Hong Kong: Jumbo Fortune a live contender despite 133-pound impost

A nine-race Wednesday card at Happy Valley Racecourse in Hong Kong ends with three Class 3 handicaps, the last of them with a subtle if important distinction.

Races 7 and 8, both carded at 1,200 meters, are Class 3s for horses rated 80-60. Race 9, carded at 1,650 meters, is open to horses rated 85-60, a higher upper limit that allows three horses – Everyone’s Delight, Jumbo Fortune, and Tianchi Monster – into the field. Jumbo Fortune should be a very live runner despite having to carry 133 pounds, including jockey Joao Moreira.

Jumbo Fortune was known as Saif when he went 3-2-1-0 during a 2021 campaign in Australia, finishing second of 14 in a Group 2 before winning a Group 3 stakes over 1,400 meters in his final start before being exported to Hong Kong. Now trained by Tony Cruz, Jumbo Fortune missed the break in his Hong Kong debut, finishing 11th in a Sha Tin Class 3 over 1,200 meters. In his second and most recent start, he ran much better, overcoming some upper stretch traffic to eventually finish fourth in a four-horse win photo. He appears capable of getting Wednesday’s longer two-turn trip and ought to have enough pace to find a good stalking spot.

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Meaningful Star won by a nose at this class level and distance on Feb. 23 and can repeat under Zac Purton. The gelding has finished first or second in six of eight starts during the 2021-22 Hong Kong season and picks up only two pounds off the recent win.

Purton rides the big ratings riser, Armour Eagle, in race 8. Armour Eagle, making his fifth Hong Kong start but first at Happy Valley, won a Feb. 23 Class 3 over 1,200 meters by 1 1/4 lengths, and while he did get through along the rail after saving ground during a favored stalking trip, Purton wrapped up on his mount the final strides to prevent him winning by a wider margin. As it was, the Hong Kong Jockey Club handicapping department increased Armour Eagle’s rating from 65 to 75, and he’s burdened with 127 pounds Wednesday.

First post for the card is 6:45 a.m. Eastern. Catch all the action at DRFBets.com.