Jing Jing Win looking to remain unbeaten in Hong Kong opener

THE David Hall-trained Jing Jing Win has been well-favoured to open the International Meeting at Sha Tin on Sunday with a win.

The expensive Starcraft gelding has won both career starts to date by a combined margin of 6.75 lengths and Australian jockey Zac Purton is confident he can kick off the meeting with a bang.

“We hope to go there and win again,” Purton said. “Obviously he’s done everything right so far, he continues to do everything right.

“He’s working well in the morning, his recent barrier trial was good, so we’re expecting him to run well.”

The four-year-old hasn’t been the easiest horse to handle at the barriers and Purton confirms that the issues are still apparent even with race experience under its belt.

“He’s not getting better in the gates at all,” Purton said. “He puts his front legs forward and locks them and basically sits down like a dog. So he’s going to have to sort that out as he goes up in grade and against the better class horses.

“Fortunately though, so far he’s been able to get away cleanly and put himself in the right spot and he’s going to need to do that again.”

Jing Jing Win is currently paying $1.35 with Sportsbet.com.au after opening at $1.40 and Purton believes it was a good decision to keep it at the shorter distances.

“I think it is a good choice, while a horse is still winning at a distance you probably don’t need to change it,” Purton said.

“He’s in tune with that. After his trial, I think he gave the impression that he might just go a little bit keen for a 1400m race so this race over 1200m looks a good stepping stone to whatever he does in the future.”

The Silent Witness Class 3 Handicap runs at 3.25pm and it features a quality field of 14 runners. The next best in the market is the John Size-trained House Of Fun which is also a Starcraft gelding and it’s coming off an impressive last start win.

Other Australian interest in the race comes from Water Diviner which raced under the same name for John Sargent in Sydney.

Sha Tin Race 1 betting market

1. Keen Venture – $51
2. Water Diviner – $21
3. Go Baby Go – $67
4. Jing Jing Win – $1.35
5. Sunny Dragon – $26
6. Burst Away – $26
7. First Fontein – $34
8. Victory Machine – $17
9. Swiss Warrior – $101
10. The Jazz – $67
11. Our Hero – $41
12. House Of Fun – $5 at CrownBet
13. Amazing Moment – $51
14. Endearing – $26

Comments are closed.