Barzalona becomes Class Four gun for hire after Covid panic

One of the more select clubs in racing – jockeys who have flown halfway around the world for one Class Four ride – looks poised to have a new member this weekend.

As part of the fallout of the Covid panic that engulfed the Jockey Club earlier this week, Mickael Barzalona will be flown into ride Ricky Yiu Poon-fai-trained debutant Mighty Stride in the Class Four BOCHK SME In One Handicap (1,200m) at Sha Tin on Sunday.

The Frenchman’s services were acquired after Zac Purton tested positive to Covid-19 on Sunday, and Hugh Bowman was deemed a close contact of an infected family member after arriving in Hong Kong later that day.

At no stage was either ruled out of competing at Sunday’s feature meeting, and the Jockey Club’s announcement of Barzalona’s availability came on the same Tuesday afternoon it confirmed Bowman was not a close contact after all and is free to ride this weekend.

Barzalona will jet in all the same and is the standby jockey for three of Purton’s undercard rides – Running Glory, Golden Express and Hit The Shot – although the reigning champion jockey is considered a strong chance to compete on the weekend.

Purton must pass rapid antigen tests on Saturday and Sunday and meet “the club’s requirements under our internal protocols” on Sunday, which in layman’s terms means he needs to be negative on the PCR test all Hong Kong jockeys must undertake every day.

The Godolphin-retained Barzalona will cover some serious territory this weekend, riding one horse for the Blue Army in Bahrain on Friday before heading to Hong Kong via Paris.

In fairness to the Jockey Club – which was no doubt keen to have as much star power as possible at the main Hong Kong International Races lead-up meeting – it’s a handy name to have sitting on the bench in case Purton is still testing positive, or someone else gets infected.

It’s no Soumillon circus, but Bowman blow shows how far behind HK remains

But when you consider the likes of Bowman, Vincent Ho Chak-yiu, Blake Shinn and Lyle Hewitson are also available to pick up the Purton rides for which Barzalona is on standby – and that the Frenchman won’t ride in any of the Group Two features – it seems more than a tad unnecessary.

Maybe the club will use it as a chance to sell Hong Kong to Barzalona in the hope he might agree to a short-term riding stint following his international week engagements in December.

Barzalona will be back in town for the Longines International Jockeys’ Championship next month – another meeting at which the Jockey Club will have star power manning the bench.

While Jamie Kah and Jye McNeil have been locked in to represent Australia in the four-race competition on December 7, Bowman was conspicuous in his absence from the line-up considering he is going to be in Hong Kong for the next three months.

But, as this week has proven, Hong Kong is still more than capable of creating Covid headaches for itself, and the 104-time Group One winner will be a welcome substitute should the pandemic keep any of the eight international jockeys from taking their place.

Chung helps keep Cruz on top

Angus Chung Yik-lai’s maiden Happy Valley winner on Wednesday night helped his master Tony Cruz maintain his slender lead at the top of the trainers’ premiership and it had a few wondering – how long will the legendary handler be the only one with access to the 26-year-old at the city circuit?

Ten-pound claimers can be like gold on the tight-turning track with its short straight and Chung certainly made use of his weight relief aboard Circuit Elite, leading all the way to salute.

It was only Chung’s second meeting riding at the Valley after getting his eye in at Sha Tin and all six of his rides there so far have come for Cruz, something which the apprentice jockey indicated might change next week.

“We’ve discussed how Happy Valley is a little bit tricky with its tight turns. I have to know the track first. I’ll probably start taking outside rides for the meeting there on November 23,” Chung said ahead of his Valley debut.

It sounds like there’ll be more than a few trainers inquiring about Chung’s availability for upcoming Valley meetings.

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