Trainer Danny Shum Chap-shing may be more focused on helping to purchase the next Romantic Warrior at this week’s Hong Kong International Sale but he’ll still be hoping to make it into the winner’s enclosure at Happy Valley on Wednesday night.
Shum was a keen onlooker at Sunday morning’s breeze-up for sale prospects and he and owner Peter Lau Pak-fai could well be looking to reinvest some of the near HK$40 million won by Hong Kong Derby victor Romantic Warrior in new bloodstock at Saturday’s sale.
First though Shum will be concentrating on his eight runners under the lights this week and he saddles a couple of contenders in the most valuable race on the card, the Class Two Albert Handicap (1,000m), and Lucky More could be on the verge of putting some injury setbacks behind him with a win.
Victorious in three of his first six starts in 2020, he had surgery to correct a roaring condition and was restricted to just three starts last season and was found to have substantial blood in his trachea after the last of those in June 2021.
He has been seen on the track slightly more this season with four visits to Sha Tin and has been unlucky in his past two runs, beaten by a short-head when second on his penultimate start and failing by only a nose when third to dead-heaters Trillion Win and Fantastic Way in November.
Off the track since, he suffered a minor leg injury in March and finished in midfield in a recent 1,200m trial on dirt.
Lucky More makes only his second visit to the city circuit but Shum’s other runner Handsome Bo Bo is a Happy Valley veteran, with all seven of his runs this season coming at the course.
The seven-year-old’s best efforts came when finishing runner-up on his first two starts this term and after a few disappointing outings, he showed signs of a return to form when fourth behind Family Folks, Lucky Sweynesse and Voyage Warrior last time.
Shum would have been hopeful of finally getting a win out of See U Again in the Class Four Garden Road Handicap (1,000m) but the three-year-old was withdrawn on Tuesday morning because of a lame right fore.
Harmony N Home takes his chance in section two of the Class Four Harcourt Handicap (1,200m) and is another Shum runner who could be working towards a win.
Lui heads to the Valley with improving sprinters Stoltz and Rising From Ashes
He is now rated 10 points lower than when winning over this course and distance in March last year and showed far more last time when runner-up to Ambitious Heart.
While his form figures this season look largely uninspiring, he can be forgiven plenty after breaking from double-figure draws in six of his 10 starts.
With Namjong Sings, Encore, Sunny Delight, Kowloon Great and Zacian completing Shum’s team, he will be hopeful of plundering more prize money before shifting his focus to finding the next Romantic Warrior.
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