The old saying goes that absence makes the heart grow fonder and that is certainly true when it comes to a night at Happy Valley.
This week marked the first fixture for two months at our city track and, although that isn’t an especially long break, it was clear right through the night that a big crowd featuring a high proportion of young people were delighted to have Happy Wednesday back again.
The fact that we have one of the world’s most spectacular racecourses situated bang in the heart of our city is something we should never take for granted.
Our teams have worked hard to make the Happy Wednesday brand a must-do attraction, especially for young fans, and Hong Kong’s status in the racing world was on show in the very first race when Blake Shinn recorded his first winner here.
Blake had finished second on five of his first 13 rides in Hong Kong and opened his account in Wednesday’s first race with a skilful front-running effort on Green Dispatch before talking with real passion about how coming to succeed on the world stage here had been a dream of his since boyhood.
His presence adds further strength to one of the most interesting jockey line-ups we have seen here in many years and there were several other notable newslines on a night when the temperature stayed hot both on and off the track.
Green Luck raced in the same colours as Green Dispatch and struck the first blow in our new DBS x Manulife Million Challenge by breaking the Valley’s 1650m track record under Joao Moreira in the Class 2 Big Wave Bay Handicap.
Racing fans with long memories will recall that this week also marks the 12th anniversary of Zac Purton’s first ever winner in Hong Kong aboard a horse called Elfhelm for Ricky Yiu.
Our champion jockey suffered a rare blank meeting on Wednesday – his first since the middle of April – but it was good to see three more homegrown riders in the spotlight with Keith Yeung, Alfred Chan and Jack Wong all in the winner’s enclosure.
And then, of course, we had another winner trained by Douglas Whyte as Last Kingdom led from start to finish under Alberto Sanna in the Deep Water Bay Handicap.
These are still very early days in Douglas’s training career but three winners from his first 11 starters from his new base at Olympic Stables represents a very promising start indeed and he is back in action with four more runners at Sha Tin this weekend.
Sunday’s Class 2 Tailorbird Handicap at 1200m will feature a fast pace with Team Spirit pushing forward from his outside gate to join Fat Turtle and Handsome Bobo in the early mix. Styling City, California Whip, Hello Beauty and Prance Dragon will all be in close pursuit.
One important point to note is that we are on the C+3 course which can make finding a run from behind difficult, especially on the inside.
Fat Turtle appears set for a good first-up run after winning his recent trial impressively. He has a solid record over this trip and is the best hope of the horses making the pace. He looks a solid win and place chance.
Raging Storm will be slightly worse than midfield but should get a good trip. His morning track work suggests he is coming into the race in good order but his increase in body weight makes him more a place chance.
Racing Fighter has been very consistent, winning his last two starts, and has also been working well. He will be taken back from his wide draw but has the versatility to be effective from the front or the back. He is a place chance along with outsider Prance Dragon, while Styling City will benefit from class relief but his record over the course and distance is a concern.
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