Soumillon tries to scratch back with Ballistic King in Sha Tin feature

Christophe Soumillon ranks as one of the world’s leading jockeys. He doesn’t need you to feel badly for him. Still, it’s been a rough six weeks for Soumillon. The good news is the Swiss-born, France-based veteran reinsman has recovered from COVID-19. The bad news – for Soumillon, at least – are the horses he missed riding because of COVID.

Soumillon traveled to Kentucky to ride the Breeders’ Cup meeting but tested positive for COVID after arriving in Lexington. That cost him the ride on Tarnawa, who won the BC Turf, and on Order of Australia, who won the BC Mile. Seemingly in the clear, Soumillon went to Hong Kong in advance of the Dec. 13 Hong Kong International Races, but he was unable to clear Hong Kong’s health protocols in time to ride the card, and Normcore, a Japanese mare he was scheduled to ride, won the Hong Kong Mile. Those three races – the BC Turf, BC Mile, and HK Mile – are worth more than $9 million in total.

Now, Soumillon is out of COVID-19 quarantine and he plans to ride in Hong Kong for the time being. He has mounts in all 10 races on the Sunday card, including a live chance in the last of 10 races, a featured Class 2 handicap for horses rated 100-80 and carded at 1,400 meters.

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Soumillon’s mount is Ballistic King, who has been knocking on the door in races at this class level and distance all season, with three second-place finishes and a fourth. That means Ballistic King must carry a lot of weight – 130 pounds, giving as much 12 pounds to horses at the bottom of the ratings – but Ballistic King still looks capable.

So does top-rated Band of Brothers, weighted at 132 off a Hong Kong rating of 96 and back down to Class 2 competition after finishing fourth at this Sha Tin distance facing Class 1 foes Nov. 14. Band of Brothers, the mount of Zac Purton (who won four races Wednesday night at Happy Valley) won a Class 2 over 1,400 meters while carrying 125 pounds in his final start of the 2019-20 season.

Making his first Hong Kong start is Conqueror, a solid 3-year-old miler during a 2019-20 campaign in Australia. Conqueror, trained by David Hayes, raced as a colt before being purchased and shipped to Hong Kong but now is a gelding.

First post for this card is midnight Eastern. Wagering and live video is available at DRFBets.com

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Golden Sixty No. 1

Golden Sixty has assumed his rightful position as Hong Kong’s highest rated horse, his Hong Kong rating raised from 128 to 131 following his dominant score last weekend in the Hong Kong Mile. Beauty Generation at 130 had remained the top-rated horse in Hong Kong despite having lost his best form. Beauty Generation was retired after finishing fifth in the HK Mile.