Our Hong Kong expert Graham Cunningham previews Saturday's action at Sha Tin.
Pope prevails as Angel earns his wings
Knowing when to step in and when to lay out.
It’s a vital part of any punting toolkit, as illustrated for yours truly at the Valley in midweek.
Alexis Badel stole the show with a treble, Zac Purton drew a blank for the first time this season and Saffie Osborne went 0-6 on her city track debut, ending the night by missing the break badly aboard the fancied Awesome Fluke.
I read two of the better races correctly thanks to Leading Agility and Packing Angel, but nosing on two supporting proved a case of ‘close but no cigar’ as Uranus Star, Country Pride and Forerunner collected place money with no excuses.
Still, Saturday’s Sha tin card, live on RTV with Panasonic Cup as the highlight, provides a few chances to step in at the right moment, with three races in particular featuring highly progressive horses whose claims are hard to ignore.
Caspar in search of a Megastar
Caspar Fownes isn’t coy when he has a strong improver on his hands and he sums up his Panasonic Cup (8.00) hope MEGASTAR HEART succinctly by saying ‘I know a good horse when I train one and he’s one - he’s going to get to triple figures, I’d be quite confident of that.”
A fluent success in Saturday’s £275,000 showpiece might persuade the champion trainer to consider a tilt at Ka Ying Rising in next month’s Longines Hong Kong Sprint and the world’s fastest horse looked in rude health when easing clear of smart rivals in a Friday morning barrier trial.
But back to the muscular Megastar Heart, who has shrugged off lameness issues to bolt up – showing fine speed the powering clear under Luke Ferraris – in a couple of Class 3 handicaps this season.
A 9lb hike poses a new question for his Class 2 bow, but Megastar Heart looks every inch the sort of horse who should be a major player from mark of 84.
He rates as clear top of the short list in a race that doesn’t look as deep as the numbers suggest, but the lightly raced and lightly weighted SOLID STATE is the other who looks ahead of the handicapper and Frankie Lor’s gelding – who shaped very well in a strong trial last week – makes plenty of appeal under Badel as the saver and Quinella option.
New boy Cummings set to look on the Bright side
It’s odd to see Purton hasn’t managed to secure a ride in the big race but the evergreen Aussie has plenty of strong chances among his book of ten and YEE CHEONG BRIGHT and JOYFUL JOY are two to keep a very close eye on in the 6.55 and the 10.10 respectively.
James Cummings is taking things steadily in his debut HK season – with far fewer runners than any of his colleagues in the first two months of the season – but with three winners and nine others in the frame from just 31 runners the early signs are promising.
The Aussie handler saddles a team of three on Saturday and Yee Cheong Bright looks hard to ignore after following two decisive trial wins with a highly encouraging second on his HK debut.
Sent off as third favourite under Jimmy Orman last month, this strongly built gelding knew his job well and pulled clear of the rest while making Ka Ying Lightning work hard to extend his unbeaten record to three.
Jumbo Blessing has been thriving at the Valley and still looks fairly treated after suffering a tough trip when third on his latest start.
He’s a sound enough Quinella hope for Fownes and Vincent Ho, but Yee Cheong Bright is open to plenty of improvement having been raised just 2lb for that fine second and the fact that Purton is aboard for the first time here is another point in his favour.
Joy in the morning
Orman will probably be miffed to lose the ride on Yee Cheong Bright, but I doubt he will be shocked to find himself jocked off Joyful Joy in the finale given what happened in a Class 4 handicap over course and distance five weeks ago.
In short, Orman found all the trouble that was going that day, having to switch from lane one to the wide outside from the 400m mark as the race took shape ahead of him.
The pace was fierce that day and it’s just possible that Mark Newnham’s gelding was protected from it in being covered up for a long way.
But the overall impression was that Joyful Joy did very well indeed to run on into fourth, just behind placed horses Shamus Storm and Complete Unknown, in the race won by bang-in-form Packing Fighter.
He looks a good bet to reverse the form with the placed horses on similar terms and the way he trialled with that man Purton on his back for the first time recently suggests that he’s ready to go very close indeed.
Saturday’s Sha Tin Selections
- 6.55: Yee Cheong Bright/Jumbo Blessing
- 8.00: Megastar Heart/Solid State
- 10.10: Joyful Joy
To bet on Hong Kong racing via Betfair's Tote click here
Safer gambling
We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.
