Hong Kong form expert Luke Middlebrook provides his thoughts on every race at the Hong Kong meeting at Happy Valley on Wednesday, 4 June.
Mr Aladdin (#9) has been in good form recently and looks poised to break through for his first win. Wide draws have hindered him in his past three starts, but he moves into a slightly better gate here in stall 9, and Zac Purton taking the ride suggests he’ll get every chance.
Selections: 9-6-10-2
Lean Hero (#1) returns to Class 4, where three of his four career wins have come, and from barrier 1 he can enjoy all favours. Forget his last start from gate 14 at Sha Tin where he was never in the race, but his prior runs at Happy Valley were encouraging.
Selections: 1-2-9-6
Good Prospect (#10) began fairly last time and settled further back than intended and had excuses in the run. He gets a likeable jockey switch with Andrea Atzeni taking over, and barrier 3 ensures every chance if he jumps on terms.
Selections: 10-3-11-2
Midori Fuji (#1) again draws wide but looks ready to win after back-to-back seconds. Despite the tricky gate, he still shapes as the one to side with. #6 Wrote A New Page makes his Happy Valley debut and brings solid Sha Tin form. His last-start fourth held merit given he raced wide without cover until mid-race over the Sha Tin mile.
Selections: 1-6-7-2
Bienvenue (#2) broke through with a dominant maiden victory last time, his second attempt at this course and distance. The three-year-old looks capable of going back-to-back from barrier 2 where he maps to get every chance.
Selections: 2-8-1-7
Giant Leap (#4) looks to have turned a corner and now chases a hat-trick. He broke through for his first Class 3 win last start with a strong all-the-way effort and has since bolted in a trial. From barrier 1, he gets every chance.
Selections: 4-5-3-11
Casa Rochester (#7) is finding his feet. After dropping in the ratings and breaking through on his third attempt in Class 4, he returned to Class 3 last start and posted a creditable fifth despite striking traffic late. He tries 1800m for the first time, but the trip looks within reach.
Selections: 7-9-2-1
Sky Trust (#2) returned to Happy Valley for his second try last start but again copped a wide gate, his third in a row. Ridden for luck from the back, he had too much work to do but still flashed into fourth—it was a strong effort, and with a better draw and more even run he can bounce back.
Gustosisimo (#4) won a Class 2 race at Sha Tin impressively two starts ago, but from barrier 10 last time he found himself in a slowly run race and couldn’t get into it from his position. He still ran well against the race shape and now returns to his happy hunting ground where the race will be run to suit.
Selections: 4-5-1-2