Hong Kong: Class 2 feature at Sha Tin comes up a battle of the Johns
A quiet Sunday card at Sha Tin in Hong Kong features a pair of Class 2 handicaps for horses rated 100 to 80.
The 11-race program, which starts with a griffin race for unrated horses, features race 4, a Class 2 over 1,600 meters, and race 8, a Class 2 over 1,200 meters. Both races drew relatively short fields that lack both standouts and horses clearly on the rise.
In race 4, the two famous Johns in the Hong Kong training ranks, John Size and John Moore, both attempt to mitigate challenging weight assignments for their entrants by using apprentice jockeys. The Size-trained Time to Celebrate, dropping from Group 2 competition, is top-rated at 100 and would carry 133 pounds but for Alfred Chan’s seven-pound weight allowance, which gets him down to a more manageable 126. Time to Celebrate finished an even second three starts ago racing at this class level and distance at Sha Tin. Size also sends out Nicconi Express, who gets the services of Hong Kong champion jockey Joao Moreira and rates a solid chance. Nicconi Express cuts back in distance from 1,800 meters and with any pace help in front of him can rally into strong contention.
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Moore is in the waning weeks of his storied Hong Kong career. The Hong Kong Jockey Club puts an age limit on trainers, and the five-year extension Moore got that superseded the general rule expires when this season ends in July. Moore is scheduled to return to his native Australia this summer and open a stable there, but in the much nearer term he sends out Good Standing, rated 92, and Monica, rated 82, in the co-featured fourth. Good Standing, ping-ponging between Class 1s, Class 2s, and a couple group stakes, has managed to lose all 11 of his races during the 2019-20 season. Moore named 10-pound apprentice Jerry Chau to ride, and Good Standing races at a relatively feathery 125 pounds on Sunday. Monica appears to be an exposed horse who fits better with Class 3 types.
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Race 8, the 1,200-meter Class 2, drew what appears to be an evenly matched field of nine.
First post for the card is 12:30 a.m. Eastern. You can watch and wager at DRFBets.com.