Welcome to our preview and horse racing betting tips for racing at Sha Tin in Hong Kong on Sunday, April 29th.
We have a huge 10-race card featuring three international Group 1 races – the Champions Mile, Chairman’s Sprint and QEII Cup.
We’ve got betting tips for every race on the card and a detailed look at the three Group 1’s below.
SHA TIN RACING TIPS
Best Bet: Race 9 #1 Hot King Prawn
Best Value: Race 2 #13 Intrepic EW
RACE 1 – (6) Garlic Yeah / (8) Midnite Promise EW
RACE 2 – (12) Royal Mojito / (13) Intrepic EW
RACE 3 – (5) Famous Warrior
RACE 4 – (10) What Else But You / (3) Dundonnell EW
RACE 5 – (1) Jing Jing Win EW / (13) Sparkling Dragon EW
RACE 6 – Group 1 Champions Mile
Looks a race between (1) Beauty Generation and (3) Seasons Bloom here. Gone with Beauty Generation on top, who should roll forward from barrier 1 and lead at his own leisure. There doesn’t look to be any speed in the race and Purton is probably the best frontrunning rider in the land. He takes back over from Douglas Whyte today, and if they let him do what he wants out in front, they’ll have a hard time running him down. Seasons Bloom won the Group 1 Stewards’ Cup over this track and distance two starts ago before stepping up to 2000m last start and finishing 3rd to Time Warp. Back to 1600m today and will go close. (4) Beauty Only bounced back to form with a Group 2 win last start but he’ll struggle to get the pace he needs on here. (9) Singapore Sling is the interesting runner in the race. He’s the only four-year-old involved, after running 2nd in the HK Derby last start.
TIP: (1) Beauty Generation
RACE 7 – Group 1 Chairman’s Sprint
Intriguing race. There’s not a great deal between (1) Mr Stunning and (2) Beat The Clock. They dead-heated in the G1 Centenary Cup at level weights before Beat The Clock beat Mr Stunning by a neck last start. He carried 2kg less than Mr Stunning that day, but they’re back at level weights today. Beat The Clock draws barrier 1, while Mr Stunning draws barrier 3. With all that in mind, I’ve taken a slight leaning to Mr Stunning, who has the potential to get first run in clear air, with Mr Stunning likely to be searching for a run. The new kid on the block is (9) Ivictory who has been simply dominant this season, winning three times by a combined 6.3L. This is a huge step up in class but he deserves his chance. (6) Blue Point from the in-form Charlie Appleby stable is an interesting runner. He ran 2nd in Dubai last start behind Ertijaal and comes into this at double-figure odds, which plenty of people overseas seem to think is huge overs. It would surprise me to see him win but it’s not the strongest international sprint race. (3) Lucky Bubbles was Hong Kong’s best sprinter not long ago but his form tapered off last preparation. He’s fresh here from a few months off but are his best days behind him? (7) Fine Needle represents the Japanese and while he’s won his past two starts, including one at G1 level in Japan, the Japanese sprinters tend to struggle to compete over the sprint trips when they come to HK.
TIP: (1) Mr Stunning
RACE 8 – Group 1 QEII Cup
(1) Time Warp was very disappointing last start over the 1600m, but he gets back up to 2000m today which is his pet distance. Two starts ago he broke the track record, becoming the first horse to ever break 2 minutes for the 2000m at Sha Tin! And that was after copping pressure in the lead all race. There doesn’t look to be a great deal of speed today, so if he gets to lead at a comfortable pace, they’ll really struggle to reel him in. (5) Ping Hai Star was a dominant winner of the HK Derby last start, when stepping up to 2000m for the first time in his career. It was a freakish training effort by John Size. The query is that race was restricted to four-year-olds, and he steps up to genuine Group 1 company today. Cult hero (3) Pakistan Star looks primed to run a good race. There’s been a jockey merry-go-round leading into today, with Silvestre De Sousa being unable to make the trip, resulting in Kerrin McEvoy picking up the ride, but he’s also been ruled out with an ear infection, so William Buick picks up the mount. He resumed with a good run over 2000m at his first start since stopping mid-race last year. He’s since had two 1600m runs – both sound – and now steps back up to 2000m. This is a winnable race but he still has a habit of doing everything he can to lose.
TIP: (1) Time Warp
RACE 9 – (1) Hot King Prawn
RACE 10 – (9) Rise High / (1) Imperial Gallantry EW
