Our Hong Kong expert Graham Cunningham previews Wednesday's card at Happy Valley live on Sky Sports Racing.
Bentley on the Attack as Purton prepares to be Dazzled
It’s all about choices as we head into the fourth meeting of a new HK season.
Star rider Hugh Bowman faces a ticklish choice between a date with the surgeon or a cortisone injection to buy time as his battle with a painful hip problem continues.
Yours truly was left to rue the complexities of choosing the right horse at the right price as Lucy In The Sky was crunched into 2.1 before making all under a polished steer from Nichola Yuen at Sha Tin on Sunday.
The lads who seldom see a skinny ‘un they don’t like are in for some unfamiliar choices on a very tricky eight-race card at Happy Valley on Wednesday.
And several of those choices will involve weighing the pros and cons relating to a clutch of British and Irish imports.
Formerly a dual winner as Beckford for Ger Lyons, Le Zonda ended last season with two impressive come-from-behind wins at the Valley, but he’s down in trip and 7lb higher against some dangerous rivals in the concluding Shek O Handicap at 3.50.
An old File favourite catches the eye in the Repulse Bay Handicap at 3.15 – namely the reliable Bunta Baby – but Manfred Man’s gelding finds himself in a very open-looking contest for his reappearance.
Andrea Atzeni has six chances to shine as he bids to stake his claim as the best of the rest behind perennial champ Purton, but a couple of Brits abroad hold the key to further File success this Wednesday.
Back in the mix after spending the summer working his way back from injury, Harry Bentley is first up aboard DAN ATTACK in the Lido Handicap at 12.40.
Atzeni poses one of the main threats in this £110,000 contest but the consistent Loving Vibes is drawn 10 and that wide gate is a tepid 3-81 when the rail is in the B position over 1200m at the Valley in recent years.
BRIGHT DAY has fared much better in the ballot and is worth a saver from gate 3 as Derek Leung bids to extend his strong start to the season, but Dan Attack gets the main vote.
Douglas Whyte’s gelding progressed nicely last season, improving from a mark of 35 to 50 with two wins and three placed efforts at the Valley.
He ran into a live one on his final start, chasing home a winner who went very close again on his next outing, but he finished clear of the remainder and stall 4 looks an added plus as he bids to get Bentley’s season into gear.
"He's had a nice break. I was keen to give him a good break."@EustaceRacing shares a few thoughts on Dazzling Fit (R6) ahead of the gelding's first-up run at Happy Valley tomorrow... #HappyWednesday | #HKracing pic.twitter.com/maWiuET0Gw
— HKJC Racing (@HKJC_Racing) September 15, 2026
Tricky choices are an occupational hazard for all HK trainers and David Eustace has opted to give DAZZLING FIT a Valley debut in the Chung Hom Kok Handicap at 2.45.
HK’s sole English handler wasn’t brimming with confidence in a chat with the HKJC’s Jack Dawling but Dazzling Fit has been on the File radar from a very early stage and he caught the eye several times last season, finishing a fine fifth against the best four-year-olds in town in the Classic Cup before failing to land a low from a wide gate in the Derby.
Class 3 contests are never easy assignments and POPE CODY, whose Valley debut in July yielded a fine second to the bang-in-form Le Zonda, looks a fair saver and Quinella option having been left on a fair mark of 71 by the handicapper.
But Dazzling Fit, for all that he concedes 8lb and more to useful rivals, looks the sort to progress beyond a mark of 80 this season.
The fact that Purton has chosen him ahead of a useful and progressive rival like Romantic Gladiator seems notable and the inside alley gives the Aussie a chance to execute one of those stalk-and-pounce plans that make him so dangerous under the Valley lights.
Wednesday’s Valley Views
12.40: Dan Attack/Bright Day
2.45: Dazzling Fit/Pope Cody
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