High Island Handicap draws full field

Tuesday, jockey Zac Purton will be at Flemington Racecourse to ride the longshot Finche in the Group 1 Melbourne Cup in Australia. A day later, after a nine-hour flight, Purton will be back in his year-round base in Hong Kong for the eight-race program at Happy Valley Racecourse.

Purton is the leading rider at the current Hong Kong season and has the mount on the 132-pound highweight in the top race at Happy Valley on Wednesday – Fortune Book in the $249,058 High Island Handicap at six furlongs on turf.

:: Hong Kong: Free PPs, picks, and analysis

Fortune Book, trained by Michael Freedman, returns to Happy Valley after an eighth-place finish in a handicap on the all-weather track at Sha Tin on Oct. 13. At Happy Valley, Fortune Book has run well without winning in recent starts, finishing second by a nose in a six-furlong handicap in May and second by a short head as the favorite on Sept. 5 in his first start of the current Hong Kong season.

A closer, Fortune Book shares the role of topweight with Wishful Thinker, who is winless in three starts at the current season and will have his Happy Valley debut on Wednesday. Wishful Thinker has won 2 of 9 starts in Hong Kong, all at Sha Tin. On Oct. 21, Wishful Thinker was a troubled eighth in a seven-furlong handicap on turf at Sha Tin.

Saul’s Special, who will carry 130 pounds, will attract support, having won three of his last four starts even though two of those wins were against lesser company. Silvestre de Sousa, the leading rider in England earlier this year, rides Saul’s Special. De Sousa is riding in Hong Kong through February.

The High Island Handicap will have a maximum field of 12. There are two horses on the also-eligible list.

Among the lower-weighted horses, Cheerful Jet, who will carry 125 pounds, will play a vital role as an expected pacesetter. Cheerful Jet was 10th on Oct. 28 after setting the pace, but was a game second by a short head to Saul’s Special in a six-furlong handicap on Oct. 10.