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International Racing: Happy Valley – Wednesday 12 February 2020 – Turf

Jockeys ride horses

With Joao Moreira pulling away at the top of the Jockey Standings with 72 winners this season, Zac Purton will be looking to pull out all the stops from here onwards, to try and narrow down the current margin. 


The latter is currently sitting on 62 winners for the season and he still has time on his hands, as well as a fair amount of trainers’ support to fight this out for top honours. Both jockeys have reasonable prospects of adding to their current respective tally’s this coming Wednesday and that makes for some competitive racing. More below. 

Race
Time
Conditions
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
1
13:15
1200m – Class 4
11
5
6
3
1
2
13:45
1650m – Class 4
11
3
8
5
2
3
14:15
1200m – Class 4
4
11
1
5
8
4
14:45
1800m – Class 4
8
2
10
1
12
5
15:15
1000m – Class 3
10
4
3
1
7
6
15:45
1650m – Class 3
10
7
4
6
1
7
16:15
1650m – Class 3
8
3
1
2
9
8
16:50
1200m – Class 3
1
4
8
3
11

Best Bet: EVERYONE’S ELITE (Race 2)
Value Bet: QUADRUPPLE DOUBLE (Race 5) 

The first race on the card is a Class 4 dash over 1200m and it is the top jock, Joao Moreira, who will be at the top of the boards to finish first, on EXCEPTIONAL DESIRE. He has slipped in the ratings and lands a much better draw for a return to his preferred track and trip. It appears that he has found the perfect race this time and should be tough to pass in the closing stages.

The second race is another Class 4 test, this time over the 1650m and it is hard to look past anther Moreira mount. He rides EVERYONE’S ELITE and the son of Dalakhani will be looking to go one better this time, having finished in second in his last three outings. All three of those efforts have come over this course and distance. Having overcome gate 12 last time, he lands a perfect this draw here and should be hard to oppose.

The third race is another Class 4 event, this time back over the 6-fulongs and once again Joao Moreira looks the one to beat on CALIFORNIA RAD. He has been thereabouts in his last three starts, with his best effort coming last time out when having the cheek pieces fitted. From a much-improved draw this time, he will be rallying late and he looks tough to beat. If the former does fluff his lines, it could be the outsider, DESTINE JEWELLERY, who benefits. The son of I Am Invincible finally gets a favourable draw after having wide barriers to negate in his last three outings and that brings him right into the equation here.

The fourth event on the card brings us to the halfway mark and Francis Lui Kin-wai trains the top selection, DIONYSUS COLLIN. He has had the two starts over this course and distance so far and the son of Dream Ahead has been touched off into second place on both occasions. Alexis Badel takes the mount and he lands a plum draw this time. For second, LONDON HALL looks the biggest threat and Moreira retains the ride from another tricky draw. He has rallied late from two similar draws of late and deserves plenty of respect once again.

The second half of the meeting are all Class 3 races over varying distances and it’s QUADRUPLE DOUBLE who gets the nod for first in the 5th race. He has shown plenty of speed in his last few outings over the 6-furlongs and he should relish this drop to the minimum trip here. With the tongue tie fitted for the first time, he has a lot in his favour and could be tough to pass late on. The biggest danger comes in the form of HONG KONG WIN who is no slouch over this course and distance and he deserves a lot of respect on his current form.

The 6th race appears to be an ultra-competitive event over 1650m, where Joao Moreira is once again fancied to take top honours. He retains the ride on HEAVENLY THOUGHT from a much-improved draw this time, having gone close when dropping to this trip last time out. If ridden more prominently this time, the son of So You Think should hit the board with his first win in Hong Kong and the blinkers should play a big role. If he misses again, it could be SUPERB DADDY who takes the honours. He steps up in trip after two decent efforts over 6-furlongs and with this being just his 7th career outing, he should be one of the leading contenders.

It’s another race over 1650m in the penultimate race, with another open contest for punters to get their heads around. RACING LUCK finally lands a useful draw after finding three-wide barriers in his last three efforts. Nonetheless, he has shown a fair amount of improvement since returning to racing in December last year and he will be cherry ripe for this encounter. Ho retains the ride after finding traffic last time out, but as mentioned above, the improved barrier should work in his favour and he is picked for first. BEAUTY HAPPY has plenty of improvement to come, after a reasonable local debut and he could be a threat if that is the case.

Finally, we return to the 6-furlongs for the final event on the card and CALIFORNIADEEPSHOT will be looking to maintain his unbeaten record, when he lines up from another wide barrier. He managed to win impressively from the same gate when making his local debut last time out and one feels that there is a lot more where that came from. The son of Deep Field looks progressive and he should be moving on to bigger and better in the not too distant future. BEAUTY SPARK presents Zac Purton with a good opportunity to find the winners box if the top selection finds trouble. He’s improved with the drop in ratings and looks set to put forward a big effort soon.

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