This was the worst race on the card, as expected given it was a Class 5. The race shape suited those on-pace, with it being run 0.36 under standard for the final-400m. I don’t know how strong the form will be but Jimson The Dragon and Red Brick Fighter both ran well enough and can be competitive in a similar contest. 

They ran a fast first sectional here so it was a good effort from Colonel who had to work to lead. The race rated okay, on standard time and the winner Beluga had a dream run but is obviously open to improvement. It shouldn’t be too long before Colonel wins one. 

This race rated about where it should. Dublin Star was fractious in the gates and missed the start and missed his chance to win. Dublin Star (SID) was clearly unlucky in the latter stages and has shown enough in a handful of starts to suggest he is close to a win. Not much else to note.

For the grade, this race rated well, and that being due to running very slick first two sectionals. Juneau Park took the length of the straight to win this, but based on how it rated he will be hard to beat again. Ka Ying Excellent (SID) makes the file and based on this effort, he will be very hard to beat in a similar class of race next time. He was close to that strong tempo and fought bravely. All For St Paul’s will fly under the radar a touch and might be one to keep an eye on as well. 

The pace was solid and more runners should have been able to make ground here, but they didn’t. The race rated about where it should, as the track was racing quite fast overall. Gala Night showed he can handle the surface and that opens options for him, but outside of that, I’m not sure how much can be taken from it. 

Smoothies set a solid enough tempo in the lead and held on to win. This race rated quite well and I expect overall the form to stack up. Less then 3-lengths covered 11 of the 14 runners so a number went quite well, so as a collective it might be a race to respect which is often not the case with a “bunch finish”.

Note: Lone Eagle was found lame the next day. It was going to be hard to make ground on those that raced on the pace when they were running 0.44 inside of standard for the last 400m! Enfolding and Racing Luck both ran well against the race shape and might find an all-weather race in the near future. 

This rated as the best race of the day, but was really slowly run until the 600m and then they sprinted home hard. Less than 2-lengths covered nine of the 11 runners and to be fair, not a great deal was learnt here. It really just developed into a sprint home and there was very little between a number of them when they sprinted home.

This race rated pretty well for a Class 3 and I expect the form to stack up well enough. It was an excellent effort from Transcendent to win on Hong Kong debut. He has a future. Fantasy was the run of the race, he sat three-wide with no cover and battled very well indeed. Unfortunately for us, Eligere was unlucky and seemed to have something to offer. The form will stack up well out of this one.

It was a lovely ride in front and Mighty Giant was well rated. The rest were going to find it hard to catch the front-runner when he’s running almost a second inside of standard for his final-400m! Mighty Giant is going well and might be able to go on with it, while Picken and Beauty Icon both closed well also.