Mental made a winning debut in Dubai on Thursday in the Group III Al Shindagha Sprint (1200m)

Great effort,,see replay

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQMT...player_embedded

Was a top effort, liked the way he finished off. Didn’t have the blinkers on for the race, from what I read. New trainer Mahmood Al Zarooni will re-equip blinkers for Mental's next start, the Group 1 Golden Shaheen (1200m) held during Dubai’s World Cup meeting on March 30.

Pulled up ok after resuming Saturday at Otaki,,scheduled to leave NZ March 17th for Dubai

Must be some doubt about Ortensia's trip to Dubai after that mare copping a battering in the Oakleigh Plate when unplaced

Not going well at all this campaign,,2nd-last yesterday in the Newmarket beaten 10lens

Good & bad news for Australian-owned international Jakkalberry
Made a successful return to racing recently winning at Dubai but displayed swelling in a foreleg when inspected on the morning after the race
Will now miss the Dubai Gold Cup end of this month & possibly the Melbourne Cup

Kiwis bred horse did pretty well at Sha Tin,,Hong Kong the other night
They won 7 of the 10 races:
R1 Multivictory
R2 Hypersonic
R4 Really the Best
R5 Sea Dragon
R6 Ambassadorship
R7 Why Not
R8 Gurus Dream

Go the kiwis!

Ocean Park heading home to spell after flopping badly at Dubai
The travel to Dubai showed up in his lack of energy in the whole race,,he raced 10 kilos under his last winning weight
Ocean Park will either return to Australia in the spring for another Cox Plate or he will go to stud
Decision to be made later

Just read that Tommy Berry is off to Honkers following the Sydney Carnival
Doing well current Sydney jockeys' premiership but Tommy believes the chance to ride in Hong Kong is too good an opportunity to pass up
Three-month stint, all the best Tommy!

Also sustained an injury in the race, from what I hear

Off to stud!

Injured a tendon

Waikato Stud (Matamata)

Ocean Park will stand his first season at stud for a fee of $NZ30,000 plus GST

Tommy Berry already on the board in Hong Kong,,won the Group I QE II Cup aboard the John Moore-trained Military Attack

And Corey Brown made the perfect start to his 2-month stint in Singapore getting a winner with his first ride at Kranji

..corey brown & mr big..good chance in the krisflyer on sunday..

Currently good ew odds, jake


No Horse Win Place
1 Bel Sprinter 3.50 1.40
3 Super Easy 4.60 1.60
2 Lucky Nine 5.50 1.90
6 Kavanagh 6.50 2.10
8 Dasher Go Go 9.50 2.65
7 Mr Big 10.00 2.80
5 Dux Scholar 13.00 3.40
4 Balmont Mast 26.00 5.80
11 Speedy Cat 31.00 7.00
9 Goal Keeper 51.00 9.50
10 Emerald Hill 81.00 17.00

Another Group winner to Tommy Berry, the Group 3 Sha Tin Vase, last weekend.

And Kiwi jockey James McDonald notched the first winner of his UK stint at Leicester on Monday

Winning treble last Sunday.

I think he did a treble the previous meeting as well

Big meet Royal Ascot tonight

R1 Queen Anne Stakes (British Champions Series) (Group 1) (4YO plus) Winner £198,485

Kentucky Derby winner & recent Dubai World Cup winner, (2) Animal Kingdom the one they have to beat . (13) Elusive Kate looks well weighted & is a dual Group 1 winner over 1m. (11) Trade Storm ran a nice race in the Dubai Duty Free. (6) Gregorian & (1) Aljamaaheer both capable on their day. (4) Declaration Of War has shown potential but was disappointing at his last start. Any rain around would bring (9) Penitent into calculations.

R2 King's Stand Stakes (British Champions Series & Global Sprint Challenge) (Group 1) (3YO plus) Winner £198,485 (19 starters)

(11) Shea Shea & (18) Reckless Abandon look the main hopes. Then we have the Aussie (10) Shamexpress, (15) Swiss Spirit unlucky last start, (5) Kingsgate Native back in form, the promising (8) Pearl Secret first-up, & the speedy (12) Sole Power.

