Hot King Prawn concedes big weight in Class 1 sprint at Sha Tin

Nearly all handicap races in Hong Kong are open to a range of horses, a floor and a ceiling defining the space of eligibility, but not the co-features on the Sunday card at Sha Tin.

These two Class 1 handicaps -- race 2 over 1,600 meters, race 7 at 1,200 meters -- have a bottom but no top, open to any horse rated 95 or higher.

Race 7, in fact, looks very much like the last Group 1 sprint stakes run in Hong Kong, the Centenary Sprint Cup on Jan. 24. The top five finishers, headed by victorious Hot King Prawn, run back in Sunday’s race, along with Buddies, who was seventh in the Centenary Sprint. The other three in the Sunday Class 1 are Winning Dreamer, Sky Field, and Wellington, and more on them shortly.

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Hot King Prawn, Joao Moreira’s mount for trainer John Size, won the Centenary Sprint and did so easily, cruising home 1 3/4 lengths best while racing at level weights, 126 pounds, with his rivals. At 126, Hot King Prawn is easily the highest-rated runner in the handicap and accordingly must carry a ton of weight, 133 pounds, conceding between 11 and 20 pounds. It’s a lot to ask, especially because this is surely just a bridge race for Hot King Prawn, who has a Group 2 and a Group 1 stakes awaiting him during the April racing calendar.

Of the four behind him in the Centenary – Regency Legend, Big Party, Voyage Warrior, and Computer Patch, it’s Big Party who holds the most appeal. Big Party turned in the second fastest closing 400 meters in the race, 22.20 seconds, while showing more spark than in his recent starts, though jockey Karis Teetan will have to work out a trip from post 9.

Now, to the three at the bottom of the ratings – Wellington, Sky Field, and Winning Dreamer. These horses all lack anything like Hot King Prawn’s credentials, which is why they all carry only 113 pounds, but this is a trio of lightly raced, talented younger horses with upside.

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Zac Purton leaves Wellington to ride Regency Legend, but Wellington has won five of seven Hong Kong starts and is a two-time winner from three races this season. He’s up to Class 1 for the first time and even getting weight faces a class test, and Wellington did get a favorable trip winning a Class 2 over 1,200 meters last out.

Winning Dreamer brought a 6-for-6 record into the Group 3 Chinese Club Challenge Cup Handicap, where he was favored, but Winning Dreamer took his first step back, turning in a flat run to finish sixth. That last start came at 1,400 meters, Winning Dreamer’s first try beyond 1,200, and trainer Frankie Lor has given him a break between starts in addition to the cutback here.

Sky Field, however, might be the most interesting of the bottom-feeders. He comes off a Class 1 win going 1,200 meters, albeit at Happy Valley, and even off a six-point rating rise he drops five pounds from his last start. Sky Field has handled Sha Tin 1,200-meter racing, too, and with luck – and help from the 20 pounds – perhaps he can challenge the likes of Hot King Prawn on Sunday.

More Than This is the interesting horse in race 2, the Class 1 over 1,600 meters. He makes the third start of his 5-year-old season in Hong Kong and was competitive last season in the 4-year-old Championship Series. Last out, finishing fourth in the Group 1 Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup over 1,400 meters, More Than This ripped off a final 400 meters in 21.73 seconds.

First post for this card, which has several other solid races, is midnight Eastern. You can catch all the action at DRFBets.com.