A quality field produced a frenetic finish in Wednesday’s G3 January Cup and it was Harbour Master which took the honours, winning the sole pattern race of the season at Happy Valley. It gave trainer John Moore another important win and his fourth pattern race success of the season.
John has enjoyed a nice start in 2017, saddling five winners in the first two race meetings of the new year. In football, Chelsea has enjoyed a real purple patch of form for the past three months, having won a record-equalling 13 consecutive English Premier League matches in a run that stretches back to early October. But this formidable unbeaten sequence came to an end when they lost 0-2 to Tottenham Hotspur late on Wednesday.
Having watched the match highlights, I think some Chelsea players appeared to be a bit jaded. Adversely, it was fair to say that all Tottenham players did exceptionally well to contain their opponents and on the other end, they took their scoring chances perfectly. Despite the defeat, Chelsea still enjoy a healthy cushion of five points on the top of the table and I will see if they can recover from their hiccup when they play their FA Cup third-round match tomorrow night.
Tomorrow at Sha Tin we will present a contest of sheer speed, as a small but select field of six will contest the G3 Bauhinia Sprint Trophy over the 1000m straight. This race is a classic example where quality can surely trump quantity, as we will get to see the rising talent Bad Boy in against our Champion Sprinter Peniaphobia, the consistent Amazing Kids and others. This race is also a great example of the impact of the handicap system and how great it is for competition in racing.
I expect a good to fast pace in the Bauhinia Sprint Trophy. There should be no doubt that Amber Sky and Adventurer will go forward and ensure a strong tempo. Bad Boy has shown an ability to lead if needed, but will probably take a seat behind the front pair. Peniaphobia is also quite quick, but might just race behind the lead. Not Listenin’tome should be outpaced by his rivals here with Amazing Kids even farther behind.
Adventurer is the only horse who runs 15 pound against his handicap rating and will find this race to be likely against his current potential, but all other horses have a chance to win this race.
Amber Sky despite his long break seems to have come back to his best looking impressive at his trial and has a significant weight advantage of 17 to 18 pounds over Not Listenin’tome, Amazing Kids and last but not least, Peniaphobia, and is definitely a place chance. Bad Boy was impressive in his last start and is working very well and should get a perfect lead into the final furlong. He is able to quicken from a fast pace and with the significant weight allowance, is here my first choice. Not Listenin’tome is my other preference beside Bad Boy and Amber Sky but I would not be surprised if Amazing Kids and Peniaphobia will be in the finish too.
The last race of the card is the Violet Handicap which is a Class 2 over 1600m and is a fantastic race with five potential BMW Hong Kong Derby contenders in the race to measure their readiness against proven Class 2 performers.
Beauty Generation is the favourite after his impressive debut and while the slow pace is not ideal, the extra 200m should help him to win this race. I expect a better performance from Western Express while Winner’s Way should not be underestimated. Debutant Rodrico likely will need this race. Having said that, Simply Invincible and Santa Fe Sun could spoil the party for the 4 year olds.
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