Joyful looks a Sure thing for Guyon at the Valley
RACING in Hong Kong returns to Happy Valley today, with a nine-race programme on the C+3 track which features several exciting and competitive Class Two contests.
With the action reaching the halfway stage of the season, Mark Newnham continues to send out winners on a regular basis. He leads the Trainers’ Championship race with 34 wins, but there are several stables who are closing fast and are well within striking distance of the leader.
The stables of David Hayes and Francis Lui each collected 10 winners last month, while reigning champion John Size bounced back to form with nine wins in January and added a further treble at Sha Tin on Sunday.
However, while Hayes, Lui and Size were firing on all cylinders, spare a thought for legendary trainer Tony Cruz, who last visited the winners’ circle exactly a month ago and has only tasted success three times from his last 100 runners.
A run of bad luck has also come at the wrong time for the trainer Caspar Fownes, who is currently third in the championship table but has saddled only one winner at the last five meetings.
The pendulum of good fortune can swing back in his favour at any time, however, especially with Fownes returning to his favourite venue where he has saddled 21 winners already this season, and he will be expecting to bounce back to form with several winning chances at the city track.
The Fownes-trained four-year-old Forza Toro looks like a winner waiting to happen, with him having run well against the likes of improving Positive Smile, Sunday’s Classic Mile winner Little Paradise, and Regal Gem in the past.
He lines up in the Yik Yam Handicap (12.35pm) over the extended mile but does have questions to answer, trying the trip for the first time and having disappointed in his only trial at the track last May.
The fact that Zac Purton climbs aboard top-weight Aestheticism for the first time since last April, having won four times on the six-year-old in the past, speaks highly of his chance but he will need to improve on his recent disappointing form.
It may be worth taking a chance with well-handicapped SURE JOYFUL who is four pounds below his last winning mark and caught the eye when never seeing daylight over the course and distance three weeks ago.
Having been burdened with double figure draws in his last three races, he has finally drawn a good gate in two and has top jockey Maxime Guyon in the saddle.
With a rails-hugging journey likely, he should take plenty of beating when Guyon goes for glory down the home straight.
Earlier on the card, FATAL BLOW will never get a better chance of returning to winning form in division two of the Wang Tak Handicap (11.05am) over six furlongs.
After a series of awkward draws, the five-year-old has drawn gate three and looks likely to have the run of the race with Hugh Bowman aboard.
POINTERS
Fatal Blow 11.05am Happy Valley
Sure Joyful 12.35pm Happy Valley