Helene Leadingstar too good

Sharp recent form, a reasonable weight, and proven ability over a distance unusually long by Hong Kong racing standards make Helene Leadingstar a likely winner of the Group 3, $403,137 Queen Mother Memorial Cup on Sunday at Sha Tin.

Also aiding his chances is the presence of only four rivals in this 2,400-meter (about 1 1/2 miles) handicap. That quartet of Eagle Way, Helene Charisma, Chefano, and Savvy Nine is trained by John Moore, while trainer Tony Cruz sends out Helene Leadingstar.

Third in this race one year ago, Helene Leadingstar lost his first 14 Hong Kong starts after being imported from

Australia, but comes into Sunday’s test on a two-race winning streak. On March 8, Helene Leadingstar narrowly won a Class 2 handicap over 1,800 meters, and April 5 he was just up in a Class 1 handicap over 2,000 meters. Stretching out even farther should only benefit Helene Leadingstar, whose has stamina and a sustained run but very little in the way of fast-twitch acceleration. In his final Australian start, he won the Group 1 South Australian Derby over 2,500 meters. Sunday, he breaks from post 2 under Karis Teetan and carries 119 pounds, 14 fewer than topweighted Eagle Way.

Eagle Way is a regular competitor in high-level Hong

Kong staying races but hasn’t won in 15 starts and probably concedes too much weight to capitalize on a class drop. He and the other Moore horses finished well behind Helene Leadingstar in the April 5 handicap.

First post for the Sunday card is 12:30 a.m. Eastern. The feature comes early as race 3.

New imports step up

There were a couple of potentially noteworthy winners on the Wednesday night card at Happy Valley.

Sky Show, a 3-year-old New Zealand-bred making just his second start, won race 5, a Class 4 handicap, by two lengths. Under Zac Purton, Sky Show crossed and cleared from post 10 in this 1,200-meter sprint, set a solid pace, and thanks to a final 400 meters in a sparkling 22.95 seconds clocked 1:09.53, .57 of a second faster than par for the class level at Happy Valley.

Irish-bred Delightful Laos, another 3-year-old, made his Hong Kong debut in race 6, a Class 3 Handicap over 1,650 meters. Delightful Laos, always traveling well in hand while racing near the back of the field, got a favorable inside run and made the most of it, going from ninth 400 meters out to win by 1 1/4 lengths. His final 400-meter split of 22.81 was more than a second faster than par for the distance and class level at Happy Valley.