SHA TIN in Hong Kong serves up another highly competitive, but fiendishly difficult, 10-race programme on Sunday where finding winners, at least judged on the formbook, is going to be a task.
The feature race on the card is the Nam Long Shan Handicap (10.50am), a Class Two contest worth just over £300,000 and run over the extended mile on the all-weather surface.
This is a contest with just too many imponderables, with the likes of all-weather specialists Adefill, All For St Paul’s, Berlin Tango and Apache Pass taking on some useful middle-distance performers, notably Moments In Time, Chill Chibi and Red Hare King, who have yet to race on the dirt surface.
Earlier on the card, a more attractive proposition could be to support the John Size-trained MAJESTIC EXPRESS who gets his chance to record his first win in Hong Kong, in the Chinese Recreation Club Challenge Cup (8.00am), a handicap over six furlongs.
12-time champion trainer Size, as per normal, has made another slow start to the current campaign with just a solitary winner from his 28 runners last month.
However, the ‘master trainer’ always starts firing in winners every October and should be on the mark with this son of I Am Invincible, who looked like the penny had finally dropped over the straight five furlongs a fortnight ago following an inauspicious start to his career.
On that occasion, after pilot Hugh Bowman had got to work at the halfway stage in the contest, the four-year-old picked up the bit and flew home before being narrowly denied by front-running Cheval Valiant.
That was a huge step up on his previous form, and the step up in distance here is going to be a major plus to his chances.
Having already won when racing around a bend in Australia, and Bowman riding at the top of his game with eight winners in the past fortnight, his chance looks obvious, and he should be hard to beat.
POINTERS
Majestic Express 8.00am Sha Tin