Welcome to our horse racing preview and betting tips for racing at Happy Valley on Wednesday, April 15th.
Happy Valley hosts a big nine-race card tonight, with the first race set to get underway at 8.45pm AEST. Racing is on the C-course tonight.
Check out our best bets of the night here!
Happy Valley Racing Tips: Wednesday, April 15th
Race 2
Good little contest here between (8) Yee Cheong Pegasus and (10) Compassion Spirit. They ran 2nd and 3rd last start at Sha Tin and meet again back at the Valley tonight. The barrier positions could make all the difference here, with Yee Cheong Pegasus drawn 9 and Compassion Spirit drawn 3. On the C-course, it's more favourable to draw inside over the 1200m distance. Their respective final 400m at Sha Tin last start was 22.19 and 22.20, so there's not a greal deal splitting them. With Purton going on Compassion Spirit for the first time and a more favourable draw, I'll put him on top. The blowout chance could be (9) Sweetly Baby. He's done very little in two career starts but gets a few positives tonight. Firstly, he makes his Happy Valley debut. Trainer Casper Fownes has a much greater success rate at Happy Valley than he does at Sha Tin. Additionally, he draws barrier 2, which is beneficial on the C-course over 1200m and is much better than barrier 13 which he started from last start. Expect him to make use of that barrier tonight and be closer to the speed. $34 is a good price.
Value: (9) Sweetly Baby $34
(10) Compassion Spirit
$2.60
Race 4
Reckon this is between the top two in the weights and the two horses represent the top two trainers. (1) Happy Good Guys represents the Ricky Yiu/Vincent Ho combo and comes off a last-start win at the track and distance. He drew barrier 1 and box seated on that occasion, making good use of it to score by 1.3L. He cops a 3kg rise in the weights as a result tonight, so that makes it harder, but the good draw helps again. (2) Shanghai Master represents Francis Lui and Zac Purton. Interestingly, Vincent Ho rode this horse last start but elects to stick with Happy Good Guys. However, Francis Lui has a better record with runners over 1200m at Happy Valley, with 10 winners from 49 starters, while Ricky Yiu has 6 from 46. Shanghai Master has a decent barrier with gate 6. I'll side with him on top because the rise in weight might just anchor down Happy Good Guys. (3) The Runner gets his chance from barrier 1.
(2) Shanghai Master
$3.10
Race 6
This is a beauty of a race. (2) Californiadeepshot won on his HK debut but has failed in two starts since. He's had a seven-week break since his last run and a trial in between with Moreira on board, who takes the ride on him for the first time tonight. He ran 2nd in his trial behind (11) Victory In Hand and by my eye, he went better than Victory In Hand, who he also lines up against tonight. The tricky thing for him tonight is carrying 60kg and drawing barrier 9, while Victory In Hand draws barrier 2 and from there will lead. Victory In Hand has two wins from four starts at the track and distance and I've already made mention of trainer Francis Lui's terrific record with runners over this track and distance. The draw is a bonus and he will take plenty of running down. The horse that might roll them both is (3) Shouson who has three wins from his past five starts and comes off a 2.5L win at the track and distance last time out. He drew barrier 1 and box seated on that occasion, so he won't get it as easy from barrier 6 here, but it's hardly a poor draw. He had excuses in the two races he didn't win recently, so with even luck he's every chance of winning once more.
Race 8
Three chances here. (8) Victory In Power has only won one race from 26 starts but it was over this track and distance back in December and from barrier 1 tonight he gets the chance to add to his tally. The inside draw is a huge advantage but it's hard to be confident about a horse with such a poor winning strike rate. (1) Winning Method has two wins from five starts at this track and distance, and the three runs in between those two wins all had legitimate excuses. He cops a weight rise tonight but draws OK in barrier 5 and at $6.00, he's a decent bet to win again. Purton takes a ride for leading trainer Ricky Yiu here on (7) Island Shine, and he replaces Alex Lai, which is the biggest jockey change you can get in Hong Kong. He comes off a good run last start and despite the wide draw looks a good bet at $7.00.
Value: (7) Island Shine $7.00
