Son Pak Fu must carry a career-high weight to victory on Wednesday night to become the first galloper since Fa Fa to win five consecutive Happy Valley races.
Even after regular rider Jerry Chau Chun-lok’s two-pound claim, Son Pak Fu’s Class Three Aldrich Bay Handicap (1,200m) impost is 133 pounds – one pound more than the weight the in-form youngster carried to the third of his four Happy Valley victories in a row.
Furthermore, Son Pak Fu, whose rating has soared from 43 to 79 following his three Class Four successes and last-start three-length Class Three triumph, jumps from a wide gate for the first time since he began winning Happy Valley sprints by wide margins.
Son Pak Fu exits barrier 11 – he compiled his Happy Valley four-timer from gates three (twice) and four (twice) – although the presence of handlebars-down apprentice jockey Angus Chung Yik-lai aboard city circuit debutant Superb Capitalist may splinter the field and provide Chau with an opportunity to get closer to the rail than if the tempo was sedate.
Gold Gold Baby has won five Happy Valley contests this season, but Francis Lui Kin-wai’s fast-finishing city circuit specialist has not strung together more than two victories, in no small part because his entrenched racing pattern disadvantages him in slowly run events.
Fa Fa, trained by Frankie Lor Fu-chuen and ridden in all of his wins by Vincent Ho Chak-yiu, completed the latest Happy Valley five-timer, which began with his Class Four success on June 23, 2021, and ended with his Class Two triumph on December 8 later that year.
Son Pak Fu, whose rapid rise through the grades trainer Benno Yung Tin-pang attributes to the minor gear change the trainer made in January – blinkers off, blinker with one cowl only back on – is not the only last-start winner in the Aldrich Bay Handicap field.
Telecom Speed returns to Class Three after his Class Four victory on the same Happy Valley card Son Pak Fu headlined three weeks ago, albeit with a different rider. Karis Teetan sticks with John Size’s Juneau Flash, so Keith Yeung Ming-lun steers Me Tsui Yu-sak’s lightly weighted speedster from gate seven.
The Class Two Victoria Handicap (1,200m) is the most valuable race on Wednesday night’s programme. Among its entrants are last-start winner Howdeepisyourlove, Happy Valley rookie Packing Treadmill and the galloper on whom Chau incurred his recently ratified six-meeting ban for improper riding, Astrologer.
Size’s Howdeepisyourlove overcame the interference he suffered due to Chau’s actions aboard Astrologer to post his fourth win – his third Happy Valley victory on the spin – and he looks a 100-plus-rated sprinter in waiting. Teetan partners him from barrier six.
Brazilian jockeys De Sousa and Borges banned by Jockey Club for betting offences
Lui’s Packing Treadmill, who placed third in this term’s Classic Mile after winning six of his opening eight contests, makes his first competitive Happy Valley appearance. Hugh Bowman’s mount has trialled twice at the city circuit but not since he kicked off his four-year-old campaign in October.
Pierre Ng Pang-chi’s Astrologer reappears following his six-and-a-half-length last of 12 under Chau that angered Jockey Club stewards. Luke Ferraris takes over from Chau, and the new combination jumps from gate three. Packing Treadmill exits barrier eight.
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