G1, The Queen’s Spring Cup: Who will the consort be?

Hong Kong (HK) Saturday, April 17, 2021 — 3:00:00 PM EST | Race ID : 2615320
The Queen’s Spring Cup
Grade I / Group 1*CPU – Purse : $750,000
Restricted to 3 Year Olds and Older
10 Furlongs | ~2000 Meters | One Mile and One Quarter	Firm Turf

This week I am headed to Hong Kong for the running of the G1, The Queen’s Cup.  This open race is restricted to 3 year old and older horses and will be over the distance of 10 furlongs on Firm Turf.  The field will consist of ten horses this year as they try to pick up a G1 win to add to their résumés.  This is a fairly nice looking field of distant runners in this race which has made some difficultly for the odds makers in coming up with their morning line odds.  The post positions have been drawn for this race and the owners seem happy with their draws over at the barns.  Let us now take a preview of this field of horses who will run on Saturday in the G1, The Queen’s Spring Cup in Hong Kong.

1

HENTY ROEBOURNE

IRE

5M

upgrade

G Scott

18

6

67%

$897,170

108.00

7/1

Drawing the inside gate is this five year old Bay Horse sired by Sea The Stars.  He has eighteen lifetime starts and has six prior trips to the winners circle.  Back in March 2020 he got up for the win in Victoria in the G2, The Victoria Cup.  He made several trips after that win at the G1 level, but thus far a win at that level has not come his way.  His last trip out he ran on 02/28/2021 in New Zealand going 10 furlongs in the G2, The Second Coming.  He came out of the gate and traveled in second place his entire trip and held that spot when he crossed the wire.  For this race on Saturday the owner has made the call to jockey, G Scott from Oregon to come in and take to the irons.  This jockey rode this horse most recently in the 2020 Equinics  G1, Christ The Redeemer Statue.  The jockey knows this horse and how he likes to run and thus they should pair well together in this race when they head out to the turf representing the Midas residency.

2

PARADISE BLUES

JPN

6G

mtkiscrabbyinmd

M Kelly

22

7

77%

$310,201

28.00

5/1

This is a six year old Bay Gelding who was sired by Deep Impact.  He has twenty-two career starts and has found seven wins.  This horse is a Listed Stakes winner and he has been running very well for his owner at the Allowance and Listed Stakes levels.  But he will be taking a big jump in Class here in Hong Kong facing better in this race.  He will be here to prove he has what it takes to race at this level as his owner confidently believes in his horse and his abilities.  His most recent outing came on 02/27/2021 when he traveled 10 furlongs in Italy in the Giants Banjo Turf Route.  He got out quick from the gate and made an easy gate to wire trip to get up by two and a quarter.  For this race the owner has placed the call to jockey, M Kelly to fly in from Delaware and take the mount up top.  This jockey will be looking to get a lot of effort out of this horse when they break from their gate representing the Blazing Saddles residency.

3

TIME FOR A RING

IRE

5G

zkingab5

J Ledwith

20

10

70%

$2,579,104

500.00

5/2

This is a five year old Bay Gelding sired by Galileo who in twenty career starts has found a trip to the winners circle in half of those races.  He is currently on a Hot Streak winning his three most recent trips to the track.  In November he won the G1, Jolly Summer Cup in South Africa.  He then came back out this January in Germany to capture the G1, Kick The Year Off Stakes.  His most recent trip back out was on 02/28/2021 when he traveled 10 furlongs in New Zealand in the G2, The Second Coming.  He found himself almost two off the lead at the third call, but at the top of the stretch for home the jockey asked for his horse to fire and he did.  He grabbed the lead and broke away to get up by two and three quarters at the wire with a 118 speed rating and getting his third win in a row.  For this race the owner has called upon jockey, J Ledwith from Paris to come in and take the ride up top with his horse.  This looks like a strong pairing in this field and will be going off as the morning line favorites when they headed out at post time representing the Empire State Racing residency.

4

ROXY’S OASIS

ENG

4M

roxyken

B Scott

13

6

92%

$319,236

37.00

10/1

Breaking from gate number four will be this four year old Bay Colt who was sired by Oasis Dream.  He has six wins to his credit in thirteen career starts.  It is also noteworthy to point out that this horse has only missed hitting the boards one time and you would have to look back to November of the 2019 season to find it.  He is a multiple Listed Stakes winner and will be moved up in Class to face Graded company for the first time in Saturday’s race.  His most recent trip to the track came on 03/06/2021 when he traveled 11.5 furlongs in South Africa in the Firm Idea Turf Stayer.  This horse tends to like running at or near the front in his races and this day would be no exception when he made a gate to wire trip to get the win by three quarters with a 114 speed rating.  For the race here in Hong Kong the owner has made the call to jockey, B Scott who will be flying over from Massachusetts to take the ride up top with this colt.  This pair will saddle up in the paddock and head out to their post draw representing the East-West Connection residency.

5

KAMALASHA

IRE

5M

dazzler0

E Seifert

20

9

65%

$316,988

24.00

5/1

Next out we have this five year old Brown Horse sired by Ribchester who is also on a Hot Streak for his owner with three wins in his last three races.  In twenty lifetime starts he has found nine wins in those trips to the track.  He is a prior Graded Place winner, but those last three wins in a row have all come at the Allowance level.  The owner is stepping him back up in Class for this race to see if he can find that elusive trip to the winners circle in a Graded outing.  This horse last ran on 02/27/2021 when he traveled 10.5 furlongs in Ireland in a $43800 NW3y Allowance in a smaller field.  He jumped out of that gate quick in this race and never looked back when he made a gate to wire trip to get up by four lengths at the wire with a 107 speed rating.  He did what he had to do that day, but we have seen this horse run much better speed ratings in some recent races.  He is going to need to show that speed here when jockey, E Seifert from Argentina takes to the saddle for the ride.  They have paired together before and should make a good pairing for this race when they head to the turf representing the EAAA Racing residency.

