There will be a new wrinkle in the New York racing schedule this fall when racing returns downstate following the end of the Saratoga Race Course meet on Labor Day. Instead of the usual fall meet at Belmont Park, racing will move to Aqueduct for a 28-day fall meet being called “Belmont at the Big A.”
Month: September 2022
Hong Kong Racing Study Guide: The Horse Class System, Explained
The 2022-23 Hong Kong racing season begins early Sunday morning East Coast time. Racing is usually conducted on a Sunday morning at Sha Tin and on a Wednesday at Happy Valley.
The two courses are dramatically different, and each has many nuances. Happy Valley is a tight, seven-furlong turf course. 1,000-meter races are run around one sharp right-hand turn into a short stretch (about 330 yards). 1,200-meter races have a quick right-hand elbow before heading up the backstretch to the sharp right-hand turn. Two-turn races begin at 1,650 meters and occasionally 1,800 meters. Three-turn races are usually 2,200 meters.
Sha Tin has a wide, expansive turf course and an all-weather track on its inside which is sometimes referred to as the dirt track. The turf course has a 1,000 meter straight then around one turn, the common distances are 1,200 meters, 1,400 meters, 1,600 meters and 1,800 meters. Two-turn races are run at 2,000 meters and 2,400 meters. The turf course has a long homestretch of over 440 meters so the 1,200-meter sprints start relatively close to the turn.
The common all-weather distances are 1,200 meters, then 1,650 and 1,800 meters going around two turns. The 1,200-meter sprint races are unusually fast so don't get too excited if you see a race go faster than 1:09 seconds.
The biggest thing to understand about handicapping Hong Kong racing no matter what the surface or distance is class. Over 95% of the races are handicaps and understanding them is the key to success.
Hong Kong racing is divided into five classes. All horses are rated by the track handicapper and are then divided into classes so that the races are competitive. Class 5 is for horses rated 0 to 40. These are the lowest rated horses on the grounds but against each other, they form very interesting races to bet.
Class 4 is for horses rated 40 to 60 and here is where the action is. Horses that are beginning their racing careers are rated 52 so you will see some terrific horses start their career against Class 2 competition. Last year, Romantic Warrior started out at 52 when he made his debut at Happy Valley and seven starts later, was rated at 122 courtesy of wins in the Hong Kong Derby and the Group 1 QEII Cup.
Class 3 is for horses rated 60 to 80 and here is where you get horses moving up through the ranks as they earn higher ratings or horses dropping down. It can be a volatile mix of horses going in either direction.
Class 2 is usually for horses rated 80 to 100 but sometimes the racing office has to extend the range to create fuller fields – 75-100 or 80 to 105.
Class 1 is for the top handicap horses but despite big purses, are not stakes races. They can be 90+, 85 to 110 or 90 to 115.
Once the horses are rated and grouped into five classes, each rating point equals one pound assigned by the handicapper. For instance, last year's 805th race, which was race 8 on July 6 at Happy Valley, was a Class 3 going 1,200 meters. The highest-rated runner at 80 carried 135 pounds. The lowest-rated runner at 60 carried 115 pounds.
A 20-pound weight spread in a race is not unusual but the norm for handicap racing in Hong Kong. With full fields also the norm, post positions are important so a horse carrying a lot of weight that is poorly drawn is usually a bad bet. Remember, program numbers are assigned by weight carried and not post position. The “1” horse in a handicap is carrying high weight. If more than horse is assigned the same weight, the numbers for those horses are assigned by alphabetical order.
When a horse wins, they usually pick up at least five rating points. An especially impressive win could pick up even more. Horses that finish in the top four are likely to add rating points. Horses that lose are likely to deduct points.
A horse in poor form is going to be dropping weight and might get to the point that they are very competitive in the Class that they are running in. A horse that wins and crosses the threshold to the next Class level will have to run against better competition but at least will be at the bottom of that new Class level and will be lightly-weighted.
Horses in Hong Kong are in a constant state of motion and understanding the system of class levels and handicap weights is crucial to success.
The post Hong Kong Racing Study Guide: The Horse Class System, Explained appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
Freedom Of Speech Makes €140K At The Goffs Champions Sale
Sophomore filly Freedom Of Speech (Ire) (Australia {GB}) (lot 3), a winner at two and third in the G3 Park Express S. this year, sold to Bobby O'Ryan for €140,000 during the Goffs Champions Sale on Saturday. Consigned by Jim Bolger's Glebe House Stables, the daughter of the winning Vocal Nation (Ire) was the only one of four catalogued lots to change hands prior to the start of the Longines Irish Champions Weekend at Leopardstown. Her third dam is the stakes winner, GI Ladies' H. third and Grade I producer Six Crowns (Secretariat), who foaled American champion juvenile Chief's Crown (Danzig) and dual Grade I winner Classic Crown (Mr. Prospector).
O'Ryan said, “She is a lovely filly who already has black type and therefore has plenty of residual value. She has been bought for a new client and will stay in training in Ireland.”
