Giggles Forever has a lot of upside
The Michael Chang Chun-wai-trained Giggles Forever is untried at the mile, but the progressive four-year-old gets an ideal chance to try it in the Hong Kong University Alumni Association Centenary Challenge Cup at Sha Tin today.
The race falls almost into two groups, with many of the runners well tested and explored after plenty of racing and a few lightly raced types with some upside. Giggles Forever (Weichong Marwing) falls into the latter bracket after only five starts.
The gelding has been finishing off powerfully in shorter races as he made his way out of Class Four, giving the impression he will handle the mile well, but it is a query until he has tried it. Nevertheless, what Giggles Forever has shown is some real talent and a terrific turn of foot that has seen him close out most of his races in under 23 seconds for the final 400m.
He carried 133 pounds and did that when he narrowly failed to get to Super Caga over 1,400m two runs back under Brett Prebble, then Jacky Tong Chi-kit was on board last start when fifth to Sea Diamond over that distance. The perofrmance was much better than it might appear on paper.
Tong did nothing wrong until the top of the home straight when he became tangled up between runners and didn't get clear until the race was all over, but once again Giggles Forever was finding the line strongly.
With Marwing replacing Tong, Giggles Forever should be better served for navigation and if he produces the same sort of finishing speed, under a likely 119 pounds, he will prove too strong.
Also in the bracket of lightly raced with upside are Giggles Forever's dangers, three-year-olds Medallist (Mark du Plessis) and Craig's Pride (Tim Clark), who are also down in the weights.
The David Hall-trained Medallist was a Class Four winner at the Sha Tin 1,600m in January in good style, before a heart irregularity next start put his career on hold.
Resuming from his two-month break, Medallist then finished seventh behind Sea Diamond in that same race over 1,400m, but he should be all the better for that run and ready to produce his top form again.
The John Moore-trained Craig's Pride has possibly promised more than he has delivered but, with a win and several minor cheques in the bank from only seven three-year-old starts, he also can't be hung as a disappointment just yet and should get a nice run from gate three.
The pace is a slightly query as there are only two leaders engaged, Happy Seven and Jimson The Best, but the good news is they have drawn wide and will have to do something in the early stages in order to get forward and across and the hope is that this will generate some tempo.
33%
The winning strike for Michael Chang and Weichong Marwing this season