HKJC's Stephen Higgins hails track team as rainstorm hits

As a former MD at Newbury and racing and property director at Arena Racing, Stephen Higgins is well versed in the art of precautionary inspections after heavy rain.

Something in the region of 50mm in a 24-hour period would generally have most clerks reaching for their oversized caps and pointed sticks, but Sha Tin's Sunday card went ahead with no problems despite a near 500mm deluge that left various parts of the New Territories flooded.

Higgins, now in his third year as the HKJC's head of raceday operations, kept a close eye on the first black rainstorm to hit Hong Kong in three years and logged a total of 479mm of rain (almost 19 inches) between 3am on Saturday and the end of racing on Sunday.

"There aren't too many racetracks in the world that can take that level of precipitation in such a short period with that intensity," he said. "Most tracks would be out for a week after that but it's an incredible surface and it remained safe and raced well."

Young guns ride out the storm

Moreira rode seven of the first eight favourites but only managed to get one of them home as Matthew Poon and Alfred Chan dominated, the two homegrown youngsters snaring four and three winners respectively on a day when front-runners seemed in their element.

Poon's progress was checked by a series of suspensions last season – and he misses Wednesday's Valley card due to another careless riding ban – but his 25 winners this term have collected well over £3m in prize money.

Matthew Poon: notched a four-timer at Sha TinCredit: Hong Kong Jockey Club

Chan's first treble was sealed aboard Baltic Whisper with a last-gasp defeat of the Moreira-ridden War Of Courage and, with ten wins in the last seven weeks, his 7lb claim should continue to be a useful asset for the rest of the season.

Big two aiming to bounce back

Purton's forgettable Sunday with just one third from nine mounts was followed by a spiky Twitter response to a local scribe who suggested that he "walked out of Sha Tin steaming that Moreira wasn't suspended after interfering with his horse in the final event".

Moreira copped a severe reprimand from the stewards having let Dan Control drift across Purton and Morethanlucky. However, battle resumes on Wednesday and, with Purton four ahead in the title race, both key players feel winners are becoming harder to come by.

Speaking to the HKJC's David Morgan, Purton said: "There are a lot of tired horses out there now that we're at the tail end of the season and results can be a little mixed."

Moreira added: "At this time of the year it's the wet season so the surface can become a lottery."

Sky looks the limit as Moreira climbs aboard

Lottery or not, punters will be leaning heavily on Purton and Moreira again under the Happy Valley lights on Wednesday and both riders have a handful of strong chances.

Purton looks loaded towards the back end of the card, with in-form Cinquante Cinq and the hat-trick-seeking Compassion Spirit both looking to hold solid claims in the 2.45 and 3.15 respectively.

Moreira seems confident that the ultra-progressive Hong Kong Win can stay one jump ahead of the handicapper in what promises to be an explosive finale at 3.15, while the fact that the magic man climbs aboard the unexposed Sky Darci for Caspar Fownes in the 2.15 is also well worth noting.

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