Everything Points towards victory for talented Sword
HONG Kong racing fans can look forward to a nine-race programme on the all-weather surface at Sha Tin on Wednesday, starting at 11.45am.
With thunder and lightning interrupting the action at Sha Tin over the weekend, weather conditions have luckily quietened down, and spectators will have no need for an umbrella.
Racing on the dirt surface is always full of pitfalls for serious-minded bettors, so the best advice could be to follow a jockey riding full of confidence at present, and the current all-weather leading rider, Andrea Atzeni, fits the bill.
He is in peak form at present. Riding winners at five out of the last six meetings, he capped off his hot streak with a successful treble at Sha Tin on Sunday.
The 35-year-old has plenty of good rides on the card and is presently on the 52-winner mark for the season and looks guaranteed to surpass his personal best of 58 victories before the campaign ends.
He and trainer John Size are a partnership to follow, having recorded 17 wins together so far this term and can add to that total with well-drawn ENDEARED in the Camellia Handicap over the extended mile (3.15pm).
The six-year-old may not win too often nowadays but has shown a new lease of life since the beginning of the year, with a victory over seven furlongs on turf in March, and two recent head-bobbing defeats, including one over the course and distance last month.
With the inside gate two a bonus, and his main rivals, notably Talents Ambition, Loch Tay, and Sky Vino drawn wide and near the Shing Mun River, he will never get a better chance to resume winning ways.
In the same race, keep an eye on SWORD POINT, who was once rated the best all-weather galloper in the city but has since fallen from grace after a disappointing trip to the Dubai World Cup meeting last year.
The son of American Pharoah has failed to recover his best form since, but he did finally show encouraging signs behind Nautical Force over nine furlongs on turf recently and is racing off a 22-pound lower mark from his last win on the surface.
Another jockey worth watching during the meeting is young Nichola Yuen who has gained plenty of plaudits with five wins from 34 rides in her first month of race-riding in the city.
With her 10-pound riding claim worth its weight in gold, it is understandable that she is the only jockey riding at the meeting that has her card marked in all nine races.
Front running Yoda’s Choice with Yuen aboard will be a popular choice in the nine-furlong Lotus Handicap (1.15pm), and it is a similar story with another Yuen front-runner Tourbillon Golfer in the first division of the six-furlong Carnation Handicap (1.45pm).
Both have strong claims on form and will surely go close to winning.
POINTERS
Endeared 3.15pm Sha Tin
Sword Point (e/w) 3.15pm Sha Tin