The less common Monday Sha Tin meeting features an 11-race card, headlined by the Group 2 Sha Tin Trophy over 1600m under handicap conditions.
2025 Triple Crown winner VOYAGE BUBBLE resumes in a field of 12 but has to carry top weight of 135lb, making this a serious first-up test. MY WISH finally broke through at the highest level in the Group 1 Champions Mile last time out and has trialled well ahead of his seasonal return. INVINCIBLE IBIS, STORMY GROVE and HELIOS EXPRESS finished first, third and eighth, respectively, in the same race last start. With some changes at the weights this time, it would be no surprise to see the finishing order reshuffled.
SKY JEWELLERY beat a strong field on his return 18 days ago, albeit in Class 2, and now aims for a first Group success despite likely having to carry above his allotted weight.
The rapidly improving PACKING FIGHTER looks poised to complete a hat-trick of wins in the Class 3 Handicap over 1600m at Sha Tin this Monday.
Arriving in Hong Kong on a rating of 66, PACKING FIGHTER took time to adapt to the competitive local racing scene but has shown sharp improvement since finishing a close second in Class 4 three starts ago. The son of Tamayuz then signed off last season with a decisive 1.75-length victory before resuming late last month with his most impressive performance to date, despite stepping back up to Class 3. Leading from start to finish, he drew clear in the straight to score by an emphatic 5.25 lengths over this track and distance.
Now sitting near the top of Class 3, PACKING FIGHTER looks ready to progress to higher grades and develop into a quality middle-distance galloper. Simply put, he should prove hard to run down if he can reproduce his last-start effort.
