Numbers is one of Hong Kong racing\u2019s brightest talents, and jockey Derek Leung hopes the imposing galloper can make a big impact in Sunday\u2019s (1 March) HK$13 million Hong Kong Classic Cup (1800m) for in-form trainer Frankie Lor.<\/p>
A two-time winner from only three starts in the city, headlined by his two-length score in the HK$4.2 million G3 Centenary Vase Handicap (1800m) this month, the classy Numbers has emerged as a leading contender in this weekend\u2019s race \u2013 the second leg of the three-race Four-Year-Old Classic Series \u2013 at Sha Tin.<\/p>
Leung said: \u201cI galloped him yesterday (Monday, 23 February) and he did it well. He\u2019s good, and I think he\u2019s slightly improving. He\u2019s a stayer and he needs a few runs, but I think it\u2019s a good time to go to the Classic Cup.\u201d<\/p>
Leung has won the Hong Kong Classic Cup previously in tandem with Lor, striking aboard Mission Tycoon in 2019 as a 91\/1 chance. However, Numbers \u2013 who, like Mission Tycoon, is expected to press forward and lead \u2013 won\u2019t be anywhere close to those odds.<\/p>
Weighing in at 1,212lb last start, Numbers is of considerable size, and Leung believes the 100-rater is still a work in progress at the beginning of his races.<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column]
Numbers takes out the Centenary Vase at Sha Tin.<\/p>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
\u201cHe\u2019s very long and tall \u2013 so when he gets in the gates everything feels small to him. Sometimes he gets a bit agitated, but we always practice in the gates for him to calm down, so fingers crossed this weekend he can jump at the perfect time,\u201d Leung said.<\/p>
Lor, who has six wins this month, is satisfied with Numbers and said: \u201cEverything is good. He\u2019s much better now and he\u2019s more relaxed. Further distances are no problem for him. The light weight helped him in the Group 3, but it was a good win.\u201d<\/p>
Numbers \u2013 who placed in the 2025 G1 Queensland Derby (2400m) in Australia pre-import \u2013 carried 117lb to victory last start when defeating Speed Dragon, Encountered, Ensued, Chancheng Glory, Beauty Joy and Straight Arron on 8 February at Sha Tin.<\/p>
The Four-Year-Old Classic Series culminates with the blue riband HK$26 million 149th BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) on 22 March at Sha Tin.<\/p>
Straight To Glory (119lb) goes for a hat-trick of wins in Wednesday night\u2019s (25 February) Class 3 Wan Chai Gap Handicap (1200m) at Happy Valley with Leung in the plate.<\/p>
\u201cHe\u2019s had perfect runs in his last two starts. He\u2019s up to Class 3 now, but he gets a light weight and a good draw (two),\u201d Leung said. \u201cHe loves a battle, and it seems like he calms down more at Happy Valley. He can be quite hot sometimes.\u201d<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”14412″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Straight To Glory faces a strong field, including last-start winners Candlelight Dinner (134lb), Sovereign Fund (130lb) and Greater Bae (128lb).<\/p>
The HK$3.12 million Class 2 Magazine Gap Handicap (1800m) sees seven runners square off at the city circuit, including Huge Wave (134lb), who placed second two runs ago in the HK$4.2 million G3 January Cup Handicap (1800m).<\/p>
Alexis Badel retains the ride and said: \u201cHe seems to enjoy the track at Happy Valley and he\u2019s been very consistent. He has a good gate (four), he has a little bit of weight on his back, but I think he\u2019s strong enough and he\u2019s mature at the moment to handle it.\u201d<\/p>
Huge Wave faces Californiatotality (135lb), Sword Point (134lb), Awesome Fluke (130lb), Soleil Fighter (130lb), Sky Heart (122lb) and Jumbo Legend (117lb).<\/p>
Wednesday night\u2019s (25 February) nine-race fixture at Happy Valley kicks off at 6.40pm with the Class 5 Bowen Handicap (1200m).<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”14411″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Numbers is one of Hong Kong racing\u2019s brightest talents, and jockey Derek Leung hopes the imposing galloper can make a big impact in Sunday\u2019s (1 March) HK$13 million Hong Kong Classic Cup (1800m) for in-form trainer Frankie Lor.A two-time winner from only three starts in the city, headlined by his two-length… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":14414,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"2normal","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14409"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14409"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14409\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14418,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14409\/revisions\/14418"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}