Surprises come in many forms in the racing world and the last week has thrown up more than its fair share.
The race for the jockeys’ title has slowed for the moment – with Zac Purton and Joao Moreira managing just three winners from their last 57 rides – and that statistic is closely linked to the fact that we have had just three winning favourites from 30 races during our last three meetings.
Shocks have also been the order of the day internationally, with Pinatubo and Almond Eye coming up short as hot favourites in our simulcast feature events, and we got a nasty surprise from the weather on Saturday with the first black rainstorm signal hoisted in three years.
The heavy rain and widespread lightning strikes continued on and off for 36 hours, with the result that the Sha Tin track was hit by almost 500mm of rain before and during Sunday’s fixture.
Very few racecourses could race after absorbing anything like that amount leading up to a meeting but Sha Tin’s drainage properties are amazing and, thanks to great work from the track team, racing went ahead to give two of Hong Kong’s young guns a chance to shine.
There is no question that Vincent Ho’s relentless progress over the last couple of years has helped inspire his homegrown colleagues and Matthew Poon and Alfred Chan stole the show, riding four and three winners respectively on what was a landmark day for young talent.
Proven champions like Zac and Joao will strike back soon enough, possibly at Happy Valley this Wednesday, and with just ten meetings left to go this season, the title race is still finely balanced.
Zac has a lead of four, while Ricky Yiu is five ahead of Francis Lui in the race for the trainers’ title, and the next five weeks offer opportunities for all our riders and trainers to spring their own surprises – especially if the weather improves.
Wednesday’s Class 2 Alnwick Handicap will be a true test of speed in the 1000m finale with a number of very fast horses in a scramble for early position. Classic Unicorn and Golden Dash are last-start winners in Class 3 and both move up in grade after leading throughout to win impressively. The early leaders are expected to be Multimillion, Classic Unicorn and Baltic Success with Hong Kong Win, Stronger and Golden Dash in close contention. The pace will be fast.
Hong Kong Win returned from a two-month break to win his last start in fast time at Sha Tin for his fourth win this season at this distance. He draws the inside barrier and will get a good run from just behind the leaders. The field will be tightly bunched entering the straight but Moreira and the consistent Hong Kong Win will have every opportunity as a win and place chance.
Classic Unicorn won easily by four lengths over course and distance three weeks ago but will face a much tougher test here with heightened pace pressure. Multimillion, a five-time winner over this trip, is preferred as a place chance. Stronger drops back in trip to his best distance and there was a lot to like about his run over the straight 1000m at Sha Tin a month ago. He is a place chance along with course and distance specialist Gentle Breeze.
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