Delightful Laos looks for repeat score under similar conditions at Happy Valley

A quartet of Class 3 handicaps, races 6 through 9, cap the Wednesday night action at Happy Valley Racecourse in Hong Kong.

All four races are for horses rated 80 to 60. Races 6 and 7 are carded at 1,200 meters, race 8 at 1,800 meters, and race 9 at 1,650 meters, one circuit around the undulating, oblong Happy Valley course. First post for the card is set for 6:45 a.m. Eastern. Live-streaming video and wagering is available at DRFBets.com.

Easily the most interesting horse in the four Class 3s is Delightful Laos, an Irish import by Baltic King who raced as Now the King during a three-start 2-year-old campaign in Ireland last year. Delightful Laos didn’t debut until last September and following two creditable runs on turf, he won a Polytrack maiden race, after which he was sold to Hong Kong interests, shipped halfway round the world, and eventually turned over to trainer Tony Cruz.

Delightful Laos must not have tipped anyone off during morning training, as he went to post at odds of 60-1 in his Hong Kong debut on April 29, but he proved much the best facing 11 rivals in a Class 3 going 1,650 meters, conditions just like Wednesday’s. Delightful Laos ran a comprehensively impressive race, settling comfortably for jockey Derek Leung while saving ground at the field’s tail. Leung asked his mount for run midway around the far turn, and Delightful Laos gave him plenty, passing horses while rallying along the inside before being tipped a few paths off the fence, squeezing between horses, and bursting to the front. His sustained rally included a final 400 meters in a sparkling 22.81 seconds, and Delightful Laos crossed the line 1 1/4 lengths in front of his nearest foe.

Delightful Laos is up seven points in the ratings to 78 and now totes 128 pounds. He’s well drawn in post 6 and will be a tiny fraction of the win price intrepid bettors got late last month.

Tangmere starts in race 9 off a seven-point ratings hike and has won both his starts since trainer Caspar Fownes made wholesale equipment changes, removing the visor and crossed noseband Tangmere had worn for several starts and racing him with a tongue tie.