Purton aboard Simply Brilliant for Lung Mun Road

Simply Brilliant won consecutive starts in minor handicaps at Sha Tin Racecourse in Hong Kong in February and March with jockey Zac Purton aboard. When Olivier Doleuze took the mount in a handicap at Sha Tin on April 29, Simply Brilliant was fourth behind Rise High, who was ridden by Purton, the leading rider in Hong Kong.

Purton is back aboard Simply Brilliant in Saturday’s $236,975 Lung Mun Road Handicap at a mile on turf at Sha Tin. Rise High is not in the race, but figures prominently in the recent starts of several contenders.

Simply Brilliant is likely to be favored in the field of 11 to win for the third time in his eighth start in Hong Kong.

Trained by Frankie Lor, Simply Brilliant, a 4-year-old gelding by Frankel, has been most effective when racing from off the pace. In the April 29 race, Simply Brilliant was beaten three lengths after breaking from the outside in a field of 14.

In the Lung Mun Road Handicap, runners such as Circuit Hassler, second to Rise High on April 29, and Morethanlucky, fourth behind Rise High in a handicap on May 20, are likely to ensure a good pace.

Lor trains Morethanlucky, who has won two of his last four starts, both at a mile, at Sha Tin. Circuit Hassler would be a surprise winner. He was third after racing near the front in a seven-furlong handicap at Sha Tin on May 27.

Simply Brilliant will carry 131 pounds, two less than topweight Citron Spirit, who was third behind Rise High on May 20.

The race provides a class test for Fast Most Furious, who won consecutive starts at six furlongs on turf at Happy Valley in April and early May before finishing fourth in a seven-furlong handicap at Sha Tin on May 27.