R3 St James's Palace Stakes (British Champions Series) (Group 1) (3YO only) Winner £198,485

The trio (1) Dawn Approach (6) Magician (9) Toronado, should fight it out. (2) Dundonnell & (4) Glory Awaits, perhaps the best of the remainder.

Dawn A the shoe-in, Tornado the value?

LG

R4 Coventry Stakes (Group 2) (2YO only) Winner £68,052 15 starters

Most likely won't have a bet in this, 2yo's with not a lot of form. (12) Stubbs, (14) Thunder Strike, (11) Sir John Hawkins, (2) Championship, (8) Riverboat Springs & (16) War Command, all fancied.

(7) Parbold, (15) Wahaab & (3) Dubawi Fun, other debut winners.

R5 Ascot Stakes (Handicap) (4YO plus) Winner £37,350 19 starters

(7) Tiger Cliff, (11) Mubaraza, (10) Big Easy & (9) Justification all fancied. Others with hope, (19) Lieutenant Miller, (2) Well Sharp, (15) Homeric, (5) Suraj, (14) Mawaqeet, (1) Blue Bajan & (6) Midnight Oil. Tough race imo.

Thanks for your input JB1, cheers

Testing a new rating system

R2 Royal Ascot Tonight

No. Horse Rated Odds
1 Alive Alive Oh 9/4
8 Just Pretending 4/1
12 Winsili 13/2
9 Riposte 8/1
3 Elik 9/1
11 Waila 12/1
7 Indigo Lady 25/1
2 Cocktail Queen 33/1
4 Fersah 33/1
5 Gertrude Versed 33/1
6 Hollowina 66/1

R5 Royal Ascot Tonight

No. Horse Rated Odds
10 Shikarpour 11/4
1 Chopin 5/1
8 Remote 5/1
6 Indian Chief 6/1
11 Van Der Neer 7/1
3 Elkaayed 8/1
9 Secret Number 12/1
12 Windhoek 14/1
4 Hoarding 20/1
7 Kitten On The Run 30/1
5 Ideal 50/1
2 Centurius 50/1

Further testing, new rating system

R2 Royal Ascot Tonight

No. Horse Rated Odds
4 Mount Athos 11/4
3 Ektihaam 5/2
9 Universal 8/1
2 Dandino 9/1
6 Sir John Hawkwood 9/1
1 Aiken 10/1
8 Thomas Chippendale 11/1
5 Noble Mission 12/1
7 Songcraft 25/1

R3 Royal Ascot Tonight

No. Horse Rated Odds
3 Gordon Lord Byron 4/1
12 Society Rock 9/2
16 Sea Siren 7/1
13 Soul 10/1
6 Krypton Factor 12/1
5 Hawkeyethenoo 12/1
8 Maarek 14/1
15 Mince 14/1
11 Slade Power 16/1
1 Dandy Boy 16/1
18 Rosdhu Queen 18/1
17 Zanetto 25/1
7 Lethal Force 25/1
9 Reply 33/1
4 Havelock 33/1
2 Gammarth 50/1
10 Sirius Prospect 66/1
14 Intense Pink 100/1

Results: 9,8,3,12
Scr: 1,2,10

10-day suspension in Honkers, to resume his Oz career after his suspension ends July 20th

On the subject of Hong Kong,,the Hong Kong public has voted Black Caviar as the Most Admired Overseas Horse ahead of British superstar Frankel
The Champ polled 53% of the votes whilst Frankel polled 16.5%

Still in Hong Kong,,Douglas Whyte won the award of Most Popular Jockey ahead of Brett Prebble

And on the subject of Douglas Whyte,,Whyte has just claimed his 13th successive Hong Kong Jockey's title,,not bad eh!

Zac Purton 2nd & Brett Prebble 5th

Should be an interesting next-season, Whyte & Purton not exactly the best of mates