Strathmore looks to end skid in Happy Valley Trophy

Two Class 1 handicaps each worth about $322,000 highlight the eight-race card Wednesday at Happy Valley Racecourse in Hong Kong.

The first is race 6, the Happy Valley Trophy, which is carded for 1,200 meters around Happy Valley’s irregular, undulating grass course. The race, for horses rated 110-85, drew a field of 12 and should have Strathmore at the head of the betting markets.

Strathmore, a 5-year-old Australian-bred gelding by Fastnet Rock, enters the Happy Valley Trophy on a nine-race losing streak, but has raced either in open or Hong Kong Group stakes competition in eight of those races. The 9th race in the losing streak, with Strathmore home third, came at the Class 1 level in a race won decisively by the top-class sprinter Lucky Bubbles.

Strathmore has made 19 starts in Hong Kong, 18 of which came at Sha Tin, and he is 1-1 over the Happy Valley course having beaten Class 2 handicap rivals at this 1,200-meter distance a little more than one year ago. Strathmore showed good positional speed that day and will need it again to mitigate a poor draw in post 11. Also working against Stathmore is his high rating of 108, which makes him the co-high-weight at 133 pounds. Strathmore might be the most likely winner, but value-seeking bettors might dig deeper.

Strathmore had three-quarters of a length on the other 108-rated runner, Lucky Year, when the two met in a 1,200-meter dash Nov. 20 at Sha Tin. Lucky Year is given a beneficial cut-back to 1,200 meters from two 1,400-meter races at Sha Tin, and during the 2015 – 2016 he visited the Happy Valley winner’s circle four times following 1,200-meter wins, though none came higher than the Class 2 handicap level.

Country Melody never came close to contending in three Sha Tin starts this winter, but he won a Class 2 over 1,200-meters at Happy Valley on Dec. 22. Country Melody, however, was a very fortunate winner that night, saving ground the entire trip, slipping to the lead while on the fence at the top of the stretch, and barely holding on while under heavy pressure despite very favorable circumstances.

The fleet Sea Jade might hold some pace-setting appeal at a feathery 113 pounds for trainer John Moore and jockey Joao Moreira. Sea Jade started the current season rated just 51 and has improved steadily and considerably over the winter, but his last-out course and distance win in a Class 2 came by a desperate nose after Sea Jade went his first 400 and 800 meters significantly slower than the standard for the class level.

Race 7 is the Shan Kwong Handicap run over what constitutes the miler’s distance at Happy Valley, 1,650 meters, and has Circuit Land and Harbor Master at the head of the ratings, both at 109. Harbor Master, a venerable 7-year-old gelding, is an eight-time Hong Kong winner from 41 starts, and when last seen at Happy Valley, on Jan. 4, he rallied from 11th to win the Group 3 January Cup.

Circuit Land, who raced mid-pack, was second in the same race, which was run over 1,800 meters and featured a stronger-than-par pace during several sectionals and a slower-than-par final 400 meters. The race shape, in other words, flattered Harbor Master and Circuit Land, both of whom must give weight at a shorter trip Wednesday.

A better option in the Shan Kwong might be Packing Dragon. He was the pace-setter in the January Cup, and was the only horse anywhere near the lead to stick around until the finish. Packing Dragon never has raced over 1,650 meters at Happy Valley, where he usually runs to form, and if he can open daylight in upper stretch, he might hang on to win this time.

Happy Spirit sits at the bottom of the race’s ratings at 86, but, racing exclusively at Happy Valley, he has improved steadily throughout the Hong Kong season for trainer Tony Cruz. He was outsprinted to the line Jan. 25 by Marvel Hero racing at level weights in Class 2 over 1,650 meters, and further improvement Wednesday is not out of the question.

First post for the Happy Valley card is 6:15 a.m. Eastern with the first of the co-features scheduled for 8:45 a.m. Live video and wagering is available at DRF Bets.