Private Secretary at his happy place

Private Secretary should be happy to return to Happy Valley, while his jockey, Antoine Hamelin, surely is happy just to be in Hong Kong.

Hamelin, a 26-year-old French journeyman, shipped to Hong Kong in March, did a 14-day quarantine, and had his first Hong Kong rides this past Sunday at Sha Tin. Hamelin won two races on that April 12 card, gaining plenty of attention and a foothold in the tough local riding colony.

“I’m really happy; there’s a lot of emotion,” Hamelin told Hong Kong Jockey Club publicity after his successful local debut Sunday.

In Private Secretary, Hamelin appears to be on a very live mount in the featured ninth race Wednesday night at Happy Valley. This is a Class 2 handicap for horses rated 100 to 80 and carded for 1,800 meters (about 1 1/8 miles) around Happy Valley’s irregularly shaped and mildly undulating course. Private Secretary, a 4-year-old English-bred colt by Kingman, was trained in England by John Gosden and won three starts there last spring, including the Cocked Hat Stakes. He finished fourth in the Group 2 King Edward at Royal Ascot before ending the European phase of his career and being sold to Hong Kong connections.

Private Secretary has raced four times this season, turning in noncompetitive performances in the Hong Kong Classic Cup and the Hong Kong Derby in his last two starts, but his race most pertinent to Wednesday’s venture is his Hong Kong debut. That race, on Dec. 26, marked his only Hong Kong start at Happy Valley, rather than Sha Tin, and Private Secretary won it well. Granted, he broke from favorable post 1 and got a dream trip, cleaving to the fence the entire trip and getting room when he needed it. Yet at 1,650 meters, the race likely fell short of Private Secretary’s best distance, and he once again drew favorably on the rail for Wednesday’s race. Private Secretary carries 130 pounds, giving weight to all but two of his rivals, but still should be a key contender, provided Hamelin can demonstrate competence over the tricky Happy Valley course.

Reliable Team also should appreciate moving from Sha Tin back to Happy Valley, where he finished second in a Class 2 over 1,650 meters when last seen at the mid-city racecourse. Enrichment gets as much as 12 pounds in the weights and has shown at least mild signs of life his last two starts after his form appeared to stagnate earlier this season. And while Hamelin will be feeling his way around the Happy Valley course, Enrichment’s jockey, Joao Moreira, long ago mastered it.

First post for the spectator-free program is 6:45 a.m. Eastern.