In the name of helping our readers get their minds settled around the mights and maybes of international day, and in the absence of the Jockey Club's own once-encouraging sounds about ante-post betting for Sunday's showpiece events, we went trawling the web for the overseas bookies' prices.
And we are pleased to report that said bookies have once again sat the tea lady down for an hour to knock out the prices on the Hong Kong Sprint.
Now this must not be seen as fomenting Hong Kong punters to have a bet with overseas bookies, since that would be illegal. However, we present this as a guide. And of course, a reader may legally 'phone a friend' in another country to place such a wager on his or her behalf.
Every year, overseas markets grossly underrate most of the Hong Kong sprinters, despite the glaringly obvious fact the race is won by them nearly all the time. This year, standouts are the freely available 20-1 Entrapment, 33-1 Admiration, 66-1 Rich Unicorn or the 14-1 Lucky Nine or Little Bridge. You can, however, feast on 2-1 Rocket Man, 4-1 Sacred Kingdom or 6-1 Curren Chan.
In the Cup, the early 7-2 Ambitious Dragon has, alas, evaporated to 9-4 but California Memory remains 10-1, while Cirrus Des Aigles is considered 6-4 to take the prize and Byword a 6-1 chance.
The Vase, the preserve of the Europeans - and the tea lady has thrown the leaves in the air - with Melbourne Cup winner Dunaden a 7-1 favourite along with Thumbs Up, Sarah Lynx and probably anything else that lines up in the ever-shrinking field.
