Horse racing settles in for winter with action in Japan, Hong Kong, Dubai

Nov. 8 (UPI) -- Racing settles in for the winter season this weekend with the Breeders' Cup in the rearview mirror and the Dubai World Cup Carnival opening its tents Friday at Meydan Racecourse.

Australia also turns a corner with a shocker of a Melbourne Cup in the books and another clutch of Group 1 event on the Saturday's calendar.

Fillies and mares race in Japan in Sunday's Queen Elizabeth II Cup and in Hong Kong, Romantic Warrior is heating up for his assault on some of Golden Sixty's records.

In North America, a lot of the action is on the grass.

Turf

Saturday's $300,000 Grade II Red Smith Stakes at Aqueduct has a pretty well-matched field of nine with Integration and Master Piece the favorites. Both have been running decently without winning much against tougher fields and may have found a spot here.

Deterministic and Cugino top the morning line among seven entries for Saturday's $200,000 Grade III Hill Prince Stakes for 3-year-olds at Aqueduct.

Deterministic won the Grade II Virginia Derby two starts back and enters this 1 1/8-mile fray off a second in the Grade III Jockey Club Derby.

Cugino won the Audubon Stakes at Churchill Downs but was last of 12 in the $3.1 million Nashville Derby at Kentucky Downs in his last outing.

Ten are set for Saturday's $300,000 Grade III River City at Churchill Downs. Cash Equity, Reckoning Force and Emmanuel are the morning line favorites, with Emmanuel drawing No. 1 and Cash Equity No. 10.

Filly & Mare Turf

Eleven grass-running fillies and mares are in for Sunday's $300,000 Grade III Long Island Stakes at 1 3/8 miles at Aqueduct. Several formerly raced in France with some success, but most come from a tad bit farther down the class ladder. Still, an interesting race with wagering opportunities.

Ten seeking a shorter trip are entered to go 1 1/16 miles in Sunday's $135,000 Forever Together Stakes at Aqueduct.

And on Friday, Oversubscribed is the 2-1 morning line pick in the $175,000 Grade III Pebbles for 3-year-old fillies. The daughter of Too Darn Hot exits a sixth in the Grade I Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup.

Turf Sprint

Senbei ranks atop the morning line in an overflow field for Saturday's $150,000 Aqueduct Turf Sprint Championship. The 5-year-old Candy Ride gelding won the Grade III Belmont Turf Sprint Stakes in his last outing and has been on the upswing.

Classic / Dirt mile

Mike Repole's 3-year-old Bail Us Out and 6-year-old Never Surprised face a talented bunch of rivals in Saturday's $175,000 (Canadian) Grade II Autumn Stakes on the Woodbine all-weather.

Bail Us Out, by Lookin At Lucky, exits a good second in the Grade III Ontario Derby on Oct. 9.

Touchuponastar seeks a repeat win in Friday's $100,000 Delta Mile at Delta Downs. The 5-year-old Star Guitar gelding is the 2-1 morning-line favorite after winning 12 of 17 previous starts.

Distaff

It's hard to sort out a favorite among the 13 fillies and mares entered for Saturday's $135,000 (Canadian) Grade III Maple Leaf on the Woodbine all-weather. The oddsmaker has five of the 13 at single-digit odds, but none lower than 3-1 on Fashionably Fab, last-start winner of the Grade III Ontario Matron.

Free Like a Girl, with 19 wins from 43 starts, is the odds-on favorite on the morning line for Friday's $100,000, 1-mile Treasure Chest at Delta Downs

Filly & Mare Sprint

Mystic Pleasure and Spirit Wind top the morning line for Saturday's $300,000 Dream Supreme Stakes at Churchill Downs.

If the Maple Leaf is tough to handicap, Saturday's $135,000 (Canadian) Grade III Bessarabian Stakes on the Woodbine all-weather is even tougher with 14 entered to go 7 furlongs.

Juvenile

The three favorites in a field of eight -- Bergheim, Coal Battle and A Million Moons -- drew the inside gates for Friday's $100,000 Jean Lafitte, 6 1/2 furlongs at Delta Downs.

Six are set to go 6 furlongs in Saturday's $100,000 James F. Lewis III Stakes. The morning-line pick is It's Hammertime, a Vekoma colt who's won three of four. A case could be made for most of them.

Juvenile Fillies

Friday's $100,000 My Trusty Cat, 6 1/2 furlongs at Delta Downs, has a field of seven with the morning-line favorites, Tapitures Actor and Bless the Broken, drawn inside and outside.

Daze and Caprice are the early picks in a field of seven fillies in Saturday's 6-furlongs, $100,000 Smart Halo Stakes at Laurel Park. Daze, by Sky Mesa, is 2-for-2 and Caprice, a daughter of Golden Lad, is 3-for-4.

Around the world, around the clock

Dubai

Action returns to Meydan Racecourse for the first time since March with Friday's initial meeting of the World Cup Carnival. There are no superstars on the seven-race program, but Thegreatcollection is worthy of note in the Emirates Airline Handicap, race 5 on the card, if only because the Saint Anddan gelding is 10 and will turn 11 in January, but is still going strong.

The Carnival runs for 16 weeks, featuring Super Saturday, March 1. The Dubai World Cup itself is pushed back a week to April 5 this year to accommodate celebration of the end of Ramadan.

Australia

The Melbourne Cup never seems like most other races and Tuesday's renewal at Flemington was no exception, as Knight's Choice edged Warp Speed in a stunning upset with Okita Soushi third. The trifecta paid AUS$22,576.80 (about US$14,860). The favorite, Buckaroo, finished ninth.

Flemington rebounds from the Cup with Thursday's Group 1 Crown Oaks at 2,500 meters, then carries on Saturday with three more top-level heats -- the VRC Champions Mile with Pride of Jenni, Mr Brightside and Fangirl; the Darley Champions Sprint at 1,200 meters and the TAB Champion Stakes at 2,000 meters, featuring runaway Cox Plate winner Via Sistina.

Japan

Sunday's Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Kyoto looks like a chance for redemption for one or more of the entered fillies and mares, many of whom have been down on their luck.

A prime candidate is Regaleira, a 3-year-old filly who knocked heads with the colts, without much success, in the first two legs of their Triple Crown series. Stunning Rose, Harper, Saliera and a few others have had success in the past and might find a way forward in this field.

Hong Kong

Romantic Warrior seems all-systems-go approaching the first start of a season that could dethrone Golden Sixty as Hong Kong's top-earning horse and give Hong Kong a shot in the world's most valuable dirt races.

The 6-year-old gelding turned in a sparkling barrier trial win Monday morning at Sha Tin Racecourse in preparation for the Group 2 BOCHK Jockey Club Cup on Nov. 17. That, in turn, is the local prep for the Group 1 Longines Hong Kong Cup on Dec. 8, a race Romantic Warrior already has won twice.

And that, according to trainer Danny Shum, could could springboard him toward February's $20 million Group 1 Saudi Derby and April's $12 million Dubai World Cup.