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Free betting tips for Happy Valley | The Hong Kong File
Our Hong Kong expert Graham Cunningham is back to mark your card for Wednesday's meeting at Happy Valley, live on Sky Sports Racing.
Warrior and Thor prepare for battle
The major stars of the HK scene are flexing their muscles as a new season gathers pace.
Champion jockey Zac Purton has come out firing with nine wins from just 24 rides after a second consecutive Sunday four timer at Sha Tin.
Romantic Warrior trialled well on Tuesday and trainer Danny Shum seems deadly serious about preparing his globetrotting champion for a hugely ambitious crack at the eyewatering loot on offer for the Saudi Cup and Dubai World Cup early in 2025.
Dubai hero California Spangle and fellow G1 sprinter Invincible Sage were also in trial action, while Dee Stakes winner Capulet (now Romantic Thor) stepped out for the first time and will carry Peter Lau’s Romantic Warrior colours once he sets out on the 2025 Derby trail.
Closer to hand, the spotlight switches back to Happy Valley this Wednesday for an eight-race programme filled with complex handicap puzzles.
Magic Moments
The Deep Water Bay Handicap (3.50) is a fiery class 2 worth £360,000 and the presence of several aggressive front runners could lead to a burn-up.
Several old foes reoppose – including three trained by Shum – but MOMENTS IN TIME and YELLOWFIN are the pair who make most appeal.
A G1 winner in Chile as Racatan, Moments In Time enjoyed a fine first season in HK, winning twice at the Valley and doing enough to suggest he’s well worth his 100 rating on all his last three starts.
Early market signals suggest stablemates Chill Chibi and Helene Feeling are much more strongly fancied. Both that pair have plenty to recommend them, but Moments In Time is smart and reliable and can run another big race despite his big weight.
Fin’s Up
Yellowfin is another useful, consistent customer at this level and he improved his rating by more than 20lb last term, winning three times and signing off with several fine efforts in defeat.
I’m hoping Hughie Bowman and Lyle Hewitson tuck in behind an early pace that should be set by Telecom Fighters, Flaming Rabbit and Flamingo Trillion.
Finding gaps off the final bend will be important but Yellowfin and Moments In Time are fresh from solid trial efforts and backing them both to win – possibly at around 6-1 and 10-1 - looks a fair plan in by far the best race of the night.
Handy start key to Angel’s prospects
Taking two against the field also looks the way to go in the Island Handicap (3.15) and it’s tricky to decide which way to jump between KAHOLO ANGEL and HEALTHY HEALTHY.
A tendency to start awkwardly is the concern for Kaholo Angel and Caspar Fownes’s gelding was noticeably sluggish under a 7lb claimer before meeting significant traffic trouble on his Sha Tin reappearance.
It comes as no surprise to see Bowman back on board for this return to the Valley and, provided he gets the jump right, Kaholo Angel ought to be going close this time.
Purton looking for Healthy return
There are no concerns about Healthy Healthy’s gate speed and Purton’s mount will need to be sharp to get across from stall 9.
Pierre Ng’s gelding won three of his first four at the Valley last season and has dropped from 70 to 64 since finishing third in a warm race here in March.
It’s interesting to note that Zac is back aboard with a record of 1-1 on Healthy Healthy. I doubt the champ will want to go off too hard from his wide gate but he should be able to race handy and the pair got reacquainted with a tidy trial success recently.
One Giant Leap for mankind…
The two divisions of the the Wong Chuk Hang Handicap at 12.10 and 12.40 look like routine class 4 dashes but there are a few interesting horses on show.
GIANT LEAP and PERFECT GENERAL appeal for differing reasons in division one.
The former is an obvious choice after a decisive all-the-way Valley success on his final start last term, while the latter bids to build on a promising Sha Tin debut after trialling like a youngster who can prove himself better than a mark of 52 this season.
Division two isn’t a race to dwell on given the number of frustrating customers on view and the fact that Michael Chang and Dylan Mo ended last season with strike rates of five and one per cent will be enough to put most people off WOOD ON FIRE right away.
Add in no recent trial and this is clearly a risky throw at the stumps but Wood On Fire has dropped to a good mark and can give this plain Class 4 a fair shake at a decent price if back to the form he showed a couple of times in May and June.
Wednesday’s Valley Views
12.10: Giant Leap/Perfect General
3.15: Kaholo Angel/Healthy Healthy
3.50: Yellowfin/Moments In Time
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