Happy Valley racing preview & best bets | Wednesday 7/12/2022
| What | International Jockeys’ Championship |
| Where | Happy Valley Racecourse – Wong Nai Chung Rd, Happy Valley, Hong Kong |
| When | Wednesday, December 7, 2022 |
| First Race | 6:30pm HKT (9:30pm AEDT) |
The International Jockeys’ Championship is set to be run on Wednesday night at Happy Valley Racecourse in Hong Kong. The world’s best have made the trek, with the likes of Jamie Kah, Hugh Bowman and James McDonald all representing Australia on the world stage.
The incredible list doesn’t stop there, however, with Europe represented by Ryan Moore, Hollie Doyle, Tom Marquand and Mickael Barzalona, while Yuga Kawada will ride for Japan. And that’s all without mentioning the Hong Kong cohort with Vincent Ho, Matthew Chadwick, Silvestre de Sousa and the reining IJC winner, Zac Purton, who is looking to go back-to-back and pick up his fourth title.
The championship itself will be contested in four of the scheduled nine races — the fourth, fifth, seventh and eighth — so keep an eye out for your favourite jockey to be scoring points throughout the evening, with the first race scheduled to get underway at 6:30pm HKT (9:30pm AEDT).
We’re racing on a Good track for Wednesday night, while the rail shifts back into the A Course, so hopefully it can be even running for all competitors with tempo being the major factor for how it plays. As always, this night of racing is ultra-competitive, so it looks a tricky card. Let’s find some winners before the Hong Kong International Races on Sunday, December 11.
Best Bet: Rise Brethren
The lucky last is where you’ll find our best bet of the evening as James McDonald and Danny Shum combine with Rise Brethren. His three starts this preparation have been outstanding finding the frame in all three, with one being a victory at Sha Tin two starts back on October 23. He and Running Glory have traded wins and now Rise Brethren finds himself back at Happy Valley, where he’s seen success before. He’s well weighted, well drawn, and has the world’s best jockey in the saddle. Expect McDonald to utilize the soft barrier and find a prominent spot in transit. If he lobs anywhere better than midfield with cover, it’ll be all over turning for home as Rise Brethren looks to have class on most of his rivals.
Best Bet
Race 9 – 
#6 Rise Brethren (2)
4yo Gelding | T: Danny Shum | J: James McDonald (56.5kg)
Next Best: Adios
The final leg of the International Jockeys’ Championship holds our next best of the evening with consistent gelding Adios. His last two performances at Happy Valley have been very strong, winning two starts back at this track and distance on October 5 when storming clearing of his rivals to score by 1.3 lengths. He then got beaten by race rival Gold Marquis last time but drew a horror gate and was forced to an unsuited pattern to sit outside the lead, which ended his chances swiftly. With Silvestre de Sousa assigned to ride here, we get a top jockey aboard plus a much more suitable barrier draw for this son of Snitzel. Expect him to look for the one-by-one in the trail before peeling off the leaders to boot clear to victory. It’s a competitive contest, but Adios looks well placed to notch career win number three.
Next Best
Race 8 – 
#3 Adios (4)
4yo Gelding | T: Frankie Lor | J: Silvestre de Sousa (59.5kg)
Next Best Again: Win Win Fighter
We look to the fifth race of the evening as Mickael Barzalona looks to score some championship points with Win Win Fighter. He dropped back into Class 4 last time out when running in behind Sunny Delight on November 23 to go down by 1.8 lengths; however, the run was enormous when getting back and swooping most of the field to beat home all bar the winner, who seemed to get every favour while Win Win Fighter was forced to the worst part of the track. He should’ve finished a lot closer, and now second time in this class for the preparation he should only take improvement from that effort. This looks one of Barzalona’s better opportunities to strike for the IJC. He’ll be close enough to the speed this time from barrier two, so there’s no reason Win Win Fighter can’t be winning.
Next Best Again
Race 5 – 
#1 Win Win Fighter (2)
4yo Gelding | T: Francis Lui | J: Mickael Barzalona (61kg)
Best Value: Killer Instinct
We’re looking to get a good price with online bookmakers for Killer Instinct in the first. He’s had two starts over the 1200m this preparation and we’ve been waiting for this guy to get out in trip, and he does exactly that in this 1650m contest. On November 23 he ran into what could be a special type called Nordic Dragon, who smashed the field to win by three lengths. While he may have been a little disappointing on that occasion, we thought Killer Instinct boxed on OK, and he looks set to be peaking third-up here over a much more suitable distance. We get the class of James McDonald on here, and if he can get the best out of this son of Power, he’ll take some beating.
Best Value
Race 1 – 
#2 Killer Instinct (5)
5yo Gelding | T: Caspar Fownes | J: James McDonald (59.5kg)
Wednesday quaddie tips for Happy Valley races
Happy Valley quadrella selections
Wednesday, December 7, 2022
- 2-3-4-8-10
- 1-3-5-6-8
- 3-4-7-9-10
- 6-7-11
Investment: $375 for 100%