3 minute read

Darren Beadman sustained a fractured right cheek bone from a fall at track work and John Moore has called up Damien Oliver to fly up and take his rides.

And it's not a bad book either, reminiscent of the time Christophe Lemaire got injured and his rides then won 7 races over Arc weekend.

Oliver has the ride on the talented Dan Excel in the feature race, the G1 Classic Cup over 1800m. He's the Shamardal colt who used to race in Ireland as Dunboyne Express for Kevin Prendergast, and showed in his debut run that he seems to like being in Hong Kong. He's on 4.6 which puts him in at second favourite behind Fay Fay on 3.9. Smart Giant, who has been working well, is on 6.2 and Sweet Orange 9.4.

That's race 8, and there's a Class 2 1650 on the AWT in Race 6. This is relatively open and at present Crown Witness is on 4.4, Kyara (with D.Oliver) 6.7, and we'll add a couple of roughies in the lightly weighted Sky Mascot on 18.0, and Berio, who was the subject of a huge plunge last outing which came off, currently on 22.0.

Race 9 is also Cl. 2 over 1200m on the turf. Pizzazz was a touch unlucky last outing and should get this - he's on 3.3, with Best Eleven 6.7, Straight Gold (D. Oliver) 7.5 and Chater Mikado 12.0.