| What | Happy Valley Races |
| Where | Happy Valley Racecourse – Wong Nai Chung Rd, Happy Valley, Hong Kong |
| When | Wednesday, February 15, 2023 |
| First Race | 6:45pm HKT (9:45pm AEDT) |
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We’re back at Happy Valley Racecourse on Wednesday night for a competitive nine-race program out of Hong Kong. We’re racing on the C Course, and we expect this will mean gallopers up on the speed will see some advantage throughout proceedings. With that being said, we should have picture-perfect conditions and a Good to Firm surface for Wednesday night. The first race is set to get underway at 6:45pm HKT (9:45pm AEDT).
Best Bet: Star Ascension
Star Ascension looks ready to break throughout for the David Hall yard and that’s exactly what we think can happen on Wednesday night. The four-year-old gelding makes his first appearance at the city circuit after some eye-catching efforts at Sha Tin – particularly his latest run behind Happy For All. He was beaten just less than two-lengths and found trouble when trying to get clear at the 300m marker, but was able to produce a nice finally to find fourth. There’s no one riding the Happy Valley circuit better than Hugh Bowman at the moment and from a nice draw should be no worse than three pairs back this time. There should be a good enough tempo for Star Ascension to sprint off as well, with pacemakers Infinite Power and Victory Scholars like to challenge each other for the lead. If Star Ascension can handle the tight turning track, he looks the one to beat.
Best Bet
Race 5 – 
#2 Star Ascension (4)
4yo Gelding | T: David Hall | J: Hugh Bowman (60kg)
Bet with Bet365
Next Best: Rattan Kingdom
The second leg of the quaddie presents a tricky race to dissect, but we’re happy to be siding with Rattan Kingdom for a flying Jamie Richards yard. This combination saw the winners enclosure on Sunday at Sha Tin with Laser Victory an impressive debutant and we think the trainer-jockey can reunite on this five-year-old gelding. After back-to-back wins for the son of Per Incanto, he had his winning streak taken away by Sugar Sugar who went on to run well in Class 4. In that loss he got caught up on the inside and bumped between gallopers before peaking on his effort. You can argue the ratings has caught up with this guy; however, we think it was a forgivable effort and this time, we’d like to see jockey Zac Purton keep him out of trouble. His best performances this preparation have been when ridden wider turning for home, so from barrier six we think Purton can search for the one-by-one, then when asked kick away from his rivals here. It’s a tough ask with the top weight, but we think he can handle the task.
Next Best
Race 7 – 
#1 Rattan Kingdom (6)
5yo Gelding | T: Jamie Richards | J: Zac Purton (61kg)
Bet with Unibet
Next Best Again: Eighteen Palms
Eighteen Palms was good on debut and should take plenty of improvement in this second-up assignment. He got the perfect run on that occasion when find the one-off one-back position throughout and fitness took it’s toll late. It’s always tough to be first-up over the 1650m and when Legion Of Merit made a mid-race move, it spelled the end for the chances of this four-year-old out of El Roca. He just couldn’t chase but finished into a comfortable third less than a length off the winner, so with another soft barrier on Wednesday, we think this Danny Shum-trained gelding can take advantage. Zac Purton sticks after taking the reins first-up and with race experience being a massive factor we can see Eighteen Palms being ultra-competitive in a moderate Class 4 contest.
Next Best Again
Race 6 – 
#7 Eighteen Palms (1)
4yo Gelding | T: Danny Shum | J: Zac Purton (58kg)
Bet with Neds
Best Value: Star Contact
Star Contact was a classy winner last time out and can find back-to-back wins in a very strong finale on the Happy Valley program. Zac Purton gave this David Hayes-trained gelding a peach from back in the field to storm over the top of his Class 4 rivals. He beat home Flying Silver who was at the rock bottom of the weights and proceeded to demoralise a Class 5 field last Wednesday. That might not be the most flattering view of this Star Turn four-year-old; however, with that dominant win out of the way he now drops 5kg going up into Class 3 and we think he can put it together again. Karis Teetan takes the reins this time and with horses like – Gallant Waking, Nimble Nimbus, Master Tornado and Jumbo Legend – all to have admirers, we think you’ll be getting a respectable price for Star Contact with online bookmakers. Karis Teetan hops aboard here and will be likely to be back half of the field, but with any luck he’ll be charging at them late again.
Best Value
Race 9 – #12 Star Contact (6)
4yo Gelding | T: David Hayes | J: Karis Teetan (55kg)
Bet with Palmerbet
Hong Kong quaddie tips for Happy Valley races
Happy Valley quadrella selections
Wednesday, February 15, 2023
- 1-4-7-9
- 1-2-7
- 1-2-5-6-7
- 1-4-8-10-12
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