Mr. Lumieres takes drop in class in Happy Valley headliner

A trio of Class 3 handicaps, spread over three distances, round out the Wednesday racing action at Happy Valley in Hong Kong this week.

The Hong Kong Racing week takes a slight turn from standard with the weekend program scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 23, at Sha Tin rather than the usual Sunday.

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Wednesday’s eight-race program starts at 7:15 a.m. Eastern with live video and wagering at DRFBets.com.

Race 6, a 1,000-meter contest restricted to horses rated 80-60, drew a full field of 12 with Explosive Witness and Mr. Lumieres top-rated at 80. Mr. Lumieres has performed poorly in his two starts this Hong Kong season, finishing 12th and 14th, and that’s gotten him a two-point ratings drop that allows him to move back into Class 3 competition from Class 2s.

The last time Mr. Lumieres raced against Class 3 rivals came one year ago to the day, and he won a 1,000-meter straight-course dash at Sha Tin. Mr. Lumieres also won over 1,000 meters at Happy Valley last season but based on the start to this campaign might not be the same horse now. Explosive Witness, meanwhile, makes his first start since Aug. 7, when he turned in the top performance of his Hong Kong career, roaring to a two-length, 1,000-meter Happy Valley Class 3 success that boosted his rating to 80. Explosive Witness and jockey Karis Teetan must, however, cope with post 10.

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This race also marks the Hong Kong debut of two Australian imports, 3-year-old Circuit Seven and 4-year-old Exceed the Stars. Called Nitrous in Australia, Circuit Seven won twice, both times over 1,000 meters, and was stakes-placed, an apparently useful horse. Tony Cruz trains him now. Exceed the Stars, now with trainer Clifford Shum, hasn’t started since January. Late in 2019 he won a Class 1 handicap carrying 131 pounds, and he has proven effective in short sprints.

Lightning Steed is the big ratings riser in race 7, a one-lap, 1,650-meter race, also for horses rated 80-60. Six-year-old Lightning Steed toiled in Class 4 handicaps for most of two Hong Kong seasons before catching fire this past summer. He won twice in a row, raising his rating 13 points, and finished a fine second in his first start with Class 3 competition. Lightning Steed picked up this fall where he left off before his late-summer break, finishing a solid fourth in his 2020-21 comeback Sept. 9 before leading from start to finish in a race at this class level and distance a week later.

Reel Busy looks a threat in race 7, however. The Caspar Fownes-trained gelding comes into this start with a pair of useful thirds this season and gains the services of jockey Zac Purton, whose most recent ride on Reel Busy coincided with the horse’s most recent win, which came last May.

In race 8, the nightcap, a 1,200-meter dash for horses rated 80-60, top-rated Californiadeepshot starts for the first time in cheek pieces. The lightly raced 4-year-old, also trained by Cruz, racing exclusively in Class 3s at Happy Valley, was consistently competitive through his 2019-20 season and was a decent fourth under these conditions making his seasonal debut Sept. 23. Californiadeepshot would be giving his rivals as much as 18 pounds but Cruz has named seven-pound apprentice Alfred Chan in an effort to mitigate the weight disparity.

Cue the Music, Wind N Grass, and Amazing Kiwi all look like contenders in a group that’s difficult to unknot.