Luke Middlebrook takes a close look at the Happy Valley meeting scheduled for Wednesday January 6.
Horse to Watch - R9 No 3 King Lotus
King Lotus might not be a stable star, but he is the sort of reliable type a championship-chasing yard cannot do without.
The five-year-old has already supplied one of Mark Newnham’s 28 wins for the season and two of his 19 seconds, and in a ding-dong title fight where Newnham and Caspar Fownes are level on 19 second placings, with only one win between them heading into tonight, every runner’s performance carries weight.
King Lotus steps out fifth-up in the Class 3 over 1650 metres in the final race, arriving off back-to-back seconds at the trip after doing all his earlier racing over 1200 metres.
Barriers are always important, even more so at Happy Valley, and moving into gate six from 10 gives Lyle Hewitson options on a horse who has shown tactical versatility.
Trainer to Watch - Douglas Whyte
Douglas Whyte’s December was winless, but eight seconds said the stable was ready to turn.
He opened the New Year with a brace, followed by two thirds on Sunday at Sha Tin, and the return to Happy Valley looks timely given his runners have performed best at the city track this season.
Whyte saddles five runners and Race 3, a Class 4 over 1650 metres, shapes as the right set-up for 16-start Hong Kong maiden Ace War to break through.
Ace War is the type of Private Purchase that turns their form around into their second season, and he comes in off a close second, his third placing from five runs this term.
Whyte has given him his best chance yet by securing Zac Purton, who gets down to his minimum 120lb and can use barrier 4 to land Ace War in the right spot.
Whyte and Purton combine again in the following race with another last-start place-getter in Ace Power (R4 No 5), while it has come full circle for Brazilian-bred Gameplayer Elite, back with Whyte after four runs for Dennis Yip this season.
Jockey to Watch - Vincent Ho Chak-yiu
Vincent Ho Chak-yiu’s night is built around two races where the draw and the horses both bring him into play to end a run of outs.
After steering the Dennis Yip-trained Another World to his 15th win of the season on December 7, Ho comes in on a 42-ride drought, the longest of any rider on the night, compared with Jerry Chau Chun-lok’s 23. A pair of in-form Caspar Fownes runners can change the mood quickly, and conditions could hardly be kinder, both key rides draw barrier two.
In Race 7, the Class 3 over 1000 metres, three-year-old Australian import Love Together looks ready to strike. After a debut fifth up the Sha Tin straight, Love Together has since had two runs over tonight’s course and distance, finishing second, then an unlucky sixth last time when a severe early check blew his chances.
In the following race, the Class 3 over 1200 metres, Ho is back aboard Perfect General, a winner for him two starts ago who then measured up in this grade when flashing into fourth from a wide draw.
Avoid at the Odds - Race 2 No 6 Loving Vibes
Barrier 2 gives Loving Vibes every chance to land in the right spot, but hovering around $3 at the head of the betting is tight for a horse whose overall record has been modest.
He has started favourite twice for a third, so the price has been wrong on him before.
Run Run Smart looks the one that controls this from barrier 1 under Zac Purton and he profiles as the runner that should be shorter, which makes Loving Vibes the one to oppose at the current quote.
Best at the Odds - Race 5 No 10 Quick Contribution
Quick Contribution is an easy horse to go cold on off the page, winless from 10 starts and beaten as favourite twice, but the current price looks bigger than it needs to be.
David Hall’s four-year-old comes out of Race 286 at the same track and trip, where Zac Purton rode from barrier 1 and he was backed late into $2.6.
Purton had him in a sweet trailing spot on the rail, but he was crossed approaching the 900m and the race then turned into a stop-start affair after a mid-race slowdown. He was shuffled back from there, held up until near the 200m, then left flat-footed when the sprint went on as the runners that held momentum through that patch were favoured.
His fourth carried more merit than it reads, and from barrier 3 he maps to get his chance again – $11 early is the right sort of price to go back.
Legitimate Favourite - Race 7 No 9 Love Together
Love Together reads as a rightful favourite off a luckless sixth.
The three-year-old took a good step forward second-up at this track and trip, doing a few things wrong and still finishing second, then he was sent off $3.8 third-up in Race 271 where his race was effectively over shortly after the start when he was badly checked after being crowded between runners.
That put him straight onto the back foot into last in a race where the first four in running controlled proceedings.
More exposed runners can still firm late, Horsepower reunites with Zac Purton back at his pet track and trip, and Eternal Fortune has a map upgrade in his favour, but Love Together also improves his set-up this time which should see him perform to market expectation.
