Our Hong Kong expert Graham Cunningham takes a look at Sunday's Sha Tin card live on Sky Sports Racing.
Brits fly in to fill the gap
Ryan, Richard, Hollie, Tom and Declan.
The call has gone out to some of the best in Britain and Ireland and a famous five made up of Moore, Kingscote, Doyle, Marquand and McDonogh will all be spending short stints in HK to ease the problem caused by last week’s spate of jockey injuries.
Doyle and Marquand are the first arrivals, with nine and seven rides apiece this weekend, and an eleven-race Sunday card poses a few ticklish questions for File followers:
Is Express worth another Lifeline?
Yes, I know he’s been a money muncher, beaten at 3-1 or shorter on five of six starts this season, but John Size’s gelding has suffered serious traffic trouble several times, most recently when getting very little room to operate in the final 400m three weeks ago.
Swift Ascend heads the weights for the Primula Handicap (9.10) and lines up with solid claims after several good efforts, while Prince of Porty is fresh from a narrow win and Francis Meynell is speedy and on the up.
But here go again with LIFELINE EXPRESS, who is much better than tricky circumstances have allowed him to show of late.
He needs the gaps to come when needed but the presence of several front runners should assist and, with Karis Teetan aboard from the foot of the weights, he can finally show he’s nicely treated from a mark in the low 60s.
Majestic to rule back at the minimum?
Now to another Size-trained Express who’s been finding it tricky to arrive on time recently.
MAJESTIC EXPRESS makes some of his own trouble – as he’s a holdup horse who tends to pull hard – and he couldn’t seal the deal after looming up to look a danger to all over 1200m last weekend.
Sunday’s Osmanthus Handicap (8.35) won’t allow margin for error as it features unexposed rivals like Crimson Flash and Horsepower and 2023 Cornwallis winner Fast Responder (aka Inquisitively), who clicked over course and distance last month.
But Size’s decision to bring Majestic Express back to the minimum trip under Brenton Avdulla looks canny. The stands rail tends to play strongly down the straight track, so gate 9 looks handy, and if the leaders go hard from the off then so much the better.
Can Mickley make amends?
Size is making this lad earn his corn – as the Class 2 at 8.05 will be his fifth start of 2025 – and the Aussie seems like he’s trying to work some race sharpness into a gelding who has Derby potential if he can put it all together.
But Mickley is taking time to absorb what’s required, getting into tough spots because of a tendency to miss the break slightly then coming home strongly without landing a telling blow.
A 22.26s closer with blinkers fitted in a steadily-run Classic Mile wasn’t quite enough to get him into the frame and regular rider Hugh Bowman seems to have jumped ship to partner bang-in-form Sunlight Power.
Add in the fact that Mickley has stall 14 – and a host of useful rivals to contend with – and I suspect this is another watch and learn job as last year’s Britannia Handicap winner tries to stake his Derby claim again.
Who wins a complicated nightcap?
Perm any one from five or six and hope for the best as a clutch of Classic Series hopefuls bang heads in the concluding Rose Handicap at 9.45.
I’m happy to oppose New Future Folks, who dictated a very steady pace to score here two weeks ago, while Dragon Joy came from well back to defy stall 14 on his mile debut last month but will need to improve further having drawn the widest gate again.
It's a tough one, no question, but the market will reflect that and BUNDLE AWARD and EMBRACES make more appeal than most.
Bundle Award is a typical Size improver who looks ready for this step up to a mile after beating a useful rival who’s franked the form on his latest start.
Embraces finished behind New Future Folks in that dawdling affair last time but he’s much better judged on his previous course and distance win and Harry Bentley looks an interesting first time booking.
Sunday’s Sha Tin Selections
- 8.35: Majestic Express
- 9.10: Lifeline Express (EW)
- 9.45: Bundle Award/Embraces
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