The start of a new Hong Kong racing season is always a momentous occasion and last Sunday’s (11 September) opening meeting was no exception with very impressive performances, both from a sporting and business perspective.
Lucky Sweynesse, brilliant winner of the Class 1 HKSAR Chief Executive’s Cup Handicap (1200m), appears to be the real deal in terms of talent after producing an outstanding display against quality older horses to start his four-year-old season in the best possible fashion.
As our Champion Griffin from last season, he had already risen from 52 to 98 in the ratings with five wins from seven starts. His effort on Sunday lifted him a further 14 points to 112 in the handicaps and into discussions about a possible LONGINES Hong Kong International Races (HKIR) tilt.
Silvestre de Sousa, who rode Lucky Sweynesse, showed he will again be an extremely competitive force with a win, a second and two thirds from eight rides in his Hong Kong return, while apprentice Angus Chung logged a second, a third and a fourth from six rides in his Hong Kong debut and performed well.
Standards remain unrelentingly high in Hong Kong and that was again made abundantly clear with the performances of Zac Purton (three wins) and Karis Teetan (two) and trainers Danny Shum and Ricky Yiu, who shared training honours with a double apiece. The first leg of Ricky’s brace delivered his 900th Hong Kong winner, which is an incredible achievement.
From a business viewpoint, I was extremely pleased that we achieved our second-highest turnover ever for an opening-day meeting with HK$1411 million, which was a very strong accomplishment in the current economic environment, especially the 10 percent increase in commingling turnover.
The fantastic atmosphere generated by an attendance of 8,562 added even further to the day and we are optimistic that we likely can increase the number of race course attendees by the beginning of October with the Covid numbers hopefully decreasing over the coming weeks.
We would like to stage LONGINES HKIR 2022 with enhanced owners’ experience in Hong Kong in December with a fully-fledged LONGINES International Jockeys’ Challenge, crowning the LONGINES World’s Best Jockeys and with the wide participation of the world’s top horses and their connections in the LONGINES HKIR.
The ability to bring owners and trainers into Hong Kong to support their horses at HKIR is a necessary condition to attract world-class horses to the meeting.
The LONGINES HKIR meeting is one of the biggest international meetings in the world and receives global coverage – and racing is a global attraction.
We also feel it is important to demonstrate that Hong Kong is a vibrant international city and it has a lot of new attractions to showcase, especially M+ and the Hong Kong Palace Museum in West Kowloon.
Our vision to stage international racing in Hong Kong depends on the Covid situation at the time, but the progress made in gradually opening and managing the current situation well gives the confidence of being optimistic and to plan for the LONGINES International Jockeys’ Challenge and LONGINES HKIR and we have to show the world Hong Kong is alive and kicking.
We in the Club have demonstrated that we can manage to continue racing responsibly during COVID and last year’s International Racing Bubble showed our ability to handle challenging circumstances.
At Happy Valley tonight, Caspar Fownes and Danny Shum are vying for early favouritism in the new Trainers’ Challenge. With eight runners, Caspar is at odds around $3.25, while Danny, who has nine entries, is around $4. Danny’s double and a placing at Sha Tin last Sunday saw him become the first winner of the Trainers’ Challenge.
This season’s DBS x Manulife Million Challenge kicks off with the third race and continues through 8 February for Class 3 races and above at the City Circuit. Points are awarded on a scale of 15-6-4-3 and the HK$1 million bonus pool is distributed to the top three horses based on total points accumulated throughout the series.
In the Class 3 Deep Water Bay Handicap over 1000 metres, the pace will be genuine with Super Axiom and Trader flashing their gate speed with Valiant Elegance and Awesome Treasure in close contention.
Valiant Elegance is reunited with regular rider Lyle Hewitson and the pair teamed up to win four races last season. He will use his speed from the inside draw and is likely to sit just behind the leaders. Having already won over 1000m at Happy Valley, Valiant Elegance is a win and place chance.
Super Axiom will have the services of regular rider Dylan Mo and is a short course specialist. He finished last season with a flourish, winning two of his last four races and is a place chance tonight. Trader is a possible first winner for trainer Pierre Ng and turned in a good trial in preparation for his seasonal debut. He has drawn a good gate, gets Karis Teetan and I expect a much-improved performance. He is a place chance.
Awesome Treasure has been going well at Conghua and makes his return to the races off a seven-month layoff. He has drawn the outside gate, which will make this a more difficult test, but he has ability and his time at Conghua seems to have served him well. I make him a place chance with Matthew Poon.
With four wins over 1000m at Happy Valley, track and distance specialist Wild West Wing should not be under-estimated from gate four under Vagner Borges.
The sixth race is the Community Chest Cup, a Class 4 handicap over 1650 metres, which will be run at only a moderate tempo. Go For Tea will use his speed from the inside gate to make the running with Luke Ferraris with token pressure from Big Two, Our Creed and Run The Table.
This is an open race and a race where Sparky Star could take a step forward as he gets a rare opportunity over a longer trip. He has had a good preparation for his return and has gone well in the past in his limited chances at Happy Valley. I make him a win and place chance coming from the second half of the field with Harry Bentley.
Big Two is a last start winner over the course and distance, and comes into the race with good form. Jockey Lyle Hewitson will call on his tactical speed to get an early position near the lead. He may need a race or two to return to his top form but I also make him a win and a place chance.
Our Creed reunites with Zac Purton and must overcome the wide draw of gate 12, but has received a four-pound drop in the handicap ratings and is a place chance.
Fearless Fire can improve here from a better draw and looks like the value play with Luke Currie along with last start winner Run The Table, who maps to get a good trip under Matthew Chadwick. Run The Table has never won outside of Class 5 but the good draw and light weight will give him every chance.
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