Goffs Group Chief Executive Henry Beeby said, “The Goffs Champions Sale is part of our programme of boutique sales and, as such, it provides potential just before one of the great days of Irish racing whilst also adding a bit of theatre to the overall pre-race entertainment on track. Obviously we would have preferred to sell more of the catalogue but we believe that the concept has a future and wish the new connections of Freedom Of Speech the very best of luck.”
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Kodiac’s Zarinsk Makes All In The Ingabelle
Irish Champions Weekend got under way with Leopardstown's €100,000 Listed Ballylinch Stud Irish EBF Ingabelle S. over seven furlongs, for 2-year-old fillies, which went the way of Ger Lyons and Colin Keane for a second straight edition after Juddmonte's Zarinsk (GB) (Kodiac {GB}–Pavlosk, by Arch) posted a 2 1/2-length success from Library (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}).
Zarinsk, who backed up a May 22 debut success at the Curragh with a fourth in the G2 Airlie Stud S. back there the following month, was unable to feature at the business end of July's G3 Silver Flash S. over this course and distance when stumbling badly at the start and gained compensation with a pillar-to-post victory here. Breaking sharply to seize immediate control, she was shaken up when threatened by her closest pursuer Library passing the quarter-mile marker and kept on strongly under mild urging thereafter to hold that rival with plenty to spare for a career high.
“Our fillies have been pretty precocious this year, they have all won their maidens well and she is still a work-in-progress,” said trainer Ger Lyons. “Colin [Keane] is quite confident about her getting a mile, I'll have to talk to the owners and I could see us putting her away until next year. We do a lot of work in the stalls with our horses at home and our modus [operandi] is don't take away any advantage. Wherever they bounce you ride them from and he's kept it simple. She's not overly big, but has a lovely big stride and has a lot of maturing to do. It's the biggest weekend of the year for us guys in Ireland, it's a very special day and there is always a good buzz to it.” Keane added, “We would have taken a lead, but we got it on our own terms and we went nice, even fractions. I thought we picked up well from the bottom of the straight, she ran through the line and I couldn't pull her up. She's a lovely actioned filly, her stride is very long and she's a very willing filly.”
Zarinsk, who becomes the 81st black-type winner for her sire (by Danehill), is the first stakes scorer out of Listed Michael Seely Memorial S. victrix Pavlosk (Arch), herself a full-sister to Listed Prix Casimir Delamarre winner Rostova. Pavlosk is also a half-sister to the dual Group 3-winning G1 Gran Premio di Milano third Exhibit One (Silver Hawk), herself the dam of G3 Chunichi Shimbun Hai victor Maitres d'Art (Jpn) (Zenno Rob Roy {Jpn}) and Listed Sandringham H. runner-up Auction (Ire) (Mr. Greeley). Zarinsk's third dam Bold Empress (Diesis {GB}) is kin to multiple Group 1-winning sire Zafonic (Mr. Prospector) while her descendants also include stakes-winning G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches second Irish Rookie (Ire) (Azamour {Ire}), G2 Maurice Lacroix Trophy victrix Daring Love (Ger) (Big Shuffle) and last week's G2 Oettingen-Rennen scorer Dapanago (Ger) (Soldier Hollow {GB}). Pavlosk has a yearling filly by Kingman (GB) and a weanling full-sister to Zarinsk to come.
Saturday, Leopardstown, Ireland
BALLYLINCH STUD IRISH EBF INGABELLE S.-Listed, €100,000, Leopardstown, 9-10, 2yo, f, 7fT, 1:31.73, sf.
1–ZARINSK (GB), 128, f, 2, by Kodiac (GB)
1st Dam: Pavlosk (SW-Eng), by Arch
2nd Dam: Tsar's Pride (GB), by Sadler's Wells
3rd Dam: Bold Empress, by Diesis (GB)
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN. O-Juddmonte; B-Juddmonte Farms Ltd (GB); T-Ger Lyons; J-Colin Keane. €60,000. Lifetime Record: 4-2-0-0, $79,847.
2–Library (Ire), 128, f, 2, Galileo (Ire)–Words (Ire), by Dansili (GB). 1ST BLACK TYPE. O-Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, Susan Magnier & Westerberg; B-Coolmore (IRE); T-Aidan O'Brien. €20,000.
3–Highly Desirable (Ire), 128, f, 2, Twilight Son (GB)–Exoptable (GB), by Dark Angel (Ire). 1ST BLACK TYPE. O-B M D Partnership; B-P Turley (IRE); T-Natalia Lupini. €10,000.
Margins: 2HF, NK, 3/4. Odds: 4.50, 2.00, 125.00.
Also Ran: Clever And Cool (Ire), Kayhana (Ire), Easy (Ire), Ma Belle Artiste (Ire), Sheyya (Ire), Sweetest Rose (Ire), Satin (GB), Evening's Empire (Ire).
Zarinsk strikes in the opener to Longines @IrishChampsWknd.
The Kodiac filly is not for passing and lands Listed honours for top team Ger Lyons, @ctkjockey and @JuddmonteFarms at @LeopardstownRC #LICW22 | @BallylinchStud pic.twitter.com/qZFq5y5xWv
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) September 10, 2022
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