A big day of racing awaits us at Sha Tin in Hong Kong with a monster 11 race card featuring the Group 1 The Stewards' Cup and the Group 2 Centenary Cup Sprint!
We have tips for every race below as well as a full preview of the Group 1
Race 1 - Treasure And Gold
Race 2 - Magnetism
Race 3 - Fancy Music
Race 4 - Lucky Bubbles (Best Bet)
Race 5 - Star Of Patch
Race 6 - Mr Stunning
Race 7 - Regency Bo Bo
Race 8 - Dashing Fellow
Race 9 - Beauty Only / Secret Weapon EW - preview below
Race 10 - Momentum Lucky
Race 11 - Who Dat Singa
2017 Hong Kong Stewards Cup Tips
Outstanding edition of the Group 1 The Stewards' Cup with 5 main chances for mine. Most of these met in the Group 1 Hong Kong Mile but the big addition to today's field is reigning Hong Kong Horse of the Year, Werther who returns for the first time since May last year.
He is one of five runners for John Moore and at his best he would give this a real shake but it's hard to know what kind of condition he is in given he is first up off a lengthy injury-enforced spell. Hugh Bowman is his regular rider and he has stayed in Australia so it would appear he might need this run before he starts to get back to his best, so for today at least I'm prepared to take him on.
The best of John Moore's chances looks to be Able Friend who should now be ready to show his best at his third run back from a long spell which was also brought about due to injury. He has only been average in his first two runs back but the stable are very confident that he's back to a level of fitness which could see him win this and if that's the case, he may just blow these away. However, I haven't seen the Able Friend of old just yet and I just wonder whether we may have seen the very best of him.
Helene Paragon is another runner for Moore and I wouldn't be surprised to see this horse win. He hasn't had much luck at all in his last two starts and did well to get within half-a-length of Beauty Only in the Hong Kong Mile last start. From barrier 3 he will do no work and if he manages to get luck at critical stages today he is more than capable of winning this.
Beauty Only was an impressive winner of the Group 1 Hong Kong Mile last start and he looks to have gone to the next level this prep. He settled well back from the wide barrier in the Mile and rounded them all up in the straight, and from barrier 11 today we will see identical tactics from Purton. The firmer the track the better for this horse and if he reproduces his performance in the Mile - and there's no reason he can't - then I see him being very hard to beat once again today. He goes on top.
The value in the race for mine is Secret Weapon, who won the Group 2 Jockey Club Cup over 2000m before running 2nd in the Group 1 Hong Kong Cup to Japanese superstar Maurice. That form is red hot for this race and although he drops back to 1600m here he looks capable of running a big race at $15.
1st BEAUTY ONLY
2nd HELENE PARAGON
3rd SECRET WEAPON
4th ABLE FRIEND
Take note: Any of the tips in this article are simply the author’s opinion, so bet at your own risk and always gamble responsibly. Also be sure to check out the Before You Bet Twitter Page for all our thoughts in the lead up to bets! Happy punting!
