This weeks card at Happy Valley looked to be a dififcult card for finding winners and with only 1 of the 8 favourites managing to get their head in front, that initial view was correct. I have included a brief table of the winners, with their time comparisons and speed figures below. There is no doubt in my mind that the track was riding on the quick side this Wednesday. I use the standard times from Class 2 races as the basis for my speed figure calculations, so the fact that Happy Tango was able to win the Class 5 sprint in a speed figure of 96.40 would suggest that conditions were perfect for fast times. As I said last week, I do prefer the open bends of Sha Tin to the constant turns of Happy Valley, but I do think that there were a couple of eye-catchers from Wednesdays card. The first is Young Arrow, who was given a lot to do in race 7, but who rattled home to finish a never-nearer 3rd behind Brave Star. He was the only horse in the field to run the final 2-furlongs in under 23-seconds and stood out on the figures having been held up in a race where it paid to race closer to the lead. He has an unexposed profile and was a winner over 1,100m during his time in Singapore with Daniel Meagher, and on this evidence I would expect him to be able to take advantage of his current mark of 65 in the near future.
It's a similar story with my other pick from the card, Supreme Agility. He was making just his 5th start in Hong Kong for Pierre Ng, but he was a 3-time winner in his native Brazil and shapes like a horse whose turn is coming. He was given a patient ride by Zac Purton in race 5 yesterday, but despite being the last horse to come off the bridle, he was forced to switch at a crucial stage, which checked his momentum and although he dived inside and ran on, the lack of room probably cost him his chance of hitting the frame. The handicapper should leave him alone on a mark of 77 and with better luck, he should be competitive next time.
Here are the full list of winners from Wednesday's card;
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