3 minute read
Both favourites in the top races in Japan and Hong Kong were not in the frame.
At Hanshin on Sunday in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup there was a close fight for favouritism between Lei Papale and Akaitorino Musume but they were outrun by Akai Ito, starting at 64.9, Stellaria on 25.1 and Clavel on 46.9.
That made for some massive payouts in the exotic department. The first two were daughters of Kizuna.
The well-fancied Lei Papale ran out of gas and finished 6th and Akaitorino Musume was 7th. Win Marilyn was disappointing and one hopes it wasn't a recurrence of her old injury.
At Hong Kong on Sunday there was at least an excuse for beaten favourite Fantastic Treasure as he was found to have blood in the trachea after the race. Lucky Express gave John Size his fifth win of the Panasonic Cup with Zac Purton giving the horse a great ride. They were just a head in front of Fast Most Furious on 46.0 and Highland Fortune 11.0. Duke Wai was fourth on 15.0 making for some good returns in the multiples if not quite on the same scale as in Japan.