Scales could tip to Royal Bomb in Happy Valley Class 3 event

Three Class 3 handicaps for horses rated 80-60 headline a nine-race card at Happy Valley in Hong Kong on Wednesday.

Race 4, which drew only eight entrants, is carded at 1,650 meters, while the other two races are sprints, the eighth at 1,000 meters and the last of nine races at 1,200 meters. First post for the program is 5:45 a.m. Eastern and you can catch all the action at DRFBets.com.

Parterre tops the ratings at 78 in race 4 and seems unplayable, not just because he must carry 133 pounds but because this marks his Hong Kong debut. Trained now by Tony Millard, Parterre won two of nine starts in South Africa and hasn’t raced in nearly a year, his most recent start a fourth-place finish among 12 runners in the Group 1 Cape Derby over 2,000 meters.

Royal Bomb must tote 132 pounds but seems a much more likely winner than Parterre. Four-year-old Royal Bomb made his first eight starts in Australia but now is four races into his Hong Kong career for Caspar Fownes. Royal Bomb needed a couple starts to find his footing but won two back over 1,400 meters at Sha Tin and last out, in his Happy Valley debut, finished second by a head under the same conditions he encounters Wednesday. Christophe Soumillon rides from post 3, a seemingly favorable draw.

Wealthy Delight breaks from post 8, not a great spot with nearly no run into the first of two turns, but leading rider Joao Moreira could be the right jockey to work out a trip. Wealthy Delight has improved steadily through this, his first Hong Kong racing season, and comes out of a course, distance, and class-level win on Jan. 20. Wealthy Delight picks up five pounds off that three-quarter-length victory but still carries only 122 in Wednesday’s contest.