Four course specialists may hold key to Big Wave Bay Handicap
RACE REPLAY IS NOT AVAILABLEFour course specialists – Bold Stitch, Cheerful Jet, Fortune Booth, and Super Hoppy – may hold an advantage in the $248,439 Big Wave Bay Handicap at Happy Valley Racecourse in Hong Kong on Wednesday, the first evening of racing at the city track for the 2018-19 season.
Hong Kong opened its season last weekend at Sha Tin Racecourse, which is on the edge of the city. The Big Wave Bay Handicap is run at six furlongs on turf and is the last of eight races.
Super Turbo, a 5-year-old Irish-bred by Royal Applause, ended the 2017-18 season in Hong Kong with a win in a six-furlong handicap at Happy Valley on July 11. Super Turbo won by a length under jockey Vincent Ho for the gelding’s fourth win in 15 career starts at Happy Valley.
Super Turbo will carry 130 pounds, three less than topweight Wah May Friend, who was sixth in the same handicap on July 11.
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Fortune Booth, the mount of 2017-18 leading rider Zac Purton, has won 2 of 6 starts at Sha Tin. Fortune Booth, who will break from the rail and carry 127 pounds, has not raced since May 23 when he closed from off the pace under Purton to finish second by a nose in a six-furlong handicap at Happy Valley.
Bold Stitch, who will carry 124 pounds, has won three of his last four starts, including his last two races at Sha Tin in May and July. Bold Stitch tends to run from off the pace and used that style successfully in a six-furlong handicap at Happy Valley in January.
Super Hoppy faces a class test in the Big Wave Handicap. A closer, Super Hoppy is unbeaten in two starts at Happy Valley in lower-class competition, his only two victories in seven starts in Hong Kong. Under Hong Kong’s rating system, Super Hoppy was running in class 3 races, for horses rated 60 to 80.
Super Hoppy is now rated at 82. The Big Wave Bay Handicap is restricted to horses rated 80 to 100. Super Hoppy carries the lowweight of 117 pounds, but must improve from his wins in May and June to be a factor Wednesday.
