Oct 18, 20175 min read

PROST! HERE’S TO ANOTHER HAPPY WEDNESDAY OKTOBERFEST

We won’t be paying AUS$600,000 to scale Everest and watch the Jason Derulo Show at Randwick from some slots- what? The Everest is already The World’s Quickest Forgotten Gimmick AUS$10 million Horse Race?- but here on Planet Earth, it’s the third Happy Wednesday Oktoberfest night at Happy Valley racecourse and some huge million dollar jackpots are on offer if attacking the Six Up and Triple Trio bets.

Joao Moreira is back after sitting out a two day suspension and, apart from Master Albert and Kiram, looks to have a pretty ordinary book of rides, so don’t expect him to pull too many rabbits out of his hat. The jockey to follow? The very consistent and much in-demand Karis Teetan. It’s only a matter of time before The Mauritian Magician makes an impact as a world class rider. There are a few rough edges to iron out, but the raw talent is there and so is that will to win. There are also the huge ears, mighty cheekbones and goofy smile.

Away from these names, he’s still definitely one of the top riders in Hong Kong and as predicted before the start of this racing season, we’re tipping a return to where he belongs in the Jockey Premiership for Brett Prebble: right up there with the top.

After a quiet start, the top Aussie hoop has hit his straps and is booting home winners with increasing regularity. He rode another double on the weekend. What’s interesting to hear from several riders is that “Brett’s changed. He’s okay to join us for lunch.” Wow! Changed that much.

Even longtime bitter rival Douglas Whyte backs him by mentioning how they buried the hatchet a few seasons ago. And while Whyte seems busy planning the next chapter of his career in horse racing including possibly getting back on Scales Of Justice in Perth for trainer Lindsay Smith who seems to enjoy playing the role of Perth racing’s resident eccentric, Brett Prebble really looks to be enjoying riding again- and winning- and hungry for more winners along with more winning photographs like the one below.

He might not have the support he once had from David Hall, but this hasn’t stopped other trainers wanting his services, especially in distance race where his judge of pace is superb- probably the best in town.

Tonight, we see the old firm of Brett Prebble and Caspar Fownes back in business when they team up with Cheerfuljet and Sweet Bean. For the past few seasons, Fownes has gone elsewhere when looking for riders, mainly in the direction of Zac Purton, but recently has been mixing things up or has been forced to mix things up with the Zac Attack possibly seeing winning chances for himself elsewhere.

Meanwhile, after tackling races on the turf, the all weather track, most recently 1200 metres, then 1400 metres and thinking that the next logical step would have been to look at either a 1600 or 1800 metre race in Shatin, the always entertaining preparation of former WA stayer Who Dat Singa, purchased with last year’s Hong Kong Derby in mind, now attempts his luck by running for the first time at the city track over 1650 metres in a Class 3 contest.

Trainer Manfred Man and connections must have a master Do Wah Diddy Diddy plan up their sleeves going on the preparation its had the way this galloper has gone since being moved from the care of Richard Gibson after a handful of runs.

Karis Teetan either jumps off Da Singa to ride last start winner Super Form or the ride has gone to The Gnasher- Nash Rawiller who the connections know pretty well. Strange preparation or not, there’s no getting around the fact that he’s shown a marked improvement at his last two starts.

What’s surprising is seeing the galloper as the overnight favourite for the race, which is ridiculous for a galloper on the improve, but still needing to show some semblance of winning form and also facing that unknown factor of racing at Happy Valley for the first time.

Still, those knowledgeable hosts of a the programme Racing To Win- Andrew Le Jeune and Brett Davis- have him to win the last race tonight whereas The Lallyman has displayed some restraint by having Who Dat Singa only singing backup in third spot.

On the subject of RTW, we speak on behalf of the programme’s huge audience when saying that going to the HKJC’s Multimedia micro site and then being forced to watch everything race by race is bloody time consuming. Why can’t it be available for viewing as the one programme it’s meant to be instead of it being edited down to bits? Why not make something complicated when it can be simple, we guess.

It might be one helluva big production number what with the hosts getting up to stand in front of a Touchscreen to take viewers through speed maps and move horsies around before returning to their seats and finally giving us their selections, but it’s also not the easiest way to watch a one hour programme that can take up almost two hours of one’s time. It’s not exactly like watching “Breaking Bad” though there might be plenty of breaking wind taking place.

Better yet, the resident tipsters can just tweet their numbers for those who follow their selections with almost religious zeal.

RACE 1

A Class 5 race over 1200 metres on the C Course with most of the better chances drawn outside barriers?

RACE 2

GREAT JOY (1) LONDON MASTER (10)

RACE 3

POLYMER LUCK (6) MEGATRON (10) MASSIVE POWER (11) WAH MAY BABY (4)

RACE 4

SWEET BEAN (7) FRUITFUL LIFE (3) DON WONGCHOY (9) EMPIRE OF MONGOLIA (11)

RACE 5

LEISURED FEET (2) GENEROUS HEART (1) ENJOY LIFE (9) PEARL WARM WARM (7)

RACE 6

MASTER ALBERT (6)

Owned by the Chairman of the HKJC, this will start favourite despite failing at his three previous starts in Sha Tin also as favourite. Forgive those runs as the good Master was drawn wide on all three occasions. He attempts to break his duck with his first start at the city track where he’s trialled well and, for once, has a good barrier draw. If Master Albert is ever going to graduate to long pants, tonight’s the night.

CHARITY GLORY (10) CALCULATION (1)

The introduction of earplugs for the first time just might be what he’s been looking for. He’s probably the strong silent type.