By Wally Pyrah
WEATHER and track conditions should be perfect when racing gets underway with a nine-race card at Happy Valley in Hong Kong today.
With little or no rain since last weekend and temperatures just below 30 degrees, you can guarantee the surface at the inner-city track will ride on the quicker side of good.
That, of course, will cause plenty of head scratching from form book students, who have read the form on soft or yielding surfaces in the past couple of months.
One statistic that hasn’t changed since the beginning of the year is the continued track bias in favour of gallopers who race up with the early pace from the off, which was once again evidenced by the majority of winners at Sha Tin last Sunday.
The locals in Hong Kong will be celebrating the official birthday of Buddha today and hoping for continued good health and wealth in the coming year.
One trainer who will be hoping the God of fortune finally smiles on him is Jamie Richards, who has had a torrid time in the last couple of months.
The former four-time New Zealand Champion Trainer is in desperate need of a winner, having visited the winner’s circle only once from his last 105 runners.
The 34-year-old has, however, had plenty of places along the way, and will be banking on TO INFINITY to give him a change of luck in the Rhone Handicap (1.10pm) over the extended mile.
The five-year-old was a winner back in December, beating the likes of smart Class Three performers Red Hare King and Simply Maverick on the same ‘C track’ he encounters today, and is also racing off a three-pound lower mark in the handicap.
Zac Purton is back onboard for the first time since that success and, with faster ground conditions a major plus, he can finally bounce back to form and put a smile on his trainer’s face.
Earlier on the card, fast-starting FOREMOST TEDDY gets his chance to register his first win in Hong Kong when he lines up in division one of the Ciron Handicap (12.10pm) over the extended mile.
The son of Fastnet Rock improved on previous form, when going down all guns blazing behind Capital Legend over the course and distance last month and had the rest of his rivals well behind.
Provided he bounces out quickly again from the start, he is capable of going one better against similar company.
The most competitive and intriguing contest on the card is the Class Three Loire Handicap (12.40pm) over nine furlongs.
The likes of Flamingo Trillion (first), Noble Pursuit (3rd) and Gallant Waking (4th) all renew rivalry on their course and distance form on a soft surface last month and, at the revised weights, there should be little to choose between them.
NOBLE PURSUIT, reunited with Hugh Bowman, who has won twice on the four-year-old in the past, didn’t get the best of runs in that contest, and is probably better than the form suggests.
Having already won over the course and distance in February, he can get back to winning ways, with top-weight Winning Dragon, who is likely to appreciate the step up in distance, rated his principle threat.
POINTERS
Foremost Teddy 12.10pm Happy Valley
Noble Pursuit 12.40pm Happy Valley
To Infinity 1.10pm Happy Valley
