Hong Kong: Explosive Witness should get right setup at Happy Valley
The featured eighth race on a rare Sunday afternoon card at Happy Valley Racecourse in Hong Kong seems tailor-made for Explosive Witness.
Explosive Witness prefers to lay in the weeds and make one big late run. He is the kind of horse helped by a strong pace that enervates the forward horses and can spread a field to open gaps where a deep closer can better operate. And this Class 2 handicap for horses rated 100-80 and carded over 1,000 meters around a bend is packed with early speed.
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One of the pace players is Nervous Witness, who gets in light and might have the most raw talent among a dozen entrants. Rated 81 and carrying just 116 pounds Sunday, 14 fewer than Explosive Witness, Nervous Witness makes his Happy Valley debut following four Sha Tin starts, all over a straight 1,000 meters. The first two of those, at Class 3 and Class 4, produced runaway victories, but Nervous Witness in his two most recent starts finished second and third as a very short-priced favorite. His trainer, David Hayes, told Hong Kong Jockey Club publicity that he thinks his charge will enjoy racing around a turn, but can Nervous Witness avoid getting caught up in a taxing pace?
As many as five other horses like to show their speed, and three of them appear to be need-the-lead types, and the Sunday feature might well fall apart, with Explosive Witness the potential beneficiary. Explosive Witness, trained by Caspar Fownes, has raced only once this Hong Kong season, rallying tepidly from 12th to finish seventh in a Sha Tin straight-course 1,000-meter Class 2. Explosive Witness has won down the Sha Tin straight before but seems best suited to rallying performances going 1,000 meters at Happy Valley, and in his second start last season he won under these same conditions at odds just short of 6-1. Explosive Witness carried 124 pounds to victory in that start and is burdened with 130 now, with Luke Ferraris tasked with working out a trip from post 9.
The other closer worth a look is Carroll Street, who exits a Class 3 win at Sha Tin where he carried 132 pounds down the 1,000-meter course. Carroll Street, weighted at 119 Sunday, has started only once at Happy Valley, finishing fifth going 1,200 meters from post 12.
First post for this 10-race card is midnight Eastern. Sunday racing in Hong Kong moved to Happy Valley from Sha Tin this week after a special Lunar New Year weekday card at Sha Tin. Things are back to normal the rest of February with Sha Tin racing Sunday and Happy Valley on Wednesday. You can catch all the Hong Kong action at DRFBets.com.