Hot King Prawn debuts at Happy Valley

With the Hong Kong racing scene still reeling from the news that champion jockey Joao Moreira will leave the jurisdiction for Japan following this season, Hot King Prawn will try to reel off another win in the featured Wong Nai Chung Gap Handicap at Happy Valley Racecourse on Wednesday night.

Moreira, 34, revealed his surprise intentions late last week when he declined to re-apply for a Hong Kong jockey’s license for next season. Instead, Moreira will take out a short-term Japanese jockey’s license with the intention of trying to become the third full-time foreign jockey in Japan. To do so and join Christophe Lemaire and Mirco Demuro, Moreira must first pass an extensive written test followed by an oral Japanese-language aptitude test.

Moreira arrived in Hong Kong in 2013 and has won the last three jockey championships there. His star has dimmed slightly this year, and for whatever reason the Brazilian native has decided to move on.

Moreira’s mount in Wednesday night’s $237,029 feature, a Class 2 handicap for horses rated 80-105 and contested around one turn at 1,200 meters, is top-rated Archippus. But the highest-profile horse in the race is Hot King Prawn, whose trainer, John Size, often has called on Moreira to ride his top horses.

Hot King Prawn is the mount of Zac Purton. He makes his first start at Happy Valley following six races at Sha Tin. The first five of those – three last season and two this season – produced victories, but Australian-bred Hot King Prawn, still just a 3-year-old, lost his undefeated record April 29 at Sha Tin.

He did not, however, lose much in defeat, coming home second of 14 in a 1,200-meter Class 2 while 1 ¼ lenghts in front of the third-place finisher. Hot King Prawn was defeated by Wishful Thinker, who showed an absolutely dazzling turn of foot coming from last – with considerable help from a 17-pound break in the weights from Hot King Prawn.

Hot King Prawn’s first five races came over 1,000 meters, and the Wong Nai Chung Gap – post time 10:15 a.m. Eastern – could at least help show whether he can race as effectively over another furlong.