10:35 P.M. HK TIME (15.10.2011) Queen Elizabeth II Stakes sponsored by QIPCO (Group 1) S1-6 (3:35 P.M. LOCAL TIME) (15.10.2011) Ascot Racecourse - Turf Track - About 1600 Metres (Straight) For 3 years old and upwards. Weights: 3-y-o colts and geldings 126lb; fillies 123lb; 4-y-o and up colts and geldings 129lb; fillies 126lb. Total Prize Money (GBP) £1,000,000 1st £567,100, 2nd £215,000, 3rd £107,600, 4th £53,600, 5th £26,900, 6th £13,500. (8 Starters) Overseas Expert Column by Wally Pyrah There is no such thing in horse racing as a certainty but in the mythical winged horse Pegasus called FRANKEL we may have one. Sir Henry Cecil’s horse who is rated the best horse in the world by the international ratings, has an unblemished record of eight wins from eight races. He stamped his superstar status when destroying Royal Ascot winner CANFORD CLIFFS, RIO DE LA PLATA and RAJSAMAN in a blink of an eye in the Sussex Stakes in July. Maybe the only thing that can beat him is he has had a long season, being on the go since April. Still FRANKEL looked in top form last weekend when beating his pacemaker BULLET TRAIN by 15 lengths in his final warm-up gallop at Newmarket. So who is going to give him a race? EXCELEBRATION has twice seen the backend of FRANKEL this season, but has nevertheless improved enormously in the last couple of months. He ran away with the Group class Hungerford Stakes at Newbury and then appeared equally impressive when routing opposition including RIO DE LA PLATA and RAJSAMAN over 1600mtrs in the Prix du Moulin at Longchamp. French filly IMMORTAL VERSE – receives the 3lb fillies allowance – has put her earlier English (wouldn’t go into the barriers) and French Guineas defeats behind her with some spellbinding performances in the summer months. She could not have been more impressive when coming from last to first to win the Coronation Stakes over 1600mtrs at Royal Ascot and then humbled the mighty GOLDIKOVA and subsequent Newmarket Sun Chariot winner SAHPRESA at Deauville in August. The English bookmakers are offering 2-1 about both EXCELEBRATION and IMMORTAL VERSE without FRANKEL. The rest of the fields are running for appearance money. SELECTIONS: FRANKEL, EXCELEBRATION & IMMORTAL VERSE Overseas Expert Column by Wendyll Woods There is no doubting FRANKEL has already scaled the lofty heights set before him - his performances have been simply breathtaking, a joy to watch. His exuberant style of racing, turn of foot, stamina and sheer class has seen him stay unbeaten. His form ties him in with the best of the best, it’s quite unbelievable. Already twice a course and distance winner, on varying grounds, the track holds no fears. A good even pace looks guaranteed with FRANKEL’s stable companion, BULLET TRAIN set to run. FRANKEL really should win barring accidents as he has beaten most of his rivals directly and indirectly this season. Let’s hope for another master class. Of those opposing FRANKEL his old foe EXCELEBRATION looks set to fill the runner-up spot. The son of EXCEED AND EXCEL has gone on to record two high profile victories – the Group Two German 2000 Guineas and the Group One Prix Du Moulin. Italian trainer, Marco Botti, has since reported his stable star to be in fine fettle and “stronger”. Positive reports I do agree but, the chances of turning over FRANKEL rest on the selection failing to fire. The only filly in the race, IMMORTAL VERSE, looks set to take her chance. Her victory in the Coronation Stakes showed her devastating turn of foot but, also her liking for soft ground. She is very much untested on a sound surface and given her pedigree, prevailing conditions are a big worry. Her course and distance form can still see her into a place, however. The rest of the field are all much the same but, DUBAWI GOLD, can run well at a nice price. Richard Hannon’s inmate has been a model of consistency all year and can run another big race. SELECTIONS: FRANKEL, EXCELEBRATION, IMMORTAL VERSE & DUBAWI GOLD Tipsters’ Selections JULIAN MUSCAT MALCOLM HEYHOE ANTHONY KEMP WILLIAM HUGHES (RACING POST) (RACING POST WEEKENDER) (TURF TV) (WORLD RACING SERVICE) 7 FRANKEL 7 FRANKEL 7 