Racing returns to Happy Valley tonight with just the 8 races to take place under lights. Not the most exciting card in terms of quality but a card with plenty of value and solid selections. Tune in at 10:15pm for Race 1.
Blake Lalor brings you his preview and Happy Valley racing tips for Wednesday night. Check out his best bets of the card below!
Happy Valley Racing Tips: Wednesday, November 23rd
Race 1
(11) Handsome Rebel presents as a huge chance here after drawing well in gate 5 and finding a race which looks very winnable on paper. Handsome Rebel met Fabulous Eight and Circuit Seven last time and was clearly stronger than those horses after racing wide without cover and kicking on to beat both of them home. Prior to that, he won a race over this trip beating two subsequent winners. Deserves favouritism in this and looks the winner.
(2) Amazing Rocky gets Zac Purton aboard for the third consecutive start and seems to be going well this prep. He’s trialled well since finishing fourth down the Sha Tin straight and should be able to run well again.
(9) Fabulous Eight has never been an easy horse to catch but has consistently been a good value play when racing at each-way odds. Tonight is a perfect example with Hugh Bowman aboard a horse who’s fit now 3rd up and rarely runs a bad race over this trip.
(5) Speedy Fortune will be far better for his race experience on debut when 7th and supported slightly in the market. Silvestre De Sousa and John Size are both capable of managing a winner and from gate 6 he looks to have some chance.
(11) Handsome Rebel Win
$3.20 (2 Units)
Race 3
If (8) Baebae Tsoi is able to begin as well as he did last time, the wide draw tonight shouldn’t bother him as he’ll be able to lead fairly comfortably with not a lot of speed in the race. From the front, he should be very difficult to run down with only 51.5kg after Angus Chung’s 4.5kg claim. This bloke’s third placing to Stunning Impact last time reads well now with that horse winning a strong C3 race since.
(3) Sparky Star looks a top hope in this race after missing the start slightly from a wide gate last time and working home well only 2L off Fire Ball. That said, he’s a very unpredictable horse and regularly gives himself plenty to do by beginning slowly and racing erratically.
The best horse for exotics at odds has to be (6) Fire Ball. After winning well last time over 1400m at Sha Tin, he goes up 2.5kg and draws a little bit trickier in gate 7. Still, winning form is good form and I’d be surprised if this horse wasn’t somewhere around the mark in the late stages.
(9) Smoothies results so far this season might have u thinking he’s possessed but on a serious note he’s getting fitter and has had Matthew Poon stay consistent aboard him which is always a positive sign. One for exotics.
(8) Baebae Tsoi Each-Way
$8/$3.10 (0.5 Units)
Race 7
(7) Nordic Dragon has to be overs here. It’s always tough for debutants to win in Hong Kong but goodness me if a debutant was ever going to win it would just about have to be this one. He’s won 2 of his 3 trials and grew wings to fly over the finish line in the other. He looks very smart and well-educated so should be relatively straightforward to steer from gate 4 for Vincent Ho.
(4) Hercules is another horse that is the wrong price here. He’s run 3rd, 1st, and 2nd in three runs this prep which is far better than what most of this field has been able to produce. I expect him again to be in the finish and could definitely recommend an each-way play.
(10) Melbourne Hall is another horse that is in decent form at the moment after winning by 1.3L last time at this trip. Hugh Bowman takes the ride, and he has to be in contention for this race.
(6) Brave Star ran 2nd to Sight Hero on debut which reads well. Expect him to go well again just unsure of how he’ll handle the wide gate.
(7) Nordic Dragon Win
$4.20 (2 Units)