6

ASPIRATIONOFPRAISE

KY

4M

willyam37

W Kewmwa

10

6

70%

$313,160

76.00

8/1

Here we have a four year old Bay Colt that was sired by Flintshire who is coming into this race with ten prior career starts.  He has found the wire first in six of those races and he has only missed the boards once in the past year.  He is a multiple G3 winner and he found his first Graded win back in October of last year when he ran in New Zealand in the G3, Allison Stakes with an impressive 120 speed rating.  He was then third when he again ran in New Zealand in the G3, Galaxian Stakes.  Then came his most recent trip to the track which was in Deauville on 03/07/2021 when he went 10 furlongs in the G3, Night At The Exbury.  By the third call he had narrowed the gap down to less than two lengths off the lead.  The jockey then asked him for extra effort in his stretch run and again he responded getting to the wire first by two and a half with a 117 speed.  The owner has made the call to jockey, W Kewmwa who will be traveling from Arizona to take the mount with his colt.  This jockey has been working out on the track with this horse this week and has gotten his instructions.  They look ready for this race as they head out on Saturday to represent the GR Simster residency.

7

GREEN PLASTER

NZ

5M

millview15

B Ball

27

2

30%

$190,634

17.50

20/1

This is a five year old Bay Horse who was sired by Darci Brahma who has his Graded Place badge from when he ran in Japan in April of 2020 in the G3, The Milers Cup.  This horse has had his share of struggles along the way and the odds makers have taken note of this as they make him the longest choice in the field for Saturday’s race.  He made another attempt to run at the Graded level his last time out when on 02/20/2021 he went 9 furlongs in Dubai in the G2, The Jabba The Hut.  He had another disappointing trip that day when he crossed the wire back in fifth and was five lengths off.  He ran a 108 speed rating in that race and he is going to need to show improvement here in Hong Kong if he is to remain competitive.  His owner is calling in jockey, B Ball from China to come in and take the trip with his horse.  They will be saddling up together in the paddock and make their way out in the post parade to the cheers of an excited crowd.

8

CLAIMING DUCK

GB

5M

stfierroylonja

M Scott

21

8

67%

$954,838

236.00

9/2

Coming out of gate eight will be this five year old Bay Horse sired by Aclaim who has picked up eight wins in twenty-one career starts.  This horse is a prior G1 winner from when he ran this past September in New Zealand going 10 furlongs in the G1, The Osmonds Memorial.  He picked up a win in an Allowance race in January when he ran in Victoria, but his most recent trip to the track came on 03/07/2021.  He went out again to run in Victoria at the distance of 10 furlongs on an off track.  This horse did not seem to like the off surface in this race and he failed to perform up to his standards.  He faded in the stretch falling back to cross the wire in seventh.  That all could change here today as the track will be listed as Firm Turf at post time and this could spark the interest in this horse to show a much better performance than his last time out.  To help guide this horse on Saturday will be jockey, M Scott from Thailand in the saddle.  This pairing will be headed out in the post parade representing the Hispano Parlante residency.

9

BURBANK CASH

CA

4M

atw6

T Loesch

20

6

65%

$205,135

14.00

13/1

This is a four year old Bay Colt who was sired by Square Eddie who has found the winners circle in six of his twenty career starts.  He has dipped his hoofs into running against Graded company in the past, but thus far this Allowance winner has been unable to hit the boards at that level.  His owner is giving him another opportunity to show he has what it takes to run against a strong competitive field.  This horse has never traveled the distance of 10 furlongs before and will need to show he has the stamina and can improve that speed rating in this race.  Most of his starts in the past year have come at 8 furlongs so this could be a big challenge for him.  His last outing came on 03/14/2021 when he ran 8 furlongs in New Zealand in the G3, Intercontinental Trophy.  He showed little desire in this race and came up with a disappointing trip to cross the wire back in ninth place.  The owner is calling in jockey, T Loesch from South Africa to see if he can bring out the best in his colt for the race here in Hong Kong.  They will be headed out to their post draw representing the East-West Connection residency.

10

OBSESSIVE

GER

6G

vampire2

R Zombie

33

8

58%

$237,652

12.00

14/1

This is a six year old Bay Gelding sired by Hurricane Run who has eight wins in thirty-three career starts.  He has been seen running four times already this season and has shown little effort in these starts.  He did pick up a second place finish in Thailand in January in his first start of the season in an Allowance race.  He has finished no better than fifth in his other starts this season.  He most recently ran in Thailand going 10 furlongs in a $52500 Allowance against a field of six, and it was here he came in fifth with a lack luster performance.  He gets his shot here today to show improvement and will have jockey, R Zombie from Arizona in the saddle to help guide him.  This aggressive jockey will try and get the best of efforts out of this horse on Saturday when they head out to their far outside gate draw representing The Minnesota Testbarn Residency.

Good luck to all owners and horses!

Skippy’s Watch List

1-Henty Roebourne: Second in his last trip. Can he find a G1 win here?

3-Time For A Ring: He is coming off three Graded wins in a row.  Will he make it four?

6-Aspirationofpraise: Three Graded hits on the boards with two wins.  Can he get up here?

Tarton’s Long Shot

4-Roxy’s Oasis:  He is going off at 10/1 in the morning line and looks like he might be a good play in this field.  This will be his first time out to face Graded company, but he has a clean record and looks to keep that intact here on Saturday.  He will get the opportunity to prove himself on Saturday and I am going to hop on board and get him on some exotic tickets when I head to the betting window.