It was an evening that delivered some super results combined with some frustrating ones for the overall Best Selections and Strategies.

Firstly the best bet Victory Power may have looked disappointing on the face of things, but the race certainly didn’t play out in a predictable manner. Fantastic Fabio and Umberto Rispoli unusually “half-committed” to lead at a slow pace before quickly handing-up to Ambitious Heart (Alberto Sanna), thus snookering Zac Purton and Victory Power three-back on the fence. The tempo was slowed and that didn’t suit our best bet at all. There were some notes about race 4 in the Incident Report which make for interesting reading.

Turin Redstar ran very well given he had to work harder than anticipated to get across from his draw. Plenty got great each way odds through out the day and he was understandably crunched late into favouritism. Circuit Glory got the run of the race and won like he threatened to do a few times last season.

In race 5 Megatron was poorly rated and Sparkling Sword ran “big” given the work he had to do in the running. In the seventh race Eighty Eighty was too good after receiving a classic Purton ride. Speedy King finished last but clipped heels when about to be presented and that was the end of his chances. He’s a horse to keep an eye on as he was in the contest until then.

Race 2 delivered a super result for each way players when Mickey Rich charged home to win. He was widely available at $13.00 with most leading corporates leading into the race and closed double-figures the tote.

In the sixth event, Keep Moving gave backers a result at a price too when Victor Wong guided him home. 

So a night that was good overall, even though posting a loss on the main strategy there were plenty of sweet results for you who pay your hard-earned for my analysis – thanks for the feedback, good, not so, and light-hearted!

Racing at Sha Tin is scheduled for Sunday, even though Typhoon Mangkhut is bearing down on the region. So this means there’s a chance the meeting could be cancelled and rescheduled. If it is, then anyone who buys Sunday’s analysis will have credit added accordingly and for VIPs the meeting will be rescheduled later in the season.

Look out for my Sweet In Defeat review of Happy Valley, where my initial thoughts will be reinforced or challenged by my assessment of the sectional numbers of the meeting!

Cheers