on these 2 runners in the cup for the last fortnight, hopefully get some returns.

gl all

Offshore - you should get a good showing from Liberator as he's got some good form over 2400m here and would be my best local horse for the race, just think the o/seas runners may just be too good for him. He'll be in my quinella perm though.

Best out of 2 isn't hard though!!

The Dragon is clear to run

Having a punt on:

Dancing Rain
Sea Siren
Giofra
Grand Prix Boss

Worrying no home runners but not convinced. Seem to take it in turn in beating each other. GL!

good stuff this morning, woke up to 2/3 winner so far, hoping for giofra for the big payday!

wd Chad - you weren't afraid to hit the bigger priced horses either! I've never rated Red Cadeaux as top class, but he proved me wrong - that was a good win. Very happy for Ed Dunlop too.

My Lord Kanaloa bets were all in accas which fell through so I was lucky to get out of jail with California Memory. No retirement unfortunately :) Really disappointed about Glorious Days - that'd have brought home a big win as he was in a Lord Kanaloa bet, along with some nags from yesterday. I completely put a line through The Ambituous Dragon which was naive. That lameness situation happened a couple of years back with Vison D'Etat didn't it? Who then went on to win?

They were very good races today - would like to see some of the Japanese sprinters come and race at Ascot. The Eurpoean horses were generally poor - aside from Red Cadeaux. I just don't think arriving through quarantine 6 days before the race gives them much chance to be at their peak.

HKAccie - what were the prices on the HK tote like? Seemed like California Memory was smashed into 5/4? And Ambitious Dragon too I imagine? Zaidan also very low odds. Must be some huge value if you can bet on UK bookies too.

*Ambitious Dragon, not "The" Ambitious Dragon!!

Well done if you came out with a profit, it was tough days racing at Sha Tin.

It started well with Red Cadaeux winning but that was as good as it got for me with everything else going down the gurgler. Red Cadaeux and Jaguar Mail franked the Japan Cup form pretty well, the first three in the JC are World Class and will take all the beating next year IMO!!

I left Lucky Nine alone in the end and I'm glad I did now because he was hung out to dry from his wide draw, Lord Kanaloa was impressive and looks like he is improving with every race. Hopefully we might see him rock up at Meydan!

The Mile was a horse race disaster with the two I backed and I was bitterly disappointed with Grand Prix Boss, very odd performance and Master Of Hounds wasn't much better either. I now know for definite he isn't a G1 horse and need to stop my obssesion with Kingmambo's.
Ambitious Dragon was at his imperious best and is a tough nut to crack at Sha Tin.

California Memory was another one who showed his class at Sha Tin again, travelled like a dream and finished it off with ease. Zaidan ran too free in the early stages and was never likely to get involved, the draw didn't help matters either but his young Jock did his best to get a good early position but I think that move lit him up and there was nothing left in the straight. Giofra ran an eye catching race from the back but the bird had already flown.

Happy in the end to have come out of it with a small profit but nothing to write home about. Once again well done to everyone who found some winners.

A very hurtful day on the pocket, but it was a cracking day. CM was hammered in but AD drifted to 5.1 after Zaidan was smashed. They were both very impressive. I'm in a world of pain today after getting home at 4am, I'm in the dog house for sure!!