Hong Kong: Superich a stretch threat in Shek Mun Handicap

Superich is the sort of horse with a late rally ideally suited for the long stretch at Sha Tin Racecourse in Hong Kong. He won consecutive starts in July and October from off the pace on the turf course there and was second by a neck with a similar effort on Nov. 25.

Saturday at Sha Tin, Superich is expected to be favored in the $249,061 Shek Mun Handicap at seven furlongs on turf, the last of 10 races on the program. Trained by Frankie Lor, Superich will be ridden by leading jockey Zac Purton, who returns to action following a brief suspension for a riding infraction earlier this month.

Purton has ridden Superich in his last three starts, including the win in October.

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The Shek Mun Handicap drew a field of 14. Superich will carry 126 pounds, four fewer than topweight Fortune Booth, who is winless in four starts this year.

Mr So and So will have former leading Hong Kong jockey Joao Moreira aboard in the Shek Mun, which ensures the 4-year-old gelding will be well backed. Trained by John Size, Mr So and So overcame trouble to win a seven-furlong handicap against a lower class of runners at Sha Tin on Dec. 2. Mr So and So will carry 122 pounds.

Saturday’s race will be the Hong Kong debut of Packing Warrior and Kings Shield, Group 1 runners in Europe earlier this year.

Packing Warrior was fifth in the Group 1 French Derby last June when racing under the name Not Mine. Horses frequently have their names changed when they are sent to Hong Kong.

Now trained by Tony Cruz, Packing Warrior was second in a minor stakes at Longchamp last April. The Shek Mun Handicap is likely to be a prep for more lucrative races for Packing Warrior. Packing Warrior has been assigned 125 pounds. Alberto Sanna has the mount.

Kings Shield, a Kentucky-bred colt by Scat Daddy, was sixth in the Group 1 French 1000 Guineas at Longchamp in May and fifth in the Group 1 St. James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot in England in June in his final start in Europe. Kings Shield, trained by Lor, will carry 123 pounds and will be ridden by Sam Clipperton.