Hong Kong Spot Plays: A Winning Method

By J. Keeler Johnson The Sunday card at Sha Tin, the last before racing takes a one-week hiatus in Hong Kong, is stacked with 11 races at a variety of class levels and distances. The “day” gets underway at 12:30 a.m. (EDT), when most racing fans in North America will be asleep. But if you’re game to stay up late (or if checking your account balance is good incentive to get up early!), I’ve got a couple of spot plays to consider. Race 1: Chancery Plate (Griffin Race) Today’s “really shouldn’t lose” proposition is the aptly-named #3 Winning Method. This Australian-bred son of Holy Roman Emperor kicked off his career with a runner-up effort in a 1,000-meter griffin race at Sha Tin on April 14, then won a similar race three weeks later in dominant fashion, leading all the way to prevail by 3 ¼ lengths. In both races, Winning Method showed terrific speed – sprinting the final two 400-meter sectionals in :20.60 and :22.54 in his debut and clocking those fractions in :20.87 and :22.34 in his second start. It will be difficult for any rivals to match those finishing fractions, so I will bet Winning Method to win and key him on top of a trifecta with #4 G Unit in the second position. G Unit ran well in his debut when finishing third behind Winning Method and Hong Kong’s leading rider Zac Purton will ride for the first time on Sunday. $22.1 to win on #3 Winning Method $5.2 trifecta: 3 with 4 with 1,2 ($10.4) Race 5: Lyndhurst Handicap (Class 4) If you like betting on high-percentage jockeys and trainers, I encourage you to check out the 133-pound highweights #2 Magic Success and #1 Beauty Applause in this 1,200-meter Class 4 handicap. Magic Success, representing the team of Zac Purton and longtime top trainer John Moore, enters off a sharp win over this distance at Sha Tin two weeks ago, in which he powered clear through a final 800 meters in :44.71 to win by 3 ½ lengths. Beauty Applause, conditioned by Hong Kong’s current leading trainer John Size and ridden by acclaimed jockey Joao Moreira, finished fourth by 4 ¼ lengths against Magic Success two weeks ago, but Beauty Applause was conceding his rival 12 pounds that day. They meet under even weights this time, which could give Beauty Applause a chance to turn the tables. Let’s play them both on top in trifectas while adding #4 Fresh Power, #8 Glittering Armor and #9 Royal Chocolate underneath: $1.3 trifecta: 2 with 1 with 4,8,9 ($3.9) $1.3 trifecta: 2 with 1,4,8,9 with 1,4,8,9 ($15.6) $1.3 trifecta: 1 with 2 with 4,8,9 ($3.9) $1.3 trifecta: 1 with 4,8,9 with 2 ($3.9) Good luck! Photo courtesy of Hong Kong Jockey Club