Relentless Me tries to make amends in Hoi Yuen Handicap
Relentless Me will start in Wednesday’s second division of the $186,634 Hoi Yuen Handicap at Happy Valley Racecourse in Hong with a good excuse for his 11th place finish at Sha Tin Racecourse on Dec. 8.
Relentless Me, trained by former Hong Kong champion jockey Doug Whyte, threw a tantrum before the start and briefly had his right front leg over a rail. Even though he sustained a small cut, according to the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s website, Relentless Me was allowed to start.
Relentless Me did not perform well after the incident, fading to finish 11th of 14 as the 6-1 third choice.
The loss ended a two-race winning streak, and was part of a successful first year of training in Hong Kong for the 48-year-old White.
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Wednesday, Relentless Me will have his first start on the tighter track at Happy Valley since a 10th-place finish last May when trained by Chris So. Relentless Me has won 5 of 30 starts in his career, but is winless in 10 starts at Happy Valley.
For Wednesday’s race, the last of nine races, Relentless Me will be ridden by leading rider Joao Moreira and will carry 117 pounds, 14 less than topweight Special Stars, a winner at Happy Valley in November. Moreira was not aboard Relentless Me on Dec. 8, but did ride the 6-year-old Australian-bred gelding to a win in a lower-class race at Sha Tin in November.
Two other contenders are Quadruple Double, a quick 4-year-old who has won three of his last five starts, and Winning Method, who led throughout a six-furlong handicap at Happy Valley on Dec. 26.
The first division of the Hoi Yuen Handicap is the eighth race.
Sparkling Dragon will have his first start of the Hong Kong season on a Happy Valley course on which he has won two of six starts, including a six-furlong handicap last July in his most recent appearance.
Sparkling Dragon will carry 131 pounds, two less than topweight Le Terroir, who won consecutive handicaps at Happy Valley in September and October, but was ninth and eighth in two starts in December. Wednesday’s race will be Le Terroir’s first start of 2020.
Moreira rides Monkey Jewellery, who has bled in two of his last three starts, but was second in a six-furlong handicap on Dec. 18.