fastnfurious

This is the Vase link, but you can click on the link for the Cup, Mile, or Sprint from it. https://campaigns.hkjc.com/hkir/en/hkvase-race-info?b_cid=CSLDSPA_2021HKIR_MENU_RACE

Yeah, I personally think Order of Australia ran over his head at Keeneland, no offense intended, but I'm pretty sure he was in that race intended to set a lively pace for Circus Maximus & Lope R Fernandez. What no one anticipated was how good the skills of one Pierre-Charles Boudot are on the back of a horse. I'm not sure anyone in racing is riding turf any better at the moment than he is. I totally agree that Golden Sixty looks nearly a shoe-in in the Mile. I think Magical is definitely live in the Cup. Probably Japan's Win Bright having won the Hong Kong Cup & Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Sha Tin previously, will be her biggest threat, on paper at least, and the local horse Furore has been pretty eye catching in his last two runs at Sha Tin winning the G3 Ladies Purse over 9F and the G2 Jockey Club Cup his last time out. If she withstand a late charge from those two then Magical is definitely capable of winning this race. I think Mogul as the only 3YO and highest rated in the Vase field has a real shot getting 5 lbs. from the rest of the field, and I think the Sprint is wide open. It could very well depend track position for different horses. I don't immediately subscribe to the fact that the Australian horse, Classique Legend, is unbeatable in this spot, although I think we're gonna see a really lively pace in this year's Sprint.

Not that she hasn't been a more than capable adversary at 12F for those she's faced, but I like that Aidan O'Brien is dropping her back down in trip to 10F again for the Hong Kong Cup instead of staying at 12F for the Hong Kong Vase. She seems to have been a bit more effective at G1 level racing at 10F.

On official international ratings, Mogul at a rating of 121 is the highest rated of the 7 slated to run at Sha Tin on December 13th in the G1 Hong Kong Vase, officially rated a point higher than Hong Kong's Exultant at 120, who won the Vase in 2018 and finished 3rd in the race a year ago. But as the only 3YO in the field, Mogul carrying 121 lbs. will carry 5 lbs. less than the other six runner's in the field who will all carry 126 lbs. Jockey Ryan Moore knows this racetrack, having ridden it many times and has been successful with the likes of Snow Fairy & Japan's Maurice in the Hong Kong Cup and of course with Highland Reel winning the Hong Kong Vase twice. If he runs to his rating or even his potential, those 5 lbs. could turn out to be a very big advantage for Mogul in the Vase, IMO.

Magical is set to go it alone in the G1 Hong Kong Cup for trainer Aidan O'Brien as his Irish 1000 Guineas winner and French Oaks & Matron Stakes 2nd, Peaceful, has been withdrawn in what has been confirmed by Tom Magnier, son of co-owners John & Susan Magnier, to be the final race of Magical's brilliant career before she's sent to the breeding shed by Coolmore. Breeders Cup Mile winner, Order of Australia, will also go it alone in the G1 Hong Kong Mile, as BC Mile 3rd, Lope R Fernandez, has also been withdrawn.

One of the son's of one of Magical's owners, John Magnier, said she's headed to the breeding shed after the Hong Kong Cup.

Nope, she's headed to the breeding shed after Hong Kong according to one of John Magnier's sons.

Aidan O'Brien is taking his show on the road again, with his Breeders Cup 2020 team, minus Circus Maximus, all heading to Sha Tin Racecourse on December 13th for the Hong Kong International Races. Breeders Cup Mile winner Order of Australia and stablemate Lope Y Fernandez who finished 3rd in the Breeders Cup Mile will both contest the G1 Hong Kong Mile. Star 7-time G1 winning mare Magical will be the headline act in the G1 Hong Kong Cup over 10F, and she'll be joined by Irish 1000 Guineas winner Peaceful, who was also a very narrowly beaten 3rd in the French Oaks and a narrowly beaten 2nd in the Matron Stakes. Peaceful's most recent form has been somewhat suspect though, having finished last of 12 over a mile in the G1 Sun Chariot Stakes at Newmarket and 11th of 14 in the Breeders Cup Filly & Mare Turf. With Magical dropping back down to 10F for the final race of her career at Sha Tin, O'Brien will go it alone with his 3YO Grand Prix de Paris winner, Mogul, who was 5th in the Breeders Cup Turf at Keeneland, but he'll get a small field of only 7 entries total at most in this year's Vase to deal with.

@Affirmed, kudos to you for keeping the faith! I didn't, but was pleased to see her go out a winner. Great ride by Christophe Lemaire who all week had said he was gonna call down the thunder on Almond Eye in this race with it being the final race of a truly stellar career.

Almond Eye goes out an impressive looking winner at Tokyo in the final race of her career, winning her 2nd G1 Japan Cup and her 9th International G1 success overall. To call her a classy filly is probably an understatement.