Typhoon Mangkhut threatens Woodpecker Handicap

Fourteen are entered for the Class 2 Woodpecker Handicap, the Sunday feature at Sha Tin Racecourse in Hong Kong. Whether they get to take their place in the starting gate depends on Super Typhoon Mangkhut.

The typhoon was spinning Friday toward the South China Sea and is expected to bring heavy rain to Hong Kong on Sunday, possibly enough to force the cancellation of racing. If nothing else, the ground could be sodden for a 10-race card scheduled to start at 1 a.m. Eastern.

The Woodpecker Handicap, over a straight 1,000 meters (about five furlongs), is the final offering on the program. California Fortune and Wishful Thinker are top-rated in the field, both at 95, though Wishful Thinker appears to have the greater potential of the two.

Trained by Richard Gibson, Wishful Thinker, a 5-year-old Australian import by I Am Invincible, threw in one clunker last season, his first in Hong Kong, but surrounded that with two wins, a second, and two thirds. He returned to action Sept. 2 and was a solid third in a Class 1 handicap at Sha Tin, though it is an open question how Wishful Thinker will cope with Sunday’s trip since all his previous local starts have come around a bend at 1,200 meters.

Also entered are a couple 4-year-olds of some promise. Mr Lumieres was scratched lame from an intended start May 20, but returned June 16 to capture a class 3 over 1,000 meters at Sha Tin and graduate to the class 2 level to start his 2018 – 2019 campaign. Patch Baby made four starts last season, showing signs of life in two class 3 turf handicaps before breaking through with a dirt win in his final start of the season.