Happy Valley Wednesday Preview - 20/01/21

The first selection of the day from Happy Valley comes in the second race of the day in Hong Kong which sees the Class 4 six furlong Handicap.

Our pick is Chikorita for trainer C W Chang and although his form is nothing to shout about the presence of leading rider Zac Purton on board hints that a revival is in the offing.

The gelding has not been the same horse this term but is now back down to its last winning mark of 57 which looks very workable.

Another sprint event follows this time over the shorter five furlongs and in this Class 5 Handicap event we are siding with the popularly named Prawn Yeah Yeah.

The Richard Gibson trained six year old looks to be on a very competitive mark now having put in some lesser performances and with a handy 7lb claimer on board is weighted to strike.

Although a long time ago this gelding is a course and distance winner and with a good third at the track last time out, he can back that up again here.

Division II of the Class 4 Handicap over six furlongs sees us side with jockey Zac Purton again with Jolly Good Heart, who could be interesting at a nice price.

The five year old has only offered glimpses of hope for return to form of late, but his fifth last time out over course and distance was a big step back in the right direction.

The gelding has a handy inside draw which should allow him to be prominent from the start and he is also 2lb lower than his last run which is obviously a bonus.

One of the better events of the day on the Happy Valley card is the Class 4 Handicap over a mile and Diamond Star for John Size has not gone unnoticed by us.

The gelding is very unexposed compared to the rest of the field and last time stepped up in trip to seven furlongs and gave one of his best runs to date to finish fifth.

Stepping up another furlong to a mile should bring more improvement and at the bottom of the weights for this event, he looks a big player.

Another mile handicap event takes place at Happy Valley this time in Class 3 company and at the top of the weights, Lewis for trainer Douglas Whyte has a leading chance.

The four year old will be ridden by Zac Purton who is never shy of winners in Hong Kong and this gelding is a leading form contender.

Having won twice four and three starts ago, he put in a lesser performance and then bounced back to form last time out when a close second over seven furlongs at Sha Tin.

He looked like he was crying out for a mile and returns to that trip today and is only 2lb higher than his last run.

The final selection from us on Wednesday comes in the lucky last which is a Class 3 sprint event over six furlongs and Kinda Cool takes the eye.

The four year old ended 2020 with back to back wins over course and distance and this contest sees him return to the track for this first time this year looking to land the hat-trick.

Leading rider in Hong Kong Joao Moreira was on board for both those runs and is back on board today and although up in the weights is the one to beat.