Hong Kong: Turin Redsun pulls 20 pounds from highweight in Premier Plate
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Turin Redsun has gone winless in seven starts during this, his first Hong Kong racing season, but the number that might matter more Sunday at Sha Tin is 113.
That’s the weight Turin Redsun carries in the Group 3 Premier Plate Handicap over 1,800 meters, an impost 20 pounds lighter than top-rated Ka Ying Star and 19 fewer than key contender Tourbillon Diamond.
The Premier Plate shares top billing on Sunday’s 10-race program with another Group 3, the Premier Cup Handicap over 1,400 meters. The Plate is carded as race 5, the Cup as race 7 on a 10-race program that starts at 1 a.m. Eastern. Live video and wagering are available at DRFBets.com.
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Turin Redsun, an English import trained by Douglas Whyte, has raced once this campaign over Sunday’s 1,800-meter trip and performed admirably, finishing fast to nab second of 14 in the Hong Kong Classic Cup, part of the 4-year-old classic series. He was sixth in the Hong Kong Derby over a 2,000-meter distance likely a little farther than his best and subsequently packed high weights in a pair of Class 2 handicaps.
Top-rated Ka Ying Star cuts back from a good performance over 2,400 meters – and might not appreciate it. At age 7, the accomplished gelding appears to have lost some of his fast-twitch muscle response and could prefer longer races at this stage.
Tourbillon Diamond’s form is solid but in a Group 3 win over 1,800 meters earlier this Hong Kong season he carried 113 pounds; Sunday, his rating of 116 means he’s saddled with 132 pounds, including jockey Alexis Badel.
Trainer John Size has two capable entrants, Excellent Proposal, whose form has somewhat flatlined recently, and Champions Way, who appears to be a little more effective in 1,600-meter races.
Beauty Joy is the exciting horse in the Premier Cup. The mount of Zac Purton, 5-year-old Beauty Joy has risen sharply through a six-start 2021-22 campaign, starting the season with a rating of 78 and coming into Sunday’s contest with a mark of 110. Beauty Joy, trained by Tony Cruz, was a vet scratch out of a race in late March but has come back with two sharp victories, the most recent in the Group 3 Lion Rock Trophy over one mile.