Hong Kong Racing Tips: Joy looks a Beauty of a bet in tricky Happy Valley handicap
CONNECTIONS of Cheerful Days are in for a nail-biting afternoon as they need results to go their way early on in the card to have a chance of sharing the £61,000 top prize with Fa Fa in the Manulife Million Dollar Challenge.
This is an annual competition for horses racing at Happy Valley, with points allocated for finishing first, second or third from September to the end of February.
Francis Lui’s stable will be hoping Special M, presently lying joint-second to Fa Fa in the competition, gets beaten in the King Kwong Handicap (1.15pm), and for their horse Cheerful Days to complete his fifth course and distance victory in the Shan Kwong Handicap (2.15pm) over the extended mile.
The son of Smart Missile has improved 34lbs in the ratings this season and is going for a hat-trick of wins.
An outside draw is not a concern as the five-year-old is always taken to the back early on, before producing his trademark finishing kick in the closing stages.
This time however, he meets a rival who has an equally good and progressive profile from the Tony Cruz yard in BEAUTY JOY.
This son of Sebring has progressed in three runs this season, beating leading HK Derby candidate The Irishman over seven furlongs in December, and last month proving too strong for rival Savaquin over the course and distance.
The early pace is likely to be quick with a number of front-runners, such as Buddies and Telecom Fighters in opposition, and this is guaranteed to suit the Purton-ridden galloper, whose stamina can come into play in the closing stages.
POINTERS
Beauty Joy 2.15pm Happy Valley