Our Hong Kong expert Graham Cunningham takes a look at Tuesday's card at Happy Valley live on Sky Sports Racing.
Ibis keeps climbing as Purton and Newnham hit 50 and 100
Saturday’s Sha Tin card was brought to you by the numbers 5, 25, 50 and 100.
Hollie Doyle booted home the fifth winner of her pre-Christmas stint on The Red Hare and has earned more prize money in the last seven weeks than she did in a seven-month British Turf season.
Caspar Fownes moved to the top of the trainers’ table when Sky Trust gave him his 25th winner of the season in the featured Class 2 under Maxime Guyon.
Zac Purton moved to 50 when Mark Newnham’s Invincible Ibis ran out a handsome winner of a strong finale.
And the upwardly mobile Newnham joined Fownes on 25 and saddled his hundredth HK winner in total as the Ibis vaulted into contention for the 2026 Classic Series.
You used to say….Liveandletlive
A blank day in Britain and Ireland will bring extra attention to a nine-race card at Happy Valley on Tuesday and the stayers get the chance to shine in a Saturn Handicap (1.10) that features several useful British and Irish imports.
Romantic Thor was known as Capulet when he won last year’s Dee Stakes for Aidan, while then-stablemate Agenda finished second in the Chester Vase a day earlier.
But LIVEANDLETLIVE, who won handicaps at Nottingham and Haydock for the Muir and Grassick team in the summer of 2024, looks the interesting one here.
Now with Tony Cruz, this likeable front runner won a valuable Class 3 at Sha Tin in May and has run several fine races since, most recently when caught close home over 1800m here three weeks ago.
Liveandletlive stays 2000m well and the step up to 2200m here shouldn’t trouble him. Most of his rivals are confirmed holdup horses, so Matt Chadwick might be able to dictate, and a bold bid looks assured in a race worth a little under 200 grand.
Soleil to shine as Hollie heads home
I don’t want to take too many chances on a tricky pre-Christmas card but a few final thoughts before signing off.
Hats off to Caspar for sticking with David Probert during a tough time and it would be great to see Glory Cloud break the luckless Welshman’s HK duck in the Jupiter Handicap at 1.45.
The speedy Lucky Planet looks a speculative each way dart from a good draw in the Uranus Handicap at 2.15 and then we come to the Neptune Handicap – aka the Hollie Farewell Stakes – to close the card at 2.50.
Britain’s leading female rider has relished her latest visit to HK and it’s a measure of her popularity that she is the only rider on Wednesday’s card with a full book of nine rides.
Steps Ahead is the last mount of her latest adventure - and Francis Lui’s gelding looks sure to run his usual solid race – but Doyle is right to regard SOLEIL FIGHTER and Andrea Atzeni as one of her main dangers.
David Hayes’s gelding gave Hollie a notable Valley win on IJC night last year and he’s held his form well from higher marks since, finishing just ahead of Steps Ahead when nailed close home by the smart Hong Lok Golf at Sha Tin recently.
A 1lb rise for that narrow defeat looks very fair. Stall 3 looks ideal for Atzeni to ride the rail just off the pace and, in a typically open Valley finale, Soleil Fighter has a fair bit more to recommend him than most.
Tuesday’s Valley Views
1.10: Liveandletlive
2.50: Soleil Fighter (EW)
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