An unusual change of date for racing at Happy Valley this week, with the police requesting a move to a Tuesday night to accommodate the ‘fire dragon dance’ festival which draws a huge crowd in nearby Causeway Bay.
But the agenda is the same for participants – winners – and Sunday’s Sha Tin meeting provided a good example of a positive factor every year at the start of the season.
Two of the winners were horses which had raced on the first day and backing up, a vital fitness edge when the overwhelming proportion of runners are first-up.
Tuesday’s meeting opens with the Class Five over 1,650m and there are two qualifiers – Ray’s Favourite and Dynamic Cross, who contested a similar race last week.
Ray’s Favourite had a tough 11 draw then and worked hard to get across the field, while Dynamic Cross had a softer time getting the front from barrier eight and boxed on better to beat Ray’s Favourite home.
But this time, Dennis Yip-trained Ray’s Favourite has draw inside the other horse in gate one, Douglas Whyte sticks with him and those factors should see him tougher to beat.
In the fourth, Real General is another from the Yip yard, and was a quiet tip despite running over what looked an unsuitable straight 1,000m on opening day at Sha Tin.
He was one-paced at that distance as most expected but gets back to a more likely 1,650m this time in a race where he and lightly-weighted No Ties are the horses with a recent run.
In the sixth, Tony Millard-trained Uwillbeglorious has the fitness edge after a decent fifth last Wednesday behind Pleasure Gains, closing off nicely. However, he is a Hong Kong maiden with 9 minor placings from 19 starts and has been a frustrating win proposition.
By Nathan Mody
