Hong Kong: Happy Valley cards four Class 3s, including a three-turn marathon

Class 3 handicaps, four of them, abound on the Happy Valley card on Wednesday in Hong Kong.

Races 5, 6, 8, and 9 all are Class 3s for horses rated 80-60. The eighth and ninth are contested over 1,200 meters, race 5 is 1,650 meters, all standard Happy Valley distances, but race 6 is an unusual one, 2,200 meters around three turns.

Eleven of the 12 entrants in the long-distance race either had their official Hong Kong rating lowered or left unchanged on the basis of their most recent start, meaning there is little to choose from in the way of “hot” horses. Stimulation is the lone entrant coming into this start after a win, but he was up by just a nose at this class level last time and has been mired in Class 3s practically forever.

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From a suitability to the distance perspective, Vincy is the one with appeal here. Vincy, a veteran 7-year-old trained by Douglas Whyte, has a second and a fourth racing in 2,000-meter Class 3s this season at Sha Tin. He clearly stays the distance and in a 2,200-meter Happy Valley contest, Vincy ran perhaps his best race of the 2019-2020 season, rallying for second. The downside is he’s a rare winner and drew quite poorly in post 12, though he is a come from behind horse who will drop back for position in any case.

The three other Class 3s lack zesty prospects with one possible exception, Savaquin in race 5, the 1,650-meter contest. Trained by John Size, who’s in the thick of the race for Hong Kong’s leading trainer this season, Savaquin is a lightly raced New Zealand-bred 4-year-old who broke through with his first Hong Kong win in his most recent start on Jan. 27. Size eased him into one-mile (or thereabouts) races after a pair of sprints this past November and Savaquin looks like the type who might handle his first try over a real distance of ground.

First post for the nine-race card is 5:45 a.m. Eastern. You can catch all the action at DRFBets.com.

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* Golden Sixty, Hong Kong’s best horse – and one of the top-rated horses in the world – tries for his 13th win in a row Sunday in the Group 1 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup at Sha Tin. Golden Sixty races over a distance as long as 2,000 meters for the first time since he won the Hong Kong Derby last spring.

* The progressive Beauty Smile, with help from a feathery 113-pound impost, captured the featured Class 1 Chinese New Year Handicap on Sunday at Sha Tin. Beauty Smile was comfortably best, posting a 1 1/4-length victory, and could return in a similar 1,400-meter race next month.

A solid fifth while making his Hong Kong debut was the Irish-bred 4-year-old Congratulation, whose connections could have designs on the Hong Kong Derby.