Jamie Richards is looking forward to the promising La Forza resuming in the Class Three Garonne Handicap (1,000m) at Happy Valley on Wednesday night despite an outside draw.

Richards’ stable has been flying, recording seven winners from the last 10 meetings including doubles at both courses, however the New Zealand trainer is hoping a set of unfortunate draws for his three runners doesn’t stop the run of form on Wednesday night.

La Forza returns to the races for the first time since last October after an enforced break due to bone chips in his left knee requiring two arthroscopic surgeries. Brenton Avdulla will be on board as the Toronado galloper looks to add to a solid record of three wins from nine starts.

“He was a natural running horse. He trialled well at home in New Zealand, and then he came here and raced well as a Griffin,” Richards said.

“He’s had a couple of little issues since then, including two sets of knee surgery throughout the season. He had a fragment in his knee after his last start, which then unfortunately got infected through nobody’s fault, but he just needed to be operated on again. So he’s had a few trials back and I think he’s been going along OK, but he might just need a run to bring him on.

“I think he’s coming back OK, I think he’s probably going to need a run and it’s not easy from the barrier. So we’ll have a look at the maps and everything and see how it’s going to look. But barrier 12 over 1,000m is not a great place to start, but we can’t control the barriers.”

Richards has been pleased with how the four-year-old has progressed following his recovery.

“I think his trials have been OK, they haven’t been outstanding. He’s quite a laid-back horse now. His last trial was on a very wet dirt last Tuesday morning, so we didn’t put too much pressure on him there,” Richards said.

“He’s a bit bigger in condition, he’s strengthened off a bit, it’s been pretty smooth sailing, but I think he’ll probably benefit from the run and we’ll try and get another run into him before the end of the season, if not more, and then get him ready for next season.

La Forza has raced well first up and should handle the return to the tight-turning track.

“He’s run well at the Valley before, I think he’s an agile type of horse that can handle the circuit, so it fitted in well with his programme,” Richards said.

Recent stable transfer Von Baer finished well on the all-weather track at his first run for Richards last start when resuming from a bleed. The son of No Nay Never will have the blinkers reapplied for the second time when he jumps from barrier 10 with Avdulla aboard in Wednesday night’s Class Five Dordogne Handicap (1,200m).

“He ran pretty well on dirt the other day – he needed the run a little bit coming back off a bleed. I think he’s made good progress since his first up run. Barrier 10 isn’t ideal, but we’ll just have a look at the map and make a call whether he goes back or forward and just do the best we can,” Richards said.

The five-year-old will switch back to the city circuit where he has been competitive at Class Four level and should appreciate Class Five company.

“His form across all three tracks – the all-weather, Sha Tin and Happy Valley – has been pretty good on the whole. So down into Class Five off a good rating, with luck in running, hopefully he can pop his head up, but it would’ve been easier from an inside draw,” Richards said.

Spicy Gold returns to his favoured distance of 1,200m with Keith Yeung Ming-lun taking the reins in the Class Three Seine Handicap. The So You Think galloper was tried at 1,650m last start at Sha Tin, however covered ground and faded after a tough run.

“Put a pen through it, start again. He’s a sprinting type of horse. He’s getting down to a rating where he’s probably going to be performing better in Class Four, I would say,” Richards said.

“Again, he hasn’t drawn well [in barrier 10], but he’s performed well over the course and distance. He does have a few aches and pains as an older horse now, so we’re just trying to manage him as best as we can. But he might need to drop in the ratings a little bit more yet.”

While the six-year-old has improved with age mentally, he requires more management physically.

“I think he’s settled down a lot from his earlier days, but whether that’s a good thing or not, I’m not sure – maybe he raced his best when he was half mad. But as he’s got older he has certainly matured mentally. It’s just about trying to look after his body as best as we can because he does feel the firmer tracks a bit now,” Richards said.

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