Hong Kong racing continues on Sunday (July 9) for an 11-race fixture at Sha Tin.
Talented three-year-old HELIOS EXPRESS is a stand out on the card, with the up-and-comer set to continue his winning ways under champion jockey Zac Purton in the Class 3 Handicap over 1200m.
The John Size-trained talent arrived in Hong Kong with an unblemished one-for-one record in Australia, where he raced under the name Tex Mex. Drawn wide in barrier 12 for his local start, he was eased back early to find cover and encountered a slow-run race in which those on-pace dominated. However, HELIOS EXPRESS ran a tremendous race against the race shape, securing second place by a head on the wire.
The debut performance checked plenty of boxes, suggesting that HELIOS EXPRESS would be hard to beat second-up, and he proved just that. In his second start, with barrier 1, he positioned himself handier in mid-field and travelled strongly into the straight. Inside the 300m, he rounded up those in front and scored an empathic victory by three lengths, indicating that the gelding should be heading much higher in the ratings.
After Thursday’s haul of winners, Purton needs just two victories to surpass Joao Moreira’s record of 170 wins in a season, and he is every chance to create history on Sunday.
The first race on the card sees Purton remain on board debut-winning two-year-old KA YING VICTORY, who will be a strong chance to keep his unbeaten record intact in the Griffin race over 1200m.
KA YING VICTORY made his debut down the Sha Tin straight in the middle of last month, sent off as a well-backed $1.6 favourite, and did not let his backers down by posting an easy score. The official winning margin was only 0.75 lengths; however, Purton only had to pull the whip once, and the horse won comfortably.
The rise to 1200m should suit KA YING VICTORY even better in his second start, and he looks like a nice, promising youngster on the rise heading into next season.
