Hong Kong: Savaquin could get help from stablemate in Happy Valley feature

Savaquin, a closer with no early speed, needs pace help to win races, and the presence of his John Size-trained stablemate Red Desert could help ensure he gets it in the featured seventh race Wednesday at Happy Valley.

Red Desert has principally been a Hong Kong dirt runner the last two years and has shown solid positional pace in sprint races. How much early and middle speed he and longshot Bear Again, a frequent front-runner, can muster will determine whether the speedy and highly capable Telecom Fighters goes wire to wire in this 1,650-meter Class 2 handicap for horses rated 100-80.

Telecom Fighters for the first time in his Hong Kong career gets the services of leading jockey Zac Purton. Joao Moreira, six wins behind Purton in the jockey standings following the Nov. 13 card at Sha Tin, rode Telecom Fighters to a front-running victory Oct. 6 in a Happy Valley race just like this one, but it was Matthew Chadwick aboard when Telecom Fighters on Oct. 27 checked in with a solid third going a mile on dirt at Sha Tin. Moreira in this race winds up on top-rated The Rock, while Chadwick, in this game of musical jockeys, pilots Savaquin,

Size’s powerhouse stable has gathered momentum in recent weeks and could have Savaquin in a winning spot. Rated 90, carrying 127 pounds, and well enough drawn in post 4, 5-year-old Savaquin had a three-win 2020-21 Hong Kong campaign, two of those victories coming in 1,650-meter Happy Valley starts. Both came in Class 3, but by last season’s end Savaquin had shown his merit as a Class 2 performer, and he comes off a second-place finish in a 1,800-meter Happy Valley start at the level. In that Nov. 3 race, Savaquin stalked the pace, bid boldly to make the lead in midstretch, and was tagged on the wire by the improving 5-year-old Zebrowskie. Savaquin’s one-run closing style likely fits better at this 1,650-meter trip provided the pace dynamics work out right as the gelding simply cannot make his own race.

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The Rock had his moments last season at both Happy Valley and Sha Tin and after a couple modest showings to begin his campaign, he woke up last out in a Sha Tin dirt start. He’s drawn poorly in post 10, however, and carries 133 pounds, giving a much as 16.

Solar Wai Wai, a 6-year-old, also looks like a solid fit for the spot after a competitive third-place finish last out in his first start this season. Solar Wai Wai, however, turned in a similar showing in his 2020-21 debut before regressing markedly in his second race.

First post for this solid nine-race card is 5:45 a.m. Eastern. Catch all the action at DRFBets.com.

Golden Sixty ready for debut

Hong Kong’s reigning Horse of the Year, Golden Sixty, races for the first time this season in the Jockey Club Mile on Sunday at Sha Tin.

Golden Sixty, said to be in excellent form coming into his first start since April 25, will be part of a relatively short field in this prep race for the Group 1 Hong Kong Mile next month. Now a 6-year-old, Golden Sixty has won 17 times from 18 career starts and brings a 14-race winning streak to Sunday’s contest. The gelding, an Australian-bred by Medaglia d’Oro, won Hong Kong’s version of the Triple Crown during a perfect 2019-20 campaign and won all eight of his races during 2020-21, the last four of those Group 1s.

The Jockey Club Mile is one of three Group 2 stakes carded Sunday along with the Jockey Club Sprint and the Jockey Club Cup.

* Lucky Express might have earned a starting spot in the Hong Kong Mile winning a Class 1 handicap, his first start this season, on the Nov. 13 Sha Tin card. Rallying up the rail under Zac Purton, Lucky Express was home by a head in this 1,400-meter tilt. Trained by John Size, Lucky Express has proved quirky at times and Purton said his mount lost focus after making the lead Sunday. Lucky Express, a 5-year-old Australian-bred son of Toronado, finished second last season in the Hong Kong Classic Mile, first leg of the four-year-old classic series.