Trainer David Hall has been in the winner’s enclosure at the past three Sha Tin meetings and he heads into Wednesday night’s fixture with plenty of chances to continue that recent good run.
Hall registered his 22nd success of the season when Nicholson Returns saluted on Sunday and in Captain Win, he trains a horse who has perhaps been unlucky not to add to a victory in only his second start in Hong Kong in November.
That win came at Class Three level and resulted in him being raised to a mark of 77 and he has since gone up to a rating of 81 and into Class Two company despite not winning in six subsequent starts.
The four-year-old has also proved costly to follow of late and has been beaten at odds of $4 or shorter in four of his past five starts.
Likely to again be well found in the market, Captain Win contests the Class Three Tuen Mun Handicap (1,200m) on the dirt as a result of the race being framed for horses rated 85-60.
A disappointing eighth on his latest start, Captain Win drops to this trip for the first time since his Hong Kong debut and Hall has chosen to give him his first run on an all-weather surface.
“I just took advantage of the rating, it’s an 85-60-rated race, and he’s obviously had to reset a little bit,” Hall said.
“He was trying to go to the Derby but he was pulling too hard and we brought him back to 1,400m and they sort of backed the pressure off that day and he still was on the bridle a bit too much.
“It’s more or less about resetting and starting off again. He trials well on the dirt and the race is suitable. The distance might be a bit short but it might just teach him to relax and get him back to where he should be.
“We’ve got Zac Purton to ride him and if we can get the win that would be great, but as long as he’s relaxing and charging home we’re still on the right path.”
While Captain Win’s career has taken place only on turf thus far, it’s a different matter for the Hall-trained Bear Slam, who makes his 25th all-weather start in the Class Three Tin Shui Wai Handicap (1,650m).
The seven-year-old has been campaigned only on dirt since October and showed signs of a rejuvenation when finishing second, one place in front of reopposing rival Apache Pass, in his last start.
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He is having his fourth run for Hall after joining the yard following the midseason departure of David Ferraris and his new trainer is expecting another good performance.
“His form wasn’t that great but he came to me and he’s just been a little bit of a surprise,” Hall said.
“He trialled well, Blake [Shinn] knows the horse – he’s ridden him previously – and he thinks he’s in a good head space to what he used to be and his recent runs have shown that. Hopefully he’ll be a force [on Wednesday].”
Hall has six runners on the Sha Tin card, with Oversubscribed, Sun Of Makfi, This Is Charisma and Flying Mighty all set to compete for the trainer at the midweek meeting.
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