Hong Kong: Buddies brings versatility to Panasonic Handicap

Happy Valley, Sha Tin turf, Sha Tin dirt – Buddies has raced effectively on every surface the Hong Kong circuit has to offer. He’s versatile, he has tactical pace, and Buddies is one of several contenders in the featured seventh race Saturday at Sha Tin.

Dubbed the Panasonic Handicap, this is a Class 2 for horses rated 110-85 and carded at 1,400 meters over the Sha Tin turf on one of the periodic Saturday programs the Hong Kong Jockey Club hosts, deviating from the normal Sunday card. Post time is 1 a.m. Eastern, with wagering and live video available at DRFBets.com.

Buddies is one of 10 in the feature and figures to race prominently from the start breaking from post 4 under Matthew Chadwick. Buddies exits a narrow win going one lap, 1,650 meters, around the Happy Valley course in a Class 2 on Oct. 14. Last season, showing his typical positional speed, he visited the winner’s circle following a Sha Tin dirt win but more importantly won a Class 1 going 1,400 meters on turf, the same conditions as Sunday’s start. There doesn’t appear to be a surplus of pace signed on, and Buddies’ speed could play well.

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Buddies, rated 105, carries 128 pounds, five fewer than top-rated Fast Most Furious, whose form so far this season has been poor. Second-highest rated at 109 is Jolly Banner, who carries only 125 pounds because his jockey is a seven-pound apprentice, and Jolly Banner is dangerous. He’s kept the highest-level company, racing only in Class 1s and group stakes races the last two Hong Kong seasons, and ran a grand total of zero poor races during an eight-start 2019-20 campaign. Jolly Banner has started this season with a pair of runner-up finishes, first at 1,000 meters and more recently over 1,200, but his last 1,400-meter try yielded a Sha Tin victory.

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Lucky Express gets in at 115 pounds, and though he rises from a fourth-place finish in a Class 2 over 1,400 meters, that particular race was especially salty for the level, with one of Hong Kong’s hottest horses, Mighty Giant, coming out on top and the highly regarded Sky Field third, barely in front of Lucky Express.

Band of Brothers, Star Shine, and even Circuit Glory could have a say, at least on the bottom of exotic wagers.