Mighty Giant starting to live up to his name

Featured on a 10-race card Sunday at Sha Tin is race 9, a Class 2 1,200-meter handicap over the dirt course, but the most interesting horse on the program, Mighty Giant, starts in race 10.

A 4-year-old New Zealand-bred gelding by Power, Mighty Giant is a chestnut with a big white face, a big body, and a big, beautiful stride. Mighty Giant tipped the scales at 1,244 pounds before his career debut in November but now is down to a better racing weight, about 1,215 pounds.

“He’s very big, and he’s got a lovely long action,” jockey Zac Purton said following Mighty Giant’s race on March 14.

Mighty Giant in that appearance captured a Class 3 handicap over 1,400 meters by nearly two lengths, winning comfortably while facing stronger competition than in a 4 ¼-length Class 4 Sha Tin victory in his previous start. That made it three wins from his last four races for Mighty Giant, who’s up to an official rating of 78 after sitting at 58 just two months ago.

Mighty Giant enjoys racing forwardly, but he’s no run-off. Two starts ago, he blazed through a second 400 meters in 21.15 seconds, much faster than par for the class level, yet in his most recent race he got his final 400 in 22.27, more than a second faster than par for the level. That’s eye-catching stuff from a horse with such tactical speed, and even picking up nine pounds Sunday in another Class 3 over 1,400 meters. Mighty Giant and Purton should be tough.

Featured race 9, the $271,000 Cornwall Handicap, includes another lightly raced horse with early Hong Kong success, Will Power. The Douglas Whyte-trained Will Power, also a 4-year-old New Zealand-bred by Power, has raced only over the Sha Tin dirt track, with three wins and a second from his four races. He started the season rated 52 but has hit a mark of 81 for Sunday’s race after a sharp 1 ½-length Class 3 score last out. Will Power, a one-run closing type, flew through his final 400 meters in 22.24 seconds to win wrapped up that outing, and while he makes his first sojourn into Class 2, he carries 118 pounds, 10 fewer than the top-rated horses.

Those are Gunnison, who finished a solid second at this class level and distance Feb. 19, his most recent dirt start, and King’s Shield, second April 1 going 1,650 meters around two turns on Sha Tin dirt. King’s Shield lost ground on the first turn and ran well in defeat but is unproven sprinting.

Golden Sixty done for season

Golden Sixty, the leading 4-year-old in Hong Kong, won’t race again this season, his connections announced Wednesday. Golden Sixty had been considered a possible runner in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup on April 26 but will get a spring and summer break after a busy campaign. Golden Sixty won Hong Kong’s version of the Triple Crown, the 4-year-old classic series, most recently landing the March 22 Hong Kong Derby. The Frances Lui-trained Medaglia d’Oro gelding went 7 for 7 during his 2019-20 campaign and has won 10 of 11 Hong Kong starts at distances ranging from about six furlongs to about 1 ¼ miles.

First post for the Sunday card is 12:45 a.m. Eastern.