Welcome to our horse racing preview and betting tips for racing at Sha Tin on Wednesday, April 1st.
We're on the all-weather track tonight for eight races, with the first race set to jump at 10.15pm AEDT.
Check out our preview and tips for every race below!
Sha Tin Racing Tips: Wednesday, April 1st
Best Bet: Race 8 - (1) Glorious Artist / (5) Kings Shield
Best Value Bet: Race 6 - (5) Highland Fortune
I've spent about an hour on this race and am still not necessarily any wiser. Moreira jumps back on (4) Aurora Steed tonight. The horse dropped from Class 4 to Class 5 for the first time last start and that saw him get within 1.3L of his first win. He steps up to 1200m tonight and tackles the dirt for the first time tonight. Based on last start and with Moreira going on, he has to be going close. There's a few at good odds to include. (3) General Trump won three starts ago and has placed in consecutive races since. Last start was in Class 4 but he's back into Class 5 tonight, however Moreira jumps off. He's drawn wide but barrier draws don't really matter over this track and distance. He's in good form and can feature again. (9) Fox Cheunger represents the stable of Francis Lui, who is the trainer to look for on the dirt. He's had five winners and four placings from 18 runners over 1200m on the dirt. My main concern is they'll ride him cold from the barrier but he's actually racing OK and the $26 looks a big price. (2) Chungwha Jingshen hasn't done much to date but he actually finished off OK down the straight last start. That was a Class 4 and he's down to Class 5 tonight and he comes out of a much faster-run race than what he might get here down in class. He's another to have something on at $17. Could back all four of those at the odds but definitely something on Fox Cheunger and Chungwha Jingshen at big odds.
Also backing: (2) Chungwha Jingshen $17
(5) Shimmer And Shine went close last start over this same track and distance on the dirt. He's actually got a good record on the dirt with one win and three placings from six starts. He was only beaten half-a-length and he gets in a kilogram lighter in the weights tonight, so with even luck from the middle draw he should prove hard to beat. Francis Lui sends around (8) Thou Shall Sing with Vincent Ho in the saddle. He should improve from that first up run and I've already mentioned how good the trainer's record is on the dirt, so he must be respected despite his form looking poor.
(5) Shimmer And Shine
$3.50
(7) Hidden Spirit was a last start winner over this track and distance, taking his record to three wins from five starts on the dirt over 1650m. He cops a couple of kg rise in the weights as a result for that but he's drawn well and can win again as the dirt specialist. (2) Good Fit is well past his best but he drops back into Class 5 for the first time since June 2016! He's a dirt specialist too, with seven career wins on the surface. If he was to be anywhere near his best in this class he'd win. (9) Red Brick Fighter is racing consistently well without being able to crack it for a win. This is his dirt debut and he can be included.
Moreira and Size team up here with (7) Excel Delight who should be very hard to beat from barrier 2. He was a winner over track and distance three runs back before Moreira jumped on again last start and went down by a neck. Gets a better barrier draw tonight and carries practically the same weight so he gets his chance to win again. (2) Goldie Flanker is from the Manfred Man stable and he is a specalist trainer on the dirt. He's had 12 top-two finishes from 27 runners over 1200m on the dirt this season. He's drawn barrier 12 but that's not a huge worry. (10) Blade Racer can be thrown in at 20/1.
(14) Super Red Dragon hasn't won a race yet but still rises in class to Class 4 tonight after placing in Class 5 in recent starts. He carries just 51.5kg on his back and draws well in barrier 2 for Karis Teetan. Being drawn inside barrier 6 is a positive here. Trainer Chris So has a good record with his runners on the dirt over 1600m, with five placings from 10 starters. (6) This Ones For You is the hardest to beat, also from a good draw. He didn't run to his best over 1800m but he returns to 1650m tonight where he has a terrific record. The Hong Kong pearl is back in action here with Purton going straight onto a class-dropper in (1) Jade Fortune. Unfortunately the barrier draw does him no favours but at $8.50 he's at least some value.
(14) Super Red Dragon
$3.30
Very competitive race. (8) Flying Genius ran 2nd last start after drawing wide and sliding across to lead. He gets Alfred Chan replaced by Zac Purton tonight in a huge jockey change and also draws better in barrier 2. He put a couple of wins together at Happy Valley not long ago and gets his chance to get on the board at Sha Tin tonight. (9) Just Not Listening ran 3rd in that same race behind Flying genius last start. He's a three-time winner at the track and distance and gets Moreira on tonight. He also gets a 3kg weight swing on Flying Genius so from barrier 1 he's a big chance. (5) Highland Fortune could be the value at $8.00 for Francis Lui and Vincent Ho. He ran 4th in that race but was only first up so might have improvement to come, and Francis Lui has a great record on the dirt with his runners. Looks a good price. Manfred Man is another trainer with a great record on the dirt, especially over 1200m, and he is represented by (11) Utopia Life.
Value: (5) Highland Fortune $8.00
He doesn't win out of turn but (6) Red Elysees gets another chance to break through tonight. He has run 2nd at the track and distance on the dirt before and I think the draw probably suits him tonight. He drew inside last start and just had a bit much to do but he still made up good ground to finish less than 2L off the winner. Dirt suits him and he's always around the mark, it's just whether Purton can actually get him to put his head in front. (4) Righteous Doctrine was a winner at this track and distance last start and looks the horse to beat.
If (1) Glorious Artist is near his best, he should be winning this. The query is whether he's at his best given his past three runs have all been poor, but they've all been on the turf and he gets back to his favourite surface on the dirt tonight. Last time he raced on dirt he won, where he defeated the likes of (3) Buddies and (4) Raging Blitzkrieg. They get a weight swing on him tonight but I'm not sure if they're quite at the same class level as Glorious Artist on the dirt. His biggest danger will be (5) Kings Shield who produced a 4.8L win at his only start on the dirt, and that was over Buddies, so the form certainly lines up. His first two runs back from a spell have been building up to this and they've both been on the turf, so third up on the dirt looks ideal for him. He will definitely look to come across from barrier 12 and he'll be very hard to beat. Very confident backing both GLorious Artist and Kings Shield here.
Also backing: (5) Kings Shield $5.00
(1) Glorious Artist
$4.60
