With local racing fans reeling after another abandoned racemeeting, it may be time to change the mindset and try our hand at Sha Tin on Sunday morning.
The first race is off at 07h00, so it’s a different approach to lying in late and then taking, what is now a non-event, stab at the Hollywoodbets Scottsville card.
But it’s not all doom and gloom and the ever popular free-to-enter Hollywoodbets Punters’ Challenge is available on Sha Tin!
The challenge offers a bonus jackpot of R475 000, with a must-be-won R5 000 to be shared if you place in the top 20 on the day’s leaderboard.
Entries close 5 minutes before the start of the first race – find out more here: https://punters.hollywoodbets.net
A man always worth following is Zac Purton who is looking to extend Prince Of Porty’s unbeaten record to two when he gets the leg-up on the Wandjina gelding in Sunday’s Class 4 TVB Tung Wah Charity Show Handicap.
Prince Of Porty (silver cap) wins under Zac Purton – they can follow up on Sunday! (Pic – HKJC)
The David Hall-trainee won first-up in Hong Kong under Purton over 1000m last month, toughing it out to prevail by a nose as the race’s second favourite.
“He had to dig deep and find and he was certainly up to the task. He’s a horse that, I think, has a bit of a will to win and hopefully he carries that on,” Purton said.
Prince Of Porty will carry 134lb against 13 rivals including Happy Fat Cat (135lb), Moduleconstruction (129lb) and the Ricky Yiu-trained Green N White (129lb), who has impressed ahead of his debut this weekend under Silvestre de Sousa.
“We trialled him (Prince Of Porty) around the corner recently, although he was on the wrong legs he seemed to trial quite well. He’s drawn a good gate, he’s going to be in a good spot and I like the way he went first-up,” Purton said.
Purton will partner Sinba for trainer Jamie Richards later on in the Class 3 TVB Midlife, Sing & Shine Handicap (1600m). Richards is planning to back the Xtravagant four-year-old up in Sunday week’s (26 February) Hong Kong Classic Cup (1800m).
“The horse is in good form – he’s a horse with a good constitution, he’s got a nice way of going. The plan has always been to give him a little bit of time to get over that last run with a view to backing up into the Classic Cup, knowing that he has a good demeanour and constitution – I think he’ll be able to handle it,” Richards said.
The HK$3.465 million Class 1 TVB Yan Oi Tong Charity Show Handicap (1400m) is the highest-quality race on Sunday’s fixture where Lyle Hewitson will reunite with Turin Redsun – who returns following a lengthy freshen up – for trainer Douglas Whyte.
“He’s obviously a horse with ability, he’s raced consistently well at this level and last season he performed well and his win at the end of last season was quite impressive,” Hewitson said.
Turin Redsun (118lb) returns for the first time since November last year to face six rivals: Beauty Joy (135lb), Cordyceps Six (128lb), Healthy Happy (125lb), Blaze Warrior (119lb), The Golden Scenery (117lb) and Beluga (115lb).
“Even his (Turin Redsun) form in the Four-Year-Old Classic Series was strong and he’s seemed to maintain that.
“He was just tapering off a little in his last few runs, although running at the highest level, he just didn’t seem 100 percent, so Douglas gave him a little bit of time off to freshen him up and it seems to have done him a world of good,” Hewitson said.
2021 Gr2 Mill Reef Stakes (1200m) winner Wings Of War – formerly with Clive Cox in Great Britain – makes his debut in the Class 3 TVB Wai Yin Association Special Handicap (1200m) for trainer Tony Millard as part of the stacked 10-race fixture which kicks off at 07h00 with the Class 5 TVB Charity Fund Handicap (1400m).
