Jumbo Luck will try Sha Tin's infield dirt track

Jumbo Luck, the 6-year-old proven on turf in recent races, will start on the infield dirt track at Sha Tin for the first time in Wednesday’s $249,600 Penfold Park Handicap at six furlongs in Hong Kong.

The 12-runner Penfold Park Handicap will be a test of Jumbo Luck’s ability on a new surface against a solid field.

Trained by Francis Lui, Jumbo Luck was third in the Group 3 National Day Cup at five furlongs on turf at Sha Tin on Oct. 1, and later a troubled seventh in the Group 2 Premier Bowl on turf at Sha Tin on Oct. 21.

Jumbo Luck has won a respectable 5 of 17 starts in his career, and is most effective when racing as a stalker. For the Penfold Park Handicap, Jumbo Luck has drawn the outside post in a field of 12, which should allow apprentice jockey Jack Wong to grab a stalking position.

Jumbo Luck will carry 129 pounds, courtesy of Wong’s three-pound allowance. The 133-pound highweight is Fight Hero, the winner of a minor handicap on the dirt surface at Sha Tin in June who was later second in a Group 1 in Korea in September.

Big Time Baby (120 pounds) and Gunnison (122) figure to be prominent in the betting following a 1-2 finish in a handicap at six furlongs on dirt at Sha Tin on Dec. 2. Big Time Baby won by three lengths over Gunnison, who overcame trouble more than three furlongs from the finish.
Gunnison will be ridden by former leading rider Joao Moreira, who resumed riding in Hong Kong earlier this month.

The Penfold Park Handicap is the seventh race on an eight-race program at Sha Tin in which all of the races are on dirt.