Flagship Glory draws poorly in closing-night co-feature at Happy Valley

Flagship Glory won his last two starts in England before being purchased and sent to race in Hong Kong, and to win his second start of the Hong Kong season he’ll have to beat the sharp Beauty Fit and 10 others on Wednesday at Happy Valley.

Flagship Glory is the top-rated horse in co-featured race 8, a Class 2 handicap for horses rated 90-70 and carded at 1,650 meters. Race 9 has the same conditions but is run at 1,200 meters. These not only are the last two races on the Wednesday card but also mark the end of the 2020-21 Hong Kong season, with the jurisdiction taking a break until late summer. First post for the program is 6:45 a.m. Eastern and you can catch all the action at DRFBets.com.

Flagship Glory has a poor draw, post 11, and must pack 131 pounds in race 8, but trainer Frankie Lor made two changes for Flagship Glory’s most recent start – taking his hood off and adding a tongue tie – and got an improved performance. By Australia, 4-year-old Flagship Glory won a Class 3 in March at Sha Tin before turning in two flat performances at the Class 2 level. He got a break of a couple of months in addition to the equipment changes, stuck closer to the pace in his June 6 start, and closed solidly from sixth to finish third of 14 in a solid race for the class level dominated by front-runner The Rock.

:: Hong Kong: Free PPs, picks, analysis, replays, and live streaming

Still, 131 pounds and a difficult post in Flagship Glory’s Happy Valley debut would be a lot to overcome, but Beauty Fit, on the heels of a nice Sha Tin win, landed an even wider draw in post 12. He raced once before at Happy Valley, finishing sixth in a 1,650-meter Class 3 after leaving from post 11, and jockey Joao Moreira will have to work some of his magic to get any sort of trip with such a short run to the first turn. Beauty Fit is up seven points in the Hong Kong ratings, to 83, after a sharp win on July 4.

Green Laser was a Group 3 winner in South Africa last year but showed nothing June 20 making his Hong Kong debut.

The 1,200-meter nightcap has some soft form at the top of the ratings and a couple horses coming off course and distance wins, Sparkling Dragon and Family Folk.

Blaze Warrior wins again

Three-year-old Blaze Warrior will enter the 2021-22 Hong Kong season as one of the more exciting prospects on the circuit after capping a perfect three-start campaign with a good win in the Sunday finale at Sha Tin. Blaze Warrior did get a sweet ground-saving trip under Moreira but made the most of it, winning with greater superiority than the official three-quarter-length margin while stepping up to Class 3 after a pair of Class 4 wins to begin his career. John Size trains the Australian-bred gelding, a son of Sebring.

* Caspar Fownes has won his fourth Hong Kong training title, and first since 2013-14, after a long battle with trainer John Size. Moreira had the jockeys’ championship sewn up several weeks ago, running away from second-place Zac Purton.