Mission Tycoon finds easier spot at Happy Valley
Mission Tycoon was overmatched in the Hong Kong Derby in March and two group-level stakes in April and June. His best finish in those races was a fourth in the Group 3 Lion Rocky Trophy in June.
For his first start of the current 2019-2020 Hong Kong season, Mission Tycoon will start in a much easier race in Wednesday’s $284,429 Big Wave Bay Handicap at Happy Valley Racecourse. The eight-race program is the first evening of racing of the season at Happy Valley. The season began earlier this month with two programs at Sha Tin Racecourse.
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Mission Tycoon, an Australian-bred gelding, is winless in five starts since winning the Hong Kong Classic Cup at 1 1/8 miles on turf at Sha Tin in a 92-1 upset on Feb. 17. The Big Wave Bay Handicap is run at about a mile and 50 yards and will be the first time that jockey Aldo Domeyer has ridden Mission Tycoon.
Domeyer, 32, of South Africa, joined Hong Kong’s jockey roster in the spring. He won with two of his first nine mounts at the first two days of racing at Sha Tin.
Mission Tycoon, trained by Frankie Lor, will carry 131 pounds, two less than topweight Doctor Geoff, the winner of a handicap at 1 1/8 miles on turf at Happy Valley in May.
The Big Wave Bay Handicap drew a field of nine. Mission Tycoon is likely to race near the front, but could stalk Circuit Glory, who has repeatedly shown speed in recent starts.
There will be support for Green Luck, the mount of former Hong Kong leading rider Joao Moreira. Green Luck, who will carry 119 pounds, was 13th behind Mission Tycoon in the Hong Kong Classic Cup.
Trained by Caspar Fownes, Green Luck won a handicap at a mile and 50 yards against a much easier group at Happy Valley on May 1 and was later second and third in races at Happy Valley in June and July before the Hong Kong circuit took its annual late summer break.