| What | Happy Valley Races |
| Where | Happy Valley Racecourse – Wong Nai Chung Rd, Happy Valley, Hong Kong |
| When | Wednesday, December 14, 2022 |
| First Race | 6:45pm HKT (9:45pm AEDT) |
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Visit Ladbrokes |
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After an amazing Sunday afternoon at Sha Tin for the Hong Kong International Races, we head back to Happy Valley for a competitive nine-race program at the city circuit. We may not have the same quality as we did on Sunday, but the fields are stacked and it looks a tricky set of races, so hopefully we can find some winners on Wednesday night.
As for conditions, although we sit on a Good 4 track currently, there is some rain forecast for Wednesday and we could see a slight downgrade. The rail is in the B course position, so look for some on speed types to get some advantage as it can be difficult to make ground from too far back.
Racing is scheduled to get underway at 6:45pm HKT (9:45pm AEDT).
Best Bet: Beauty Tycoon
It should be worth the wait as our best bet of the day comes in the finale on Wednesday night with the John Size-trained Beauty Tycoon. This four-year-old by Written Tycoon was a dominant winner last start at this track and distance when going on to score by 1.8 lengths on November 23. He sat in behind a moderate tempo before sprinting away from his rivals with Zac Purton aboard, and while he gets a 3kg penalty for that win, he gets a very similar speed map here and should be able to produce an identical performance. He’s not without his dangers with Jumbo Legend looking to improve again after a luckless run on the same day, and the intriguing re-emergence of California Cible after a year away from racing; however, we’re happy to be siding with the Purton and Size combination in this Class 3 contest.
Best Bet
Race 9 – 
#3 Beauty Tycoon (2)
4yo Gelding | T: John Size | J: Zac Purton (59kg)
Bet with Bet365
Next Best: Savvy Chic
Savvy Chic is looking for back-to-back wins and finds another winnable race to do just that in this 1200m Class 4 contest. His win last time out at Happy Valley on November 16 was terrific when he led the entire way before kicking clear of his rivals to win by 1.3 lengths. Silvestre de Sousa elected to lead on this son of Capitalist and it proved a good move after a luckless run first-up at Sha Tin prior to that. The eye-catching part of his Happy Valley win is what he was able to beat home — including Gold Gold Baby, who was a subsequent winner, and Howdeepisyourlove, who should have won last week on IJC night. He does get a significant 3.5kg penalty for his winning effort but deserves every bit of it on Wednesday night, as if he can produce what he did last start, he looks very tough to beat. Savvy Chic can either lead or just track in behind the other potential leader, Hero Star, before kicking clear again to salute and make it win number two in three career starts.
Next Best
Race 5 – 
#1 Savvy Chic (1)
4yo Gelding | T: Frankie Lor | J: Silvestre de Sousa (61kg)
Bet with Neds
Next Best Again: Melbourne Hall
Melbourne Hall just seems to be getting better with age and looks to make it two wins in his last three starts on Wednesday night. His win two starts back on October 19 was strong when turning for home from a midfield position to storm down the centre of the track and win by 1.3 lengths, he then went on to be defeated by a very promising galloper on November 23 called Nordic Dragon and that form should be holding up in this field. Melbourne Hall has drawn the perfect gate here from barrier three and should be finding a similar run in transit as he found last time, except there’s no Nordic Dragon to spoil the party for connections. The 4.5kg claim for apprentice Angus Chung will come in very handy here and gets in better at the weights than when he won two starts back. He should be competitive again in a field that doesn’t have a stack of depth.
Next Best Again
Race 3 – 
#7 Melbourne Hall (3)
6yo Gelding | T: David Hall | J: Angus Chung (a4.5)(58kg)
Bet with Ladbrokes
Best Value: Durham Star
Hopefully we’ll be getting a price for Durham Star in the fourth race of the evening. He’s a very consistent sprinter and has been unfortunate not to find the winner’s enclosure more often after drawing a barrier six first-up and going on to win back on September 21. He’s found barriers 12 and nine since and it’s put a pen through his chance of victory, in particular last start at Happy Valley when getting cast three wide without cover the entire trip on November 9. Hugh Bowman should be able to find cover this time from a perfect draw, and if he can reproduce his first-up effort, he looks well placed to pick up another win for the Douglas Whyte yard.
Best Value
Race 4 – 
#1 Durham Star (4)
6yo Gelding | T: Douglas Whyte | J: Hugh Bowman (61kg)
Bet with Bet365
Wednesday quaddie tips for Happy Valley
Happy Valley quadrella selections
Wednesday, December 14, 2022
- 1-3-4-5-9
- 1-2-3-4
- 3-4-6-7-9
- 1-2-12
Investment: $300 for 100%
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