Hong Kong: Red-hot Purton on another live one in Happy Valley co-feature

Jockey Zac Purton won five races Sunday at Happy Valley and appears to be sitting on a live mount in Wednesday’s first race. Trainer Clifford Shum won three races on the Sunday program at Happy Valley and has a capable entrant in the Wednesday nightcap.

Both races are Class 3 handicaps for horses rated 80-60, the last race carded at 1,650 meters, the lidlifter at 1,000 meters. There’s a third race at the same class level, race 6, to be contested at 1,200 meters.

With leading rider Joao Moreira (who became leading rider after Purton got hurt Dec. 11 and missed several weeks) in the midst of a six-program suspension for a riding infraction, Purton managed to win half the races run Sunday. His mount in Wednesday’s first, Stoltz, figures to take plenty of betting despite starting as the 133-pound highweight. Stoltz, by shuttle stallion More than Ready, won three of nine starts in his native Australia before being exported to Hong Kong for the 2021-22 racing season.

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Twice second by narrow margins in Happy Valley 1,000-meter Class 3s, Stoltz was fitted with a set of pink cheek pieces for his most recent race, on Jan. 26, and won at this class level and distance by two lengths under Purton. Stoltz did work his way into a nice pressing trip in that start and picks up seven pounds, but he's drawn decently in post 4 and faces only seven foes, two of whom make their Hong Kong debut. Those are Lyrical Motion, whose lone win from five Australian starts came at 1,200 meters, and Big Happiness, who reeled off three straight 1,000-meter scores this past May and June to conclude the Australian portion of his racing career. Those two more than likely will need a race, but the John Size-trained Special M fits this spot cozily and likely is the biggest threat to Stoltz, who concedes five pounds to Special M.

The trainer Shum’s hope in race 9 is called Gorytus, an Irish-bred who made two starts in England as a 2-year-old of 2020, including a decent fourth behind the capable Aidan O’Brien-trained Battleground in the Vintage Stakes, before moving to the other side of the world. Gorytus tried Sha Tin races his first three Hong Kong starts, none especially sharp, but appears to have found a home at Happy Valley, where he edged closer to a Class 4 win on Dec. 15 and broke through with a two-length score in his most recent start, on Jan. 19. Breaking from post 10, Gorytus raced last of 11 down the Happy Valley backstretch, picked up cover moving three wide around the far turn, and finished off with a final 400 meters in a sharp 22.85 to win outside going away.

First post for the program is 5:45 a.m. Eastern. Catch all the action at DRFBets.com.