A switch to the tight Happy Valley circuit might be enough to get Danny Shum Chap-shing-trained Dancing Flames back in the winner's circle after a very competitive Craigengower Cricket Club Challenge Cup (1,000m) tonight, reports Alan Aitken at the HK Racing Post.
The three-year-old was a well-backed winner on debut down the Sha Tin straight course three starts ago, but he has met defeat twice since as odds-on favourite. The first was an unsuccessful tilt at 1,200m, then he went back to the straight but did some work getting across from a low draw under top weight and was again found wanting.
Characteristic of Dancing Flames' three starts has been his high speed but low stamina that has looked suspect even at the end of 1,000m.
He is a young, inexperienced horse and may strengthen as he matures, but Happy Valley's short straight and tight bends could help him see it out to the post, even at this stage. It's one thing to be tested over the straight course, where your opponents get a clear shot at any time, but it's another entirely around Happy Valley with a horse like Dancing Flames (Derek Leung Ka-chun).
His brilliant gate speed should be enhanced by the addition of blinkers tonight, and see him clear those inside him early and control the race on the rail. The key will be how comfortably he holds out another quick horse drawn next to him, Ocean Roar, and whether that leaves him enough to slip clear straightening for home.
If Dancing Flames has enough in the locker to find a length, he can scramble in before the finishers catch him. If he can't, his goose is cooked and the race opens up to plenty of horses finding the line better, like Mr Right (Chad Schofield), Chin Chun(Nash Rawiller) or King Of Household (Vincent Cheminaud), to get past him, with St Yazin (Gregory Benoist) charging late from the rear.