Hong Kong racing tips: Jim McGrath with three fancies at Happy Valley

Green Generation
12.15 Happy Valley
2pts win

A Smile Like Yours
12.45 Happy Valley
2pts win

Scores Of Fun
2.50 Happy Valley
2pts win

Joao Moreira is tipped to bounce back with a vengeance at Happy Valley on Wednesday after an unusually quiet week in which he was overshadowed by old sparring partner Zac Purton.

The ‘Magic Man’ failed to land a blow in ten races at Sunday’s International Raceday at Sha Tin, and although he won a leg of the International Jockeys’ Championship last Wednesday, Purton collected the title and the lucrative £50,000 first prize.

On Wednesday, it’s very much a case of after the Lord Mayor’s show, with a slimline eight-race card, but that will not bother Moreira, who can clean up with a collection of well-fancied rides.

Green Generation is a 13-start maiden who has plummeted through the ranks to a mark which he can use to full advantage in the Class 5 handicap over 1m1f (12.15). The old saying that there is a race for every horse in Hong Kong’s handicap system springs to mind.

Moreira became the first jockey to finish in the first three on this late-maturing New Zealander, whose pedigree says he will relish a return to this trip. The only negative is his wide draw in 11, which is the jockey’s task to sort out. Great Smart is the danger.

John Size is ticking over nicely, sending out 20 winners, which puts him fifth in the trainers’ championship. He can add to that tally with A Smile Like Yours, with Moreira aboard for the first time, in the Class 4 6f handicap (12.45).

The four-year-old clearly surprised the stable on his debut over course and distance three weeks ago when he was just touched off at 76-1 with Chad Schofield riding.

He is a Per Incanto gelding, homebred in New Zealand by his owner Vicky Tang, which is not the norm in Hong Kong, where ready-to-run sales are often preferred because of the opportunity for a quick return. A Smile Like Yours should win this time.

In the finale, the Class 3 6f handicap (2.50), the consistent Scores Of Fun is another likely winner for the Moreira/Size combination, with Purton’s mount High Rise Soldier the main opposition.

Happy Valley Wednesday card

Bet through the Tote

Bets can be placed into Hong Kong pools with the Tote, Coral and Ladbrokes. The first race at Happy Valley on Wednesday is at 11.15am

TOTE PLACEPOT

Race 3 (1st leg): 4 Great Smart, 9 Green Generation
Race 4 (2nd leg): 3 A Smile Like Yours, 7 Peak To Peak
Race 5 (3rd leg): 2 Happy Warrior, 3 Faithful Trinity
Race 6 (4th leg): 2 The Rock, 6 Angel Of My Eyes
Race 7 (5th leg): 4 We The South, 7 Flying Genius
Race 8 (6th leg): 4 Scores Of Fun, 5 High Rise Soldier

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