A more svelte Mighty Giant takes on Sky Field at Sha Tin

Mighty Giant isn’t quite as big as he used to be, and he has a large challenge in front of him, a gelding named Sky Field, in the featured 10th race Saturday at Sha Tin Racecourse in Hong Kong.

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Mighty Giant weighed in at 1,230 pounds for Saturday’s contest, down from his peak Hong Kong weight of 1,244 last season. The 5-year-old gelding actually has gained 11 pounds since he began his 2020-21 campaign Oct. 1 the same way he ended his 2019-20 season, namely, with a win. Mighty Giant, who really is a towering presence out on the track, won his final three starts last season, and in addition to his four wins in a row coming into this start, Mighty Giant has finished first or second in seven of his eight Hong Kong starts.

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Four-year-old Sky Field’s record is equally flashy, three wins from five Hong Kong starts, the first two of them in his two races to cap last season, and then another on Oct. 1 in his first race of his 2020-21 campaign. Sky Field is no petite specimen himself, weighing in at a robust 1,181 for this start. Sky Field has won consecutive Class 2 handicaps, while Mighty Giant’s winning streak encompasses a Class 4, two Class 3s, and a Class 2 on Oct. 1. Saturday’s Class 2 race is open to horses rated 100-80 and carded at 1,400 meters, which is about seven furlongs. Mighty Giant, rated 94 and saddled with 129 pounds, has five wins and a pair of seconds over the trip, while Sky Field, rated 88 and weighted at 123 pounds, races beyond 1,200 meters for the first time in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong’s top two jockeys have these mounts, with Zac Purton on Mighty Giant, Joao Moreira on Sky Field. Mighty Giant has post 10 but was able to overcome post 13 and a three-wide trip around the turn to post a half-length victory Oct. 1. Mighty Giant made the lead in midstretch and appeared to idle as Purton got very busy with his crop the final 100 meters. As for Sky Field, his last win came by three-quarters of a length, but Moreira didn’t even cock his stick until the 200-meter mark.

Post time for the feature is 5:45 a.m. Eastern with first post set for 1 a.m. Eastern. Wagering and live video is available at DRFBets.com.