Future winners reveal themselves in key early-season contests

Eight weeks and 119 races into the season, there have been a number of key races which point to future winners but three in particular stand out.

The highly relevant point is that horses beaten by significant margins in these races should not be treated as harshly as the contests were all better than average for their respective classes. The first of these key contests was the Korea Handicap (Race Four) back on opening day.

That event, won by subsequent winner Miracles, featured another dual winner in My Choice (second), with Mansfield Star (fifth), Justinian (seventh) and Fantastic Horse (tenth) also notching victories.

As a consequence, the efforts of Prizes Treasure (third) and Super Ideal (sixth) are much more creditable and they are good value chances to follow in the near future. Class five contests are often thin on winning chances, but the race won by Happy Winning (Race 11) contained one or two that must rate highly when they next appear. Four in that race have saluted in the same grade - On Shan Express (second), Sight First (seventh), O'Shiny (ninth) and Top Dancer (eleventh).

Another runner who fared quite well, Ganbatte (third) looks an outstanding chance to win when he next appears.

At the time Light Foot won the University Museum Handicap (Race 64) there were doubts about the depth of the field, which, in hindsight, were not justified. He went within a whisker of winning again at his next outing, while Dongguan Excels (second) franked the form by winning last weekend. Another from that event, fourth-placed Fat Chance, has since won twice in emphatic fashion while Quick News (fifth) just failed next time out.

As a result, Brown Beauty (third), who was not suited by the tempo on that occasion, must be given a top chance to win again.