Matthew Chadwick had the choice of two last-start winners on the field for Wednesday night’s Grade Two Glasgow Handicap (1,200m) at Happy Valley, but pundits should not read too much into the selection of qualifiers for the International Jockey Championship ( IJC), Rewarding Together. over Street Scream.
A combination of the Jockey Club schedule and Frankie Lor Fu-chuen’s forward planning led Chadwick, who won four races on both Rewarding Together and Street Scream, to commit to the regular second class over the gallop set for to make his bow in the game. note.
On 30 October, at Happy Valley’s only day meeting of the season, Chadwick rode the Lor-trained Rewarding Together to win the Grade Two Guangzhou Handicap (1,200m) by 35 minutes before leading his progressive sprinter Tony Cruz, Street Scream, in the Grade 3 Zhuhai Handicap. (1,200 m) success, making him the first horse to score a hat-trick this term.
As soon as Chadwick, Lor and Rewarding Together finished posing for photos with the euphoric connections of the gallop, the handler began making plans for the horse’s next start.
“Frankie asked me first. Basically, straight after the race,” said Chadwick, who helped Lyle Hewitson count down to earn the right to represent Hong Kong at next week’s IJC.
“I had to think about it before they ran because it was a possibility that they would both go there because it was just that race on the schedule for them.
“We knew Rewarding Together would probably carry more weight, but he’s been in this class for a while and he’s been very consistent in this class. I still haven’t reached the end of Street Scream. I’m not sure where it’s going to end up, so it has more upside.
“I can’t tell them apart, to be honest. Both are doing well. The times in the last three rounds were quite close to each other. It just came down to Frankie asking me first.”
Chadwick, who has moved up to fourth on the jockeys’ prize ladder with 12 winners this season, is looking forward to making his first appearance at the IJC in 2012 because of not only the way the Jockey Club allocates the races but and the “different dynamic” that comes with international riders competing with Hong Kong’s best.
“You need the luck of the barriers, but you can end up getting better runs than you would on a normal race day, put it that way,” Chadwick said.
“The other factor that comes into play with the IJC is the overseas riders, so it’s a different dynamic. The way people decide to ride their horses and the track, it becomes a completely different setup.”
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In other news, the Jockey Club announced on Monday that it will offer Trainer Challenge in-game betting for the first time at Wednesday night’s meeting.
In line with its long-running fixed-odds Jockey Challenge product, the Jockey Club will offer Trainer Challenge prices until the start of the last race, provided the market is competitive enough to change the gaps between races.
Ten handlers have won at least one Trainer Challenge market since the Jockey Club introduced it this term, with Caspar Fownes (four and a half wins from 22 meetings) leading the way from John Size (four wins), Danny Shum Chap- shing (three wins) and Francis Lui Kin-wai (three wins).
Eight riders have won at least one Jockey Challenge market this season, Zac Purton’s 12 wins eight more than the only other multiple winner, Vincent Ho Chak-yiu (four). Purton has seven races on Wednesday night.
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