Amazing Star, This Is Class streak into Happy Valley feature

A nine-race program Wednesday at Happy Valley Racecourse in Hong Kong concludes with a cracking feature, a Class 2 handicap bursting with last-start winners.

Four of the 12 entrants won their most recent race, while a fifth horse, Prince of Frog, makes his first start outside Australia in this 1,200-meter sprint for horses rated 100-80.

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The feature is scheduled for 10:50 a.m. Eastern on a card that starts at 6:45 Eastern. Live streaming video and wagering are available at bets.drf.com.

Amazing Star, Shining Gem, This Is Class, and Larson all exit winning performances, while Winning Method was beaten a nose in his most recent appearance.

Amazing Star won just once from eight starts during the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 Hong Kong racing seasons but has turned into a terror during his 2019-20 campaign. He began the season a Class 4 handicapper with a rating of 58 and has rocketed all the way to 100 after winning four of five races. His lone loss this season, a seventh-place finish on Feb. 26, came after Amazing Star lunged, broke through the starting gate, and ran a short distance down the course before being pulled up, returned to the gate, and was allowed to participate. The wins have not been close calls, either, and include 5 1/2- and 4 1/2-length scores, as well as a three-quarter-length victory at this class level and distance last out. Amazing Star is weighted accordingly Wednesday, lugging 133 pounds and giving his rivals as much as 19 pounds.

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This Is Class has been on nearly as strong a roll as Amazing Star, bringing a three-race win streak into Wednesday’s contest. This Is Class scored his most recent win over 1,000 meters at Happy Valley but two and three starts back led all the way over 1,200 meters. The 5-year-old Australian-bred has risen from a rating of 66 to 89 and is sure to come flying out of post 11 looking for the lead here.

Shining Gem is a three-time winner from a busy 11 starts this season, but makes his first start outside Class 3 without getting a tremendous amount of weight from horses who might have more upside.

Larson, just a 3-year-old, has plenty of upside and should have little trouble stretching back out to 1,200 meters after posting two wins and a narrow loss in his last three starts, all at 1,000 meters at Happy Valley.

Zac Purton, who rides Amazing Star, enters Wednesday’s racing tied in the jockey standings with Joao Moreira, who has a live mount here in Shining Ace. Shining Ace made his last three starts at Sha Tin but has plenty of positive Happy Valley experience and, though he comes out of three competitive Class 2 runs, gets eight pounds from Amazing Star.