The international nature of horse racing is one of the sport’s abiding strengths and today (Saturday, 24 February), three countries – New Zealand, Australia and Saudi Arabia – will stage Group 1 contests.
With 12 races to be simulcast, our customers will be able to enjoy feature racing from around the world with two of the three meetings – Blue Diamond Day from Caulfield in Melbourne and Saudi Cup Day from Riyadh – forming part of the World Pool.
The first of the features is the G1 Otaki-Maori Classic (1600m), which is carded as S1-1 and will be run at 12.15pm (Hong Kong time). The pace in the race should be good with PUNTURA likely to go forward to be in the leading division along with LA CRIQUE, BECLARE and EL VENCEDOR, who are all capable of leading or settling on the speed.
DESERT LIGHTNING has drawn the rails and it will be interesting to see if Vinnie Colgan tries to hold the front or elects to take a position on the leader’s back. DESERT LIGHTNING has won his past two starts, the latest when he easily accounted for star mare LEGARTO over this trip at Ellerslie on 27 January. DESERT LIGHTNING is a win and place chance.
PUNTURA comes into this race on the back of three successive victories at Group level and at his most recent start won the Thorndon Mile when he went to the front at the turn and was a dominant winner over EL VENCEDOR. PUNTURA is drawn to get an easy run and is a place chance.
CALLSIGN MAV and AEGON have not won for some time, but are racing well and are proven at the distance and both have place chances, along with LA CRIQUE, who would be hard to beat on her best form.
The G1 Futurity Stakes (1400m), which is carded as S2-1, will be run at 12.40pm and is the first of three Group 1 races at Caulfield.
The pace in this race will be slow to moderate with BUFFALO RIVER the obvious leader. There is not a lot of other pace apparent although late entry HEY FAT CAT may go froward.
BUFFALO RIVER should get an uncontested lead and was very competitive in the C.F. Orr Stakes when he followed PRIDE OF JENNI running and fought on well to finish third to eventual winner MR BRIGHTSIDE. BUFFALO RIVER is a place chance.
MR BRIGHTSIDE has been the dominant horse in weight-for-age racing in Melbourne in the last 12 months and was very brave when narrowly beaten by Hong Kong Champion Romantic Warrior in the G1 W.S. Cox Plate (2040m) in October.
MR BRIGHTSIDE chased hard in the straight and finished strongly in the concluding stages to beat PRIDE OF JENNI and BUFFALO RIVER when resuming in the C.F. Orr Stakes over this course and distance two weeks ago. He will probably be looking for a slightly longer trip, but MR BRIGHTSIDE is my win selection.
ATTRITION is a talented four-year-old who won the G1 Toorak Handicap (1600m) on 14 October at his last run. ATTRITION resumes here and is the main threat to MR BRIGHTSIDE along with fellow four-year-old PERICLES, who was runner up in the Golden Eagle at the end of his last campaign and stayed on from the back when sixth to MR BRIGHTSIDE when resuming two weeks ago in the C.F. Orr Stakes.
The G1 Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m) is Victoria’s premier two-year-old race and is carded as S2-2 and will be run at 1.15pm. The race is always run at a good pace.
LADY OF CAMELOT has drawn ideally in gate four and should find the front. The filly is looking to give Gai Waterhouse and co-trainer Adrian Bott their first win in the Blue Diamond. LADY OF CAMELOT was used early to lead at her last run in Sydney, scoring a very impressive win in the Widden Stakes on 3 February in quick time. She is a win and place chance.
COLEMAN is unbeaten at two runs and was impressive in winning the G3 Chairman’s Stakes at Caulfield three weeks ago by a big margin. COLEMAN is also a win and place chance.
Peter and Paul Snowden have won this race three times and now have two runners after the pre-race favourite BODYGUARD was withdrawn. Their leading chance is HIGH OCTANE, who was badly held up in the straight in behind BODYGUARD in the Diamond Prelude and he is also a place chance.
KUROYANAGI will be ridden by Brenton Avdulla and has drawn well in gate two. Last start she was second in the Fillies Prelude on 10 February behind HAYASUGI. Both have place chances at good odds.
The G1 Oakleigh Plate (1100m) is carded as S2-3 and will be run at 1.55pm.
The race is always run at a strong tempo throughout and normally delivers a competitive finish. Only quality three-year-olds contest the race and win it, a feat achieved by FASTNET ROCK, SNITZEL, STARSPANGLEDBANNER and RUSSIAN REVOLUTION.
KING’S GAMBIT is the only three-year-old in the field and was third in the Golden Slipper Stakes in his two-year-old season. He hasn’t raced since winning the G2 Roman Consul Stakes over 1200m at Rosehill on 7 October. KING’S GAMBIT has drawn perfectly in gate one and is a win and place chance for Jamie Kah.
KALLOS beat ASFOORA in the Rubiton Stakes and will be closing quickly at the end of the race. Blake Shinn takes the ride and despite giving weight to all his rivals, KALLOS is a place chance.
ASFOORA has a good record at the course and distance and was third in this race last year. Mares have an excellent record in this race winning seven of the past ten editions and she is a place chance.
This is a competitive handicap, with SGHIRRIPA, RECOMMENDATION and BENEDETTA all capable of figuring in the finish.
The King Abdulaziz Racecourse takes centre stage on Saturday evening from 9.20pm with seven simulcast races and the highlight is the running of the G1 Saudi Cup (1800m, dirt), which is the richest race in the world with prizemoney of USD $20 million (HK $156 million). It is carded as S3-7 and will be run at 1.40am early on Sunday (25 February).
In 2022, Saudi-trained horse Emblem Road caused a major upset, storming home from the back to win and last year Panthalassa made all the running to win for Japan.
The speed in the race will be good. LEMON POP likes to lead, as does ISOLATE and both have drawn near the rails. NATIONAL TREASURE also races from the front so the pace will be strong throughout.
LEMON POP dominated the major dirt races in Japan in 2023 year and at his most recent effort was an easy winner over 1800m in the Champions Cup in December. LEMON POP is a speed horse who will be in contention for a long way and is a place chance.
USHBA TESORO recorded a famous win for Japan in last year’s Dubai World Cup when running on from behind to beat Algiers and Emblem Road. His only defeat for the year was his fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic when venturing to Santa Anita in November. USHBA TESORO comes into this race off an easy win in the 2000m Tokyo Daishoten on 29 December and is a place chance.
WHITE ABARRIO was the joint highest-rated horse in the United States in 2023, achieving his mark of 124 in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita over 2000m when he stalked the speed before coming away for a dominant victory. WHITE ABARRIO comes into the race without a prep run but has drawn the rails and is a win and place chance.
There are a number of other chances in the race, including Pegasus World Cup Invitational winner NATIONAL TREASURE and CARMEL ROAD, the leading local hope who won the main lead up race to the Saudi Cup by more than seven lengths.
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