Zac Purton will have everybody listening at Happy Valley today
– Zac Purton believes Dr Listening has held his form well since closing last season with a victory, but admits to being slightly perplexed by the quirky gelding ahead of tonight.
“Even from his first gallop this season, he felt like he’d held his form pretty well for a horse coming off a break so I don’t think it’s going to take too much for him to come back up,” Purton said at Sha Tin trackwork yesterday.
David Hall-trained Dr Listening, who won over 1800m on 12 July, comes back in distance for the Class 2 Washington D.C. Handicap over 1650m. He trialled last Friday on the Sha Tin allweather track, finishing almost 12 lengths behind Sunny Win, but Purton said the Star Witness gelding was unsuited by the wet
Hong Kong
dirt surface.
“His trial was a pass, the track that morning was very wet and he didn’t really like the kickback," Purton said. “He didn’t have a hard trial as a result, but he didn’t lose a lot of his fitness from the back end of last season.
“He’s a very tricky horse, he’s got a few little kinks. Maybe 1800m might be the trip for him, but it’s still a mystery, he’s only been tested up in trip a couple of times. I don’t even think he knows.”
Purton’s biggest concern is barrier No 11, with only a short run to the first turn from the 1650m start.
“It’s not a good gate,” the Australian rider added. “Last time he drew a good gate, everything went to plan, the race fell really nicely for him and he was able to get the job done but he’s going to have to do it the hard way.”
Dr Listening faces 11 rivals in what stands as a leg of the Hong Kong Airlines Million Challenge. Two past winners of the annual Happy Valley series also line up for their seasonal debuts at the meeting, Danny Shum-trained Speedy Longwah, who scored in 2015-16, and last season’s hero Packing Dragon for Ricky Yiu.
Speedy Longwah, a five-time winner over the Happy Valley 1650m, gets Nash Rawiller aboard for just the second time.
“His trackwork has been good, it feels like a break has really rejuvenated him,” said Rawiller, who rode the seven-year-old in a dirt gallop last Wednesday. “Danny has put a fair bit of ground work into him, he feels fit and on the track he seems to be happy so all the right signs are there.”
Packing Dragon made his mark last season with four Happy Valley victories, including one over the extended mile. Chad Schofield was in the plate for two of those wins, but 3.5kg-claiming apprentice Matthew Poon jumps aboard this time. –