Welcome to our horse racing preview and betting tips for racing at Sha Tin on Sunday, April 12th.
We've got a monster 11-race card in Hong Kong this afternoon, with racing on the C course.
Check out our race-by-race preview and betting tips below!
Sha Tin Racing Tips: Sunday, April 12th
Best Bet: Race 10 - (13) Fantastic Show
Best Value: Race 7 - (3) Dream Warriors
Interesting little Griffin race to kick things off, with a field of six unraced horses. I'm with the sole two-year-old in the field, (6) Like That. Trained by John Moore, ridden by Zac Purton, he's had one trial which was up at Conghua. He jumped terribly (he wasn't the only one) and settled a long way off the leader, but I thought he made really nice ground late in the trial. He was beaten 5.25L but he was about 10L off the leader early. I would expect they've done some more barrier work with him since then and Purton going on is a positive lead. (5) Sunny Star lines up for Francis Lui and Vincent Ho. He's had three trials coming into today and while he's been well-beaten in all of them, I think they've been good. His most recent trial in particular was very sneaky. He coasted to the line picking up nice ground late and the form out of that trial has proven very good with Young Legend winning on Wednesday night. I think $5.50 is the wrong price for him. Those are the two I'll be backing.
Value: (5) Sunny Star $5.50
Now isn't this a Class 5 in Hong Kong if I've ever seen one! Two of the top three in betting here have had a combined 43 starts for 0 wins. On top goes (1) Bella Baby who gets a class drop today so should be very competitive. Only three starts ago he placed over this track in distance in Class 4 behind Trust Me, who has since come out and won again and is now heading into Class 3. Bella Baby, on the other hand, drops to Class 5. Two starts ago he ran against the likes of War Of Courage and Fantasy, with six horses coming out of that race to win since. Karis Teetan goes back aboard tonight and if the horse can perform similarly to what he was doing at Sha Tin earlier this prep, he'll probably win. (7) Roman Odyssey left for a spell in good form and although those final two runs were at Happy Valley, he might be able to run a good race fresh here. Trainer Manfred Man has a decent record with his runners over 1000m at Sha Tin. (12) Jimson The Dragon is our favourite and gets a big jockey change with Purton going on, but he's hardly a horse you can trust.
Value: (7) Roman Odyssey $13
I think we can take on the favourite (3) Glorious Seeker here. He's placed in his past four starts but he's struggling to win one. Moreira sticks with him today and he gets a positive draw in barrier 6, but he creeps up in the weights again and just can't seem to get his head in front. (1) Allied Agility is a bit in the same boat. He's been good in three starts since dropping to Class 5, and he was only beaten a head over the mile here last start. He gets Purton on board today and should get his chance, but he's another that just struggles to get his head in front. I'd rather back him than Glorious Seeker though. With that said, I'm going around both of them. (4) Fortune Patrol goes on top at $7.50. He dropped into Class 5 last start at Happy Valley but I think he's better suited here at Sha Tin. Just three starts ago he ran 3rd over the mile here in Class 4, and prior to his last run, the last time he was in Class 5 he won. He's got a decent record over the 1800m at Sha Tin, Karis Teetan goes on today and the only little negative is barrier 11. Another one to include at odds is (12) Wicker. He's another that's better suited back to Sha Tin. Five starts ago he won over this track and distance, then ran 4th behind the likes of McMunigal, Glorious Seeker and Allied Agility. While all those horses have risen in the weights, he actually drops a kg from that race with the claim for Victor Wong, and he gets a soft draw in barrier 2. He's the value at $10.
(2) Good View Clarico was a good winner first up over the 1000m straight course here at Sha Tin, posting a 1.3L margin. Purton rode him that day and sticks with him today and he gets a good draw in barrier 3. This doesn't look much harder so despite the 3kg rise in the weights, he should be able to win again, especially if he's taken improvement from that fresh run. Slight query over the form out of that first up race, but again this doesn't look a great deal harder. (8) Golden Link lines up on debut for premiership-leading trainer Ricky Yiu. He's trialled reasonably well leading into this and anything Ricky Yiu sends around in a sprint race - or in any race for that matter - deserves plenty of respect. He can certainly be included at $9.50. I'm very wary of (11) Shining On returning to Sha Tin. Vincent Ho teams up with Francis Lui and he's getting down to a winnable mark, though he doesn't win out of turn. (1) Honest Way gets a class drop. He's actually a winner in Class 3 over this track and distance, so dropping to Class 4 for the first time since 2018 is a big positive.
(2) Good View Clarico
$2.10
Competitive race and not much stands out here. (5) Party Genius gets Purton on, riding for Douglas Whyte. These two have only teamed up on four occasions this season so it's notable that Whyte calls upon the champion jockey. He's having his third start today after finishing 7th and 6th in his first two starts. He was ridden cold on debut but they fired him forward last start, but he had to do plenty of work to find the front. He battled on well to be beaten just 2L and if they can find the front a touch easier today, they may well be able to steal it. Interesting to see what the early tactics will be. (14) Iron King is running well without winning. He gets a positive draw today which gives him his chance but he's just struggling to win one. (2) Loriz battled on well behind Ka Ying Excellent last start. He cops a wide draw here with the big weight but that's a decent form line and with the right run he'll be very competitive again. (1) Happy Force gets a class drop. He's badly out of form but if he could rediscover his best form he'd be very competitive in this grade.
(5) Colonel should be winning this after a 2nd placing to Beluga last time out over track and distance, where he sped across to lead from barrier 12 before being run down late. If you go back through his races, he's got form behind the likes of Wellington, Ping Hai Bravo, Ka Ying Excellent et al. Purton goes on tday, gets a good draw and looks the one to beat. (2) Happily Friends can improve from his first up run, where he didn't get much room early in the straight. He gets the inside barrier today so has claims at each way odds.
