Hong Kong Win can better most recent form off the layoff

Hong Kong Win, a 6-year-old Australian-bred gelding, finished the 2020-21 racing season in Hong Kong with sixth-, eighth-, and seventh-place finishes in sprint handicaps in June and July.

Typically, such a record would not be very encouraging for Hong Kong Win’s seasonal reappearance in Sunday’s $308,522 Choi Hung Handicap at five furlongs on turf at Sha Tin Racecourse, but Hong Kong Win’s record of two wins in five starts following layoffs changes the outlook.

If Hong Kong Win is going to be effective early in the Hong Kong season, it could easily be in the 11-runner Choi Hung Handicap, run on a straightaway course. Trained by John Size, Hong Kong Win has won four times in Hong Kong, with all the wins at five furlongs, including a victory in his first start of the 2019-20 season.

Hong Kong Win will be ridden by leading rider Joao Moreira, who takes the mount for the first time since a troubled fourth in a six-furlong handicap at Happy Valley Racecourse last December.

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Sunday’s race is also a fresh start for the 5-year-old Australian-bred gelding Lucky More, who is trained by Danny Shum. In June, Lucky More finished ninth as the 5-2 favorite in a handicap at Happy Valley and underwent tie-back surgery a few days later, according to Hong Kong Jockey Club records.

Lucky More has won 4 of 10 starts, including a five-furlong race at Sha Tin. Zac Purton, a former leading rider in Hong Kong, has the mount.

This will be a class test for Winner Method, a course specialist who won three consecutive handicaps at five furlongs at Sha Tin from late January to late March, and was a close second in two races in the spring.

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In his last start on June 6, Winner Method set the pace in a six-furlong handicap and was beaten a neck. Purton briefly dropped the reins in the final 50 yards. Karis Teetan has the mount on Sunday, the third day of racing of the new Hong Kong season.

So far, Moreira, Purton, and Teetan are tied for first in the jockey’s standings with four wins each.

Sha Tin has a 10-race program that begins at 1 a.m., Eastern, on Sunday, or 10 p.m., Pacific, on Saturday. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.