Hong Kong tips: Jim McGrath with three bets for Sha Tin's Sunday card

Tsar
8.00 Sha Tin
2pts win

Sky Darci
9.05 Sha Tin
2pts win

Lucky Express
10.10 Sha Tin
2pts win

Caspar Fownes is two winners clear in the trainers’ championship and throwing the kitchen sink at trying to hold off his great rival John Size with only eight racedays of the season remaining.

No surprise then that Fownes has kept his Hong Kong Derby winner Sky Darci going deep into a campaign that extends to nine starts to take in Sunday’s Group 3 Premier Cup (9.05), a handicap over 7f, in which he faces another talented four-year-old in Healthy Happy.

Fownes must be praised for the way he brought Sky Darci back from 1m2f in the Derby to win over a mile last time and he asks the gelding to drop in trip again, which sees him meeting Healthy Happy at arguably that rival's pet distance.

On paper there is little between the pair – Sky Darci meets his rival 2lb worse for beating him a short head in the Lion Rock Trophy – and with capable Champion’s Way also in the mix, the race lives up to its billing as the day’s feature.

Sky Darci’s inside draw and his class should carry him to his sixth victory of the season, and with stablemate Killer Bee also looking hard to beat in the following Class 3 6f handicap (9.35), Fownes could be in for a lucrative day.

For his part, Size has an ace to play in Lucky Express in the Class 2 7f handicap (10.10), with the gelding coming back from a welcome three-month break after he ran in all legs of the four-year-old Triple Crown.

His second to stablemate Excellent Proposal in the Classic Mile in January was a cracker but the 1m1f Classic Cup (eighth) and the Derby (tenth) took him out of his comfort zone. Freshened up, he is ready to go and looks one of the bets of the day, with E Star for the forecast.

Tsar arrived in Hong Kong amid considerable expectation after winning three from five for John Gosden, and he went a long way to justifying those hopes with a tidy win over a mile at Happy Valley last time.

Trainer Me Tsui will have him nicely tuned for the step up in distance in the Group 3 Premier Plate (8.00), a handicap over 1m1f, in which he will have most to fear from progressive Charity Fun.

Sha Tin card

Bet through the Tote

Tote Placepot

8.00
9 Charity Fun
10 Tsar

8.35
6 El Jefe
7 Oscar Glory

9.05
2 Sky Darci
8 Healthy Happy

9.35
2 Killer Bee
5 Hurry Hurry Gain

10.10
2 Lucky Express
8 E Star

10.45
5 War Weapon
6 Lifeline Vision

2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 = 64 lines

Bets can be placed into Hong Kong pools with the Tote, Coral and Ladbrokes. The first race at Sha Tin on Sunday is 6.00am

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