Track record holder Stoltz returns to Happy Valley one year on from lame loss

One year to the day he sustained the injury that put him out of action for nearly nine months, Happy Valley 1,000m track record holder Stoltz will return to the city circuit on Thursday to contest the Class Two Hong Kong Park Handicap over his favourite trip.

Thursday will see Stoltz’s first appearance at Happy Valley since July 6 last year when he finished 11th of 12 over the same course and distance he had covered in 55.85 seconds to shatter the track record and break through for his maiden Hong Kong win in January 2022.

Stoltz’s rider, Zac Purton, told Jockey Club stewards he thought the More Than Ready gelding’s heavy impost of 135 pounds and starting position of gate eight contributed to the three-time Happy Valley 1,000m winner’s poor performance at $4.8. More significantly, though, veterinary surgeons identified lameness in the right front leg of the Francis Lui Kin-wai-trained sprinter.

Lui was patient with Stoltz – the former Annabel Neasham-prepared galloper did not pass his compulsory veterinary examination until February 27 – and the five-year-old speedster rewarded his trainer and connections with his impressive third-up victory under Purton over 1,000m at Sha Tin on May 28.

“He had a leg problem, but he’s recovered,” said Lui of Stoltz, one of only six runners in the highest-rated race on Thursday’s card. “It took him a long time to come right. We gave him a lot of time.”

Lui said the calendar forced him to run Stoltz over 1,200m on his first two starts this season – “sometimes, the programme gives you no choice” – but, as the 100-rated sprinter showed at Sha Tin on his third outing, 1,000m is his optimum distance.

“He’s kept his form. The distance is his best trip. He’s a lovely horse,” said Lui, who will saddle up half a dozen gallopers on Thursday as he tries to beat Caspar Fownes in the unofficial race for the King of the Valley crown.

One win behind Fownes in the unsanctioned Happy Valley trainers’ championship, Lui will saddle Brave Star, Skyey Supreme, The Equalizer, Theta Hedge, Stoltz and fellow last-start victor Joyful Hunter during this term’s penultimate meeting at the city circuit.

Joyful Hunter turned heads at Happy Valley on June 14 when he overcame gate 10 to win a Class Four contest over 1,200m by two lengths on debut.

“It’s not easy to do that at Happy Valley. I wasn’t surprised. I knew he had potential,” Lui said.

“He’s improved out of his first run. He has quality, but he’s still green. He tries – you saw that in his first run that he won. He has a good fighting heart.”

Vincent Ho Chak-yiu will ride Joyful Hunter again, one of this term’s Tony Cruz Award winner-elect’s eight assignments across Thursday’s nine-race card.

Chang hits home run to avoid third strike and score licence for next season

Ho, who requires eight more victories this campaign to become the first local jockey to win 100 races in a term, and Purton, who needs another five successes to eclipse Joao Moreira’s single-season record of 171 triumphs, now have 40 chances to salute the judge after the Jockey Club added an 11th event – another Class Four dash – to Sunday’s programme at Sha Tin.

Outgoing Tony Cruz Award winner Matthew Chadwick is fit to resume riding after recovering from the back injury he sustained dismounting the ill-fated Man Light at Sha Tin last weekend. Chadwick has a small book of three rides at Happy Valley on Thursday.

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