Times to make more News for Hewitson
HAPPY Valley hosts another competitive nine-race programme today, and punters must be hoping for better fortune than they’ve had in the past week.
With only two favourites obliging from 19 races at the last two meetings at Sha Tin, it’s safe to say bettors will have been left wondering where their next dollar was coming from, and praying that normal service resumes at the Valley.
Leading jockey Joao Moreira at least gave his thousands of supporters some respite with a winning treble last Saturday, but his Jockeys’ Championship rival Zac Purton is having a nightmare.
Currently on a losing sequence of 18, the former Champion Purton will have cost his avid supporters plenty over the weekend, with half-a-dozen rides – all favourites – providing zero return.
At the other end of the spectrum, young pilot Lyle Hewitson can’t stop riding winners.
Another victory aboard Majestic Knight on Saturday took the former South African champion to 13 winners for the season, with eight of them coming in the past fortnight.
Of those wins, 10 have come when combining with trainer Douglas Whyte, who himself is in the middle of a purple patch, with six wins from his last 34 runners.
Hewitson and Whyte have bright prospects of improving on their current record when they team up with GAMEPLAYER TIMES in the Lam Tsuen River Handicap (2.45pm) over nine furlongs.
The former Brazilian-trained galloper has slowly but surely been brought to peak condition, with a series of improving performances, notably when a strong-finishing second to Viva Hunter over the extended mile a fortnight ago.
Coming from a strong staying family, the step up in distance is a major plus to his chances, and the possibility of thunderstorms and rain affecting the surface at the track could further enhance his prospects.
With an inside draw mapping him for an ideal and trouble-free journey, he should be hard to beat when swooping late down the home straight.
The partnership of trainer Caspar Fownes and Joao Moreira may have cost bettors plenty when gambled-on The Rock disappointed once again at Sha Tin last week, but they can compensate supporters with bottom-weight AMAZING NEWS in Division Two of the Tai Shing Stream Handicap (12.45pm) over the extended mile.
This former two-time winner in the UK hasn’t looked like the easiest horse to train in Hong Kong, with a number of disappointing performances early in his new career.
The tide seems to have turned in the past month, however, highlighted by an eye-catching effort when a close-up third to progressive Packing Famous over the course and distance three weeks ago, against better company than he meets here.
With Moreira riding at his minimum weight of eight-stone three-pounds, and drawn for the run of the race, he should be ideally placed when making his bid for glory
POINTERS
Amazing News 12.45pm Happy Valley
Gameplayer Times (e/w) 2.45pm Happy Valley