Jamie Richards has copped the two extremes of the barrier draw for Wednesday night’s Happy Valley fixture but he was relieved to see Seasons Wit come out unscathed with the inside gate for the Class Three St George’s Challenge Cup (1,000m).

His speedster has relished the drop back to the minimum distance in his past two starts after plying his trade over further for most of this campaign.

All four of his wins have come over Wednesday’s course and distance and he returned to form with a bang when second from a wide gate two starts ago.

He followed that up with a first win since October 2023 when charging home in the Class Three Choi Wan Handicap (1,000m) last month and he has gone up 7lb in the ratings as a result.

Rated in the high 90s at one stage last season, Richards is hopeful his five-year-old can continue doing damage despite his rating going up to 74.

“Barrier one is obviously very helpful. I haven’t had much luck for any of my other runners so it’s nice for him to get a good gate at least,” said Richards.

“The field looks a bit stronger and there’s obviously a few more of them in there, but he’s trained on really well from his last start and I’m really looking forward to him.

“I’ve tried running him over the 1,400m and 1,200m distances this season but he’s suited a return to the 1,000m trip, so fingers crossed for a big run.”

Unfortunately for Richards, most of his runners on the card drew short straws in terms of the draw, including his perennially unlucky Storming Dragon.

He goes in the card-ending Class Three Selkirk Handicap (1,200m) and will need to overcome the car park draw in stall 12 if he is to defy an unlucky sequence.

The Star Turn galloper has finished in the top four in four of his past five runs – including a pair of placings in his past two starts – despite drawing barrier eight for three of those.

Most recently, he finished second to the heavily-punted Storm Rider in the Class Three Stanley Gap Handicap (1,200m), where he was the only horse to make any sort of ground from the rear of the pack.

Richards is desperate for a change of luck with his dual winner, but is still hopeful of a big run regardless of his barrier misfortune.

“The poor horse just can’t draw a gate, but when you go to the Valley you take the chance that you’re either going to draw well or not,” said Richards.

“He’s going well enough to still be competitive despite stall 12, but it doesn’t make life any easier.”

A four-time champion trainer in his native New Zealand, Richards sits on the 21-winner mark for the campaign in his third Hong Kong season.