The successful staging this week in Hong Kong of the Global Financial Leaders’ Investment Summit and the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens indicates that our incredible city is very much open and back in business.
With only five weeks until the LONGINES Hong Kong International Races (HKIR), these two showcase events have drawn positive attention to Hong Kong on the world stage.
The Global Financial Leaders’ Investment Summit welcomed over 200 international and regional leaders from about 120 global financial institutions around the word and more than 40 of these institutions were represented by group chairmen or chief executive officers.
The Summit has not only received extensive international attention and media reporting, but also reassures Hong Kong’s positioning as an international city. The quarantine arrangements for the summit have proven to be smooth and successful for the overseas guests and provides a good basis for LONGINES HKIR to accommodate our overseas participants.
It was a similar situation at the Hong Kong Stadium for the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens, which had not been played since April 2019 because of the COVID pandemic and its return was met with great enthusiasm.
I was impressed by the smooth way the event was handled by organisers and perceptions of long queues did not eventuate. With 15 overseas nations competing with Hong Kong for the championship, overall capacity was 85% because of social distancing regulations but the atmosphere was still amazing. The public entered the Stadium without delay and enjoyed food and beverages while watching the matches.
The Club strongly believes in the immense benefits sport provides to the community, as well as the value of international competition, and we are pleased to lend our support to the Hong Kong Sevens as the Official Community Partner. More than 7,000 people have benefited from programmes designed to promote rugby and provide more opportunities for the community to enjoy the excitement of Sevens.
To enjoy positive experiences at two high-level events this week was timely as we prepare to receive more than 300 overseas participants and around 100 overseas journalists for LONGINES HKIR next month, when our overseas friends can again enjoy world-class racing as well as witness the continued reopening of Hong Kong to the international community after almost three years.
LONGINES HKIR will become the next event to showcase that Hong Kong is resuming normal operations and is back on the international stage.
Our overseas simulcasts continue early on Sunday morning with the running of the G1 Breeders’ Cup Turf (2400m) and the G1 Breeders’ Cup Classic (2000m, dirt) from Keeneland Racecourse in Kentucky, where HKIR entrants Broome and Stone Age are engaged to compete.
The layout of the Keeneland turf track, which is inside the 1700m dirt track and measures only 1400m and is similar to Happy Valley, does not make it easy for European horses who are used to sweeping bends and long straights and makes it difficult for them to come from the back of the field.
The Breeders’ Cup Turf, which starts at 4.40am Hong Kong time, features Broome and Stone Age, both trained by Aidan O’Brien, with the latter likely to be up on speed along with Bye Bye Melvin, who is a natural front runner, ensuring a solid pace in the race.
Mishriff has been a wonderful horse for the Gosden stable and makes his final race track appearance in this race. He has not won since taking the G1 Juddmonte International in August last year but has been placed in top class G1 races this year and is a place chance.
Charlie Appleby has two runners Nations Pride and Rebel’s Romance. Nations Pride switched to American racing after his unplaced effort in the Epsom Derby and has won at his last two runs, the latest over this trip at Aqueduct in the G3 Jockey Club Derby Invitational Stakes. William Buick riding him in preference to stablemate Rebel’s Romance is a strong pointer and I make Nations Pride a win and place chance.
Rebel’s Romance posted his fourth win on end win taking the G1 Grosser Preis von Europa at Koln on 25 Sept defeating the Deutsche Derby winner Sammarco. James Doyle takes the ride and I rate him a place chance.
Fillies have a good record in the race in recent years with Found, Enable and Tarnawa all winning and War Like Goddess comes into the race off a win in the G1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Stakes over this trip. She is a place chance for Joel Rosario, if able to hold a spot just behind the speed from her inside gate in a wide open race.
The Breeders’ Cup Classic, which starts at 5.40am Hong Kong time, provides another opportunity to see Flightline race. His winning performance in the G1 Pacific Classic Stakes (2000m) at Del Mar drew comparisons with the famous victory of Secretariat in the 1973 Belmont Stakes.
Flavien Prat took Flightline to the lead at the halfway mark and continued to increase his margin over his rivals beating Dubai World Cup winner Country Grammer on the line by an official 19.25len. The performance propelling him to the top of the LONGINES World’s Best Racehorse Rankings with a figure of 139, eclipsing Baaeed’s published mark of 135.
Baaeed was defeated in his last career run finishing fourth in the Champion Stakes on 15 October but racing fans around the world will be hoping Flightline can continue his unbeaten streak and produce another Secretariat like performance and I think he should win.
The three-year-old division in the race is led by Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike, along with runner up Epicenter and last-start Pennsylvania Derby winner Taiba.
Epicenter won the G1 Travers Stakes (2000m) at his most recent run at Saratoga on 22 August and is a place chance here for trainer Steven Asmussen and rider Joel Rosario.
Perhaps the biggest challenge to Flightline may come from Todd Pletcher’s four-year-old Life Is Good who last year won the Breeders Cup Dirt Mile. At his only previous run at the trip, he was fourth in the Dubai World Cup in March but has won all three runs since, including the Whitney Stakes and the Woodward Stakes over 1800m at G1 level. Life is Good will break well from the two gate and is a place chance.
The same day Flightline won the Pacific Classic on the US West Coast, Olympiad was winning the G1 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont on the East Coast and is also a place chance stalking the pace from gate seven.
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