FRANKEL 6 EXCELEBRATION 6 EXCELEBRATION 8 IMMORTAL VERSE 8 IMMORTAL VERSE 8 IMMORTAL VERSE 8 IMMORTAL VERSE 6 EXCELEBRATION 6 EXCELEBRATION 7 FRANKEL - 47 - 子彈列車 施素爾爵士 129 莫敬賢 (4) Lifetime : 8 (2-1-0) Turf : 8 (2-1-0) NH Rules : 0 (0-0-0) 1 2011 : 1 (0-0-0) Non-Turf : 0 (0-0-0) GF+ : － BULLET TRAIN (GB) 4 b c Sir H R A Cecil (Int’l Rtg 106) I Mongan 1st Up : － Dist : 1 (1-0-0) G : － Sadler's Wells (USA) - Kind (IRE) (Danehill (USA)) Earnings : HK$543,714 Track : 1 (0-0-0) Y : － (150/1) Owner(s): K Abdulla Trk/Dist : 0 (0-0-0) S/Hvy : － Pos Date Race Details Track Dist/Course/Going Wt. Jockey Dr Race Time Finish & Odds Gear Winner/Second/Third Comments Margin 12/12 5Jun10 Investec Derby 3yo G1 EPS, GB 2409 LH GF 126 T Queally 1 2.31.33 12 38 13/2 Workforce (GB) 126 lw: chsd ldrs: wnt 2nd 9f out: 2nd st: sn rdn and GBP1,338,207 At First Sight (IRE) 126 struggling: wknd ent fnl 3f and wl bhd fnl 2f: Rewilding (GB) 126 eased ins fnl f: t.o 6/8 18Jun10 King Edward VII Stakes 3yo G2 ASC, GB 2400 RH GF 124 T Queally 7 2.30.06 6 9.3 5/1 Monterosso (GB) 124 t.k.h: trckd ldrs: nt clr run over 2f out: swtchd rt GBP161,220 Arctic Cosmos (USA) 124 and rdn 2f out: fnd nil and wl btn over 1f out Buzzword (GB) 124 5/7 28Aug10 Totepool August Stakes 3yo+ WDS, GB 2323 RH S 125 T Queally 1 2.31.84 5 4.3 4/1 Whispering Gallery (GB) 128 chsd wnr: ev ch and rdn over 2f out: hrd drvn Listed GBP34,467 Traffic Guard (USA) 128 over 1f out: wknd ins fnl f Pompeyano (IRE) 128 5/5 22Sep10 Mouton Cadet Classic GOO, GB 1975 RH GF 123 T Queally 5 2.05.06 5 7.3 5/1 Holberg (UAE) 126 lw: chsd wnr tl rdn and hung rt fr 3f out: btn over Foundation Stakes 3yo+ Listed Pink Symphony (GB) 115 2f out GBP33,994 Heliodor (USA) 126 7/7 14Apr11 Weatherbys Earl of Sefton NEW, GB 1800 St GF 124 T Queally 3 1.49.42 7 23 16/1 Ransom Note (GB) 124 swtg: hld up: rdn and wknd over 2f out Stakes 4yo+ G3 GBP49,235 Polytechnicien (USA) 127 Elusive Pimpernel (USA) 124 Has shown some high class form earlier in his career and is a Gr.3 winner but was beaten a long way on his only venture this season and is most likely to be playing a role of pacemaker for Frankel this day. 大盜迪克 向能 129 蘇銘倫 (5) Lifetime : 19 (9-3-1) Turf : 19 (9-3-1) NH Rules : 0 (0-0-0) 2 2011 : 6 (3-0-0) Non-Turf : 0 (0-0-0) GF+ : － DICK TURPIN (IRE) 4 b c R Hannon (Int’l Rtg 122) C Soumillon 1st Up : － Dist : 9 (4-3-0) G : － Arakan (USA) - Merrily (GB) (Sharrood (USA)) Earnings : HK$10,905,360 Track : 2 (1-1-0) Y : － (25/1) Owner(s): John Manley Trk/Dist : 2 (1-1-0) S/Hvy : － Pos Date Race Details Track Dist/Course/Going Wt. Jockey Dr Race Time Finish & Odds Gear Winner/Second/Third Comments Margin 4/7 14May11 Jlt Lockinge Stakes 4yo+ G1 NBY, GB 1600 St GF 126 R Moore 8 1.36.52 4 6 11/4 Canford Cliffs (IRE) 126 trckd ldrs: pushed along and nt much daylight GBP172,325 Worthadd (IRE) 126 whn bmpd over 1f out: outpcd ins fnl f and wknd Premio Loco (USA) 126 fnl 120yds 9/9 22May11 Prix d'Ispahan 4yo+ G1 LCH, FR 1850 RH G 128 J Fortune 1 1.51.00 9 34 11 Goldikova (IRE) 125 settled in 3rd on rail: rdn 2f out: sn no ex: wknd EUR250,000 Cirrus Des Aigles (FR) 128 qckly: eased fnl f Rajsaman (FR) 128 1/5 9Jul11 Totesport.com Summer Mile ASC, GB 1600 RH G 130 P Dobbs 4 1.41.48 1 0.8 2/1 Dick Turpin (IRE) 130 hld up 4th and trcking ldrs: smooth hdwy on Stakes 4yo+ G2 GBP97,020 Fanunalter (GB) 127 outside fr 2f out to ld 1f out: rdn and styd on strly Side Glance (GB) 127 ins fnl f 7/12 15Aug11 Prix du Haras de DEA, FR 1600 St GS 130 R Hughes 2 1.38.30 7 4.5 36 Immortal Verse (IRE) 120 racd in 7th (abt 4 l off ldr): 5th and ev ch ins fnl Fresnay-le-buffard - Jacques le Goldikova (IRE) 127 2f: rdn 1 1/2f out: nt qckn fnl f Marois 3yo+ G1 EUR600,000 Sahpresa (USA) 127 1/7 24Sep11 Premio Vittorio di Capua 3yo+ MIL, ITY 1600 RH G 128 C Soumillon 2 1.33.20 1 SHd 13/20F Dick Turpin (IRE) 128 w.w in 5th: shkn up ent fnl 2f: 4th and hrd rdn on G1 EUR297,000 Cityscape (GB) 128 outside over 1f out: r.o strly ins fnl f to ld fnl Vanjura (GER) 125 strides He is a tough and regular Gr.1 performer who has won nine of his 19 starts, and bounced back to winning form with a brave show in a Gr.1 Italy last month.