Sha Tin: Lor seeks to pad lead in trainer standings with Keefy
Frankie Lor has all but wrapped up the 2021-22 Hong Kong racing season training title, leading John Size 90-84 going into the Sunday card at Sha Tin, third-to-last program of the season. And in the featured Chow Silver Plate Handicap, the last of 10 races Sunday, Lor can play a roll in the race for leading jockey, sending out the exciting 3-year-old Keefy with Joao Moreira aboard.
Moreira trails Zac Purton by two winners going into Sunday’s program, the top two jockeys miles ahead of everyone else in the colony. Purton, interestingly, rode Lor’s second runner in the race, Sauvestre, to a win on June 19 but abandons that horse in favor of the David Hall-trained Captain Win.
Keefy also comes off a win and tries Class 2 competition in this 1,400-meter contest for horses rated 90-70. Australian-bred Keefy, by All Too Hard, had a busy 2020-21 season in Australia, winning twice in eight starts before being sold and exported to Hong Kong.
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Starting out rated 75, Keefy led and faded in a 1,200-meter Class 3 race while making his Hong Kong debut and has taken two forward steps since. Stretched to 1,400 meters two weeks later, Keefy was second after rating and rallying to a midstretch lead, and on June 12 he broke through with a strong performance. Stuck out in post 14, Keefy and Moreira were caught three wide with no cover around the entire Sha Tin turn but pushed forward undeterred to post a 2 1/4-length victory.
Keefy has a better draw Sunday in post 5 but does shoulder 134 pounds while stepping up one class, just one pound fewer than the four top-rated horses in the Sunday feature.
First post for the card is 1 a.m. Eastern with the feature set for 5:45. Watch and wager at DRFBets.com.