Sticking with two horses I backed last start in (7) Jade Phoenix and (3) Dream Warriors. Jade Phoenix started $1.80 last start when he could only manage 5th. Happy to forgive him for that one poor performance and if you’re big on SP profiles then this horse fits the bill and we’re getting $4.40 today. Moreira jumps off but Purton jumps on. Happy to give him another go. Dream Warriors reeled off some sizzling sectionals two starts ago when he came from the back of the field to run 3rd. He got caught wide last start so the rider elected to roll forward to sit outside the leader. He did a god job to battle on for 3rd but I think that took the dash out of him, so don’t be surprised to see him ridden cold from the wide gate today. $9.00 looks a good bet once again. Wary of (9) Galactic. Moreira rode him on debut when he ran 5th. He sticks with him today stepping up to 1400m and he goes around at $11.
Value: (3) Dream Warriors $9.00
We’ve got a couple of horses who quite like to turn it up engaged here, and I’ve got one of them on top in (6) Super Elegance. I think he’s an each way bet to nothing here at $5.00/$1.95. He ran 2nd four times in a row earlier this prep, followed by a 4th where he ran home strongly from the back of the field, and it was a complete horror show for him last start. He went back, tried to weave his way through runners in the straight but got chopped in half at the 300m mark and that was all she wrote. Forget he even went around. Jockey change today with Karis Teetan taking over and he starts from barrier 3, which is the most successful barrier over this track and distance on the C course, with six winners from 20 starters. (1) Enzemble is another non-winner. He ran four consecutive placings prior to last start, where he got three-wide without cover for most of the race. Moreira sticks with him today and will want to atone. Purton rides (8) Blastoise who comes off a win at Happy Valley carrying 51.5kg. That was just his second run in Class 3, and he cops a 4kg rise in the weights today. He couldn’t win in this class here at Sha Tin two starts ago so I struggle to see him winning this. (4) Naboo Star is racing in great form, but is he going to be as good at Sha Tin as he is at Happy Valley?
(6) Super Elegance E/W
$5.00
Now this is a good little race. (1) Valiant Dream should have won last start, he was basically in front before and after the post but not on the line. He’s now finished in the top two in five of his last six starts. He cops a weight rise here but the horse who ran 3rd in that race has since come out and won so the form is good and he will be hard to toss again. Really interested to see how (12) Kurpany goes here and I’ll be backing him each way at $7.00 as my main play in the race. Purton jumps off two horses he rode in this race at their last start to ride Kurpany instead. This is a horse he had been trialling before his debut, where he couldn’t ride him as he was instead on the winner of the race, Wellington. The form out of that race is red-hot. Wellington is unbeaten, Larson ran 2nd and has since won, Victoriam ran 3rd and has since won. He’s drawn well here and if he can begin better than what he did last start, I think he’ll run a huge race here. (7) Flying Genius is one of the horses Purton jumps off to ride Kurpany. I expect Flying Genius to bounce back from his poor showing last start on the dirt. Tony Cruz has a horrible record on the dirt so forget he even went around. He can improve sharply. (8) Trust Me was the other horse Purton rode, in fact he’s been on him his past two starts, which have both been wins. He rises in class today though and carries 56.5kg, which is a pretty big weight to carry when rising in class. He’s found a very deep race to contest. (2) Heart Conquered is going well and gets Moreira on today.
It’s not often Moreira jumps off a last-start John Size winner but he does so here to keep the ride on (13) Fantastic Show. He’s put back-to-back wins together over this track and distance in Class 4 and although he rises to Class 3 today, he can win again. He gets a slightly sticky draw in barrier 8 so he won’t get the charmed run he had from barrier 1 last time, but he started from gate 8 two starts ago and won dominantly. Think he can win again and looks Moreira’s best chance of the day. (11) Joyful Heart is flying. He also put back-to-back wins together in Class 4 and ran 2nd in this class last start, powering home after being momentarily held up early in the straight. He gets a wide draw today which will take some negotiating but expect him to race well. (10) Namjong Sings is another with a wide draw that could run well at blowout odds third up from a spell.
(13) Fantastic Show
$2.80
Very tricky end to the card! (1) Beauty Legacy (formerly Hawkshot in Australia) won impressively on debut in Hong Kong back in January and since then they’ve tested him up in distance, but without success. He’s been freshened up and brought back in distance to 1400m today, with a trial since his last run. Moreira jumps back on. If he was to reproduce that first up run, he’d win, but it’s just a big query as to whether he can. (3) Decrypt was stepped up from 1400m to 2000m for the Hong Kong Derby last start, and now back to 1400m. That’s an odd prep and although he has Purton on and a great record at 1400m, that lead up to this race has to be a query. (4) Perfect Match was ordinary last start when Purton rode him. He was dropping from 1400m to 1200m but never gave a yelp. He’s straight back up to 1400m here, where he has five wins and a 2nd from six starts. He actually beat Decrypt a few runs back but gets in significantly worse at the weights against him here. With that said, with the odd lead ups those horses mentioned above bring into this race, he might well be able to win again. It’s not often I jump on a horse Purton has jumped off but it’s hard to ignore his record. (11) General’s Delight ran a bottler first up, where he carried top weight in class 4 and was held up until the 200m mark but finished strongly once clear to get within about a head. Up in class but down in weight, drawn a touch awkwardly but might catch a few of these on the right day and $10 looks a decent price.
Value: (11) General's Delight $10
