By Nathan Mody
This Sunday at Sha Tin racecourse is the annual Ladies’ Day meeting, where the feature race is the Ladies’ Purse over 1,800m and the leading “money” trainer inHong Kong, John Moore has the numbers in the Group Three handicap.
The Ladies’ Purse is one of the oldest races on the calendar, stretching back to 1848, and upgraded in 2011 to Group Three status when Moore won with Jacobee to give him three of the last five winners of the race.
And Moore will provide four of the main runners this weekend, with exciting four-year-old Packing Whiz looking his main representative.
When Moore won the Group Three National Day Cup on October 1 with Packing Ok, he was far more excited when Packing Whiz – owned by the same family – won a lesser 1,600m race on the day when short of top fitness.
Moore declared him a Group One contender of the future and the Ladies’ Purse looks a nice stepping stone for the Italian import. If he makes the grade on Sunday,Moore could throw him in the deep end at his next start and try to get into one of the International races in December.
Moore’s other runners, Dominant, Same World and Dan Excel also have winning chances, despite each being just behind the placings at their first start of the season over slightly shorter distances and all will appreciate the 1,800m.
Another danger will be Danny Shum trained Scarlet Camellia, who won six of nine starts before he disappointed for the first time as favourite in the race won by Packing Whiz.
Shum and jockey Zac Purton have wanted to step the son of Spartacus up to 1,800m for some time and will do so on Sunday under a light weight, which could see him improve.
