Hong Kong: Helene Leadingstar has hammerlock on Queen Mother Memorial Cup

Sharp recent form, a reasonable weight, and proven ability over a distance unusually long by Hong Kong racing standards make Helene Leadingstar a likely winner of the Group 3, $403,137 Queen Mother Memorial Cup on Sunday at Sha Tin.

Also aiding his chances is the presence of only four rivals in this 2,400-meter (about 1 1/2 miles) handicap. That quartet of Eagle Way, Helene Charisma, Chefano, and Savvy Nine is trained by John Moore, while trainer Tony Cruz sends out Helene Leadingstar.

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Third in this race one year ago, Helene Leadingstar lost his first 14 Hong Kong starts after being imported from Australia, but comes into Sunday’s test on a two-race winning streak. On March 8, Helene Leadingstar narrowly won a Class 2 handicap over 1,800 meters, and April 5 he was just up in a Class 1 handicap over 2,000 meters. Stretching out even farther should only benefit Helene Leadingstar, whose has stamina and a sustained run but very little in the way of fast-twitch acceleration. In his final Australian start, he won the Group 1 South Australian Derby over 2,500 meters. Sunday, he breaks from post 2 under Karis Teetan and carries 119 pounds, 14 fewer than topweighted Eagle Way.

Eagle Way is a regular competitor in high-level Hong Kong staying races but hasn’t won in 15 starts and probably concedes too much weight to capitalize on a class drop. He and the other Moore horses finished well behind Helene Leadingstar in the April 5 handicap.

First post for the Sunday card is 12:30 a.m. Eastern. The feature comes early as race 3.

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New imports step up

There were a couple potentially noteworthy winners on the Wednesday night card at Happy Valley.

Sky Show, a 3-year-old New Zealand-bred making just his second start, won race 5, a Class 4 handicap, by two lengths. Under Zac Purton, Sky Show crossed and cleared from post 10 in this 1,200 meter sprint, set a solid pace, and thanks to a final 400 meters in a sparkling 22.95 seconds clocked 1:09.53, .57 of a second faster than par for the class level at Happy Valley.

Irish-bred Delightful Laos, another 3-year-old, made his Hong Kong debut in race 6, a Class 3 Handicap over 1,650 meters. Delightful Laos, always traveling well in hand while racing near the back of the field, got a favorable inside run and made the most of it, going from ninth 400 meters out to win by 1 1/4 lengths. His final 400-meter split of 22.81 was more than a second faster than par for the distance and class level at Happy Valley.