With only four days to go until FWD Champions Day at Sha Tin on Sunday (30 April) and the return of international horses, trainers and jockeys, there is a palpable sense of anticipation and excitement building in the city.
International competition is the ultimate benchmark and with 10 individual Group 1 winners among the 24 selected runners for the three G1 contests – HK$20 million Chairman’s Sprint Prize (1200m), HK$20 million FWD Champions Mile (1600m) and HK$25 million FWD QEII Cup (2000m) – Sunday’s meeting looms as a season highlight.
The presence of accomplished visiting trainers, including Takayuki Yasuda, William Haggas and Annabel Neasham, and visiting top jockeys led by current LONGINES World’s Best Jockey James McDonald, Cristian Demuro and Joao Moreira, taking on Hong Kong’s premier horsemen shapes as a fascinating battle.
This season’s meeting marks a welcome return to full international status after the 2022 FWD Champions Day was restricted to Hong Kong runners only because of COVID-19. As it happens, the three winners from last season – Wellington (Sprint), Golden Sixty (Mile) and Romantic Warrior (QEII Cup) – will attempt to defend their crowns, this time with the added challenge from overseas contenders.
The emergence of exciting young horses is one of the joys of racing and last Sunday (23 April) the victory of Straight Arron at Class 2 level over 1800m certainly caught the attention of many.
Unsuited by the tempo of the BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) when fifth, Straight Arron showed his real potential in a truly-run race with an explosive win over 1800m for Caspar Fownes and Vincent Ho.
Based on what we saw at the weekend, this quality four-year-old would appear to have a very bright future ahead. Another positive aspect from the Class 2 Wan Chai Gap Handicap on Sunday is the fact that Straight Arron led home a 1-2-3 of BMW Hong Kong Derby runners with Sword Point (sixth in the Derby) and Sweet Encounter (seventh in the Derby) filling the minor placings.
These performances bode well for the future and I look forward to the return of BMW Hong Kong Derby winner Voyage Bubble in the G1 FWD Champions Mile this Sunday when he will tackle, among others, Golden Sixty and California Spangle, who are two of the highest-rated horses in the world.
At Happy Valley on Wednesday night, the Class 2 Seoul Handicap is carded as Race 9 for Class 2 horses over 1200m at 10.50pm with prizemoney of HK$2,640,000.
The pace in the race will be good with Campione going forward from gate nine to race at the head of the field. Computer Patch, Atomic Force and Harmony And Rich have inside gates and will all attempt to hold forward positions.
Howdeepisyourlove has drawn gate five and he should also be able to race handy to the leading division. Howdeepisyourlove is only a three-year-old and last start at Sha Tin he was most impressive when bumped at the start and then racing worse than midfield before angling out wide at the 650m to come wide around the bend before chasing hard in the straight to make up ground to finish second to the promising sprinter Victor The Winner on 15 April. Howdeepisyourlove returns to Happy Valley tonight, where has an outstanding record and I make him my win and place selection for Karis Teetan.
Rewarding Together is a six-time winner at this course and distance, including two on the bounce earlier in the season. He settled last from a wide gate when running home into fourth, beaten four lengths behind Lucky Sweynesse in the G2 Sprint Cup at his last start on 9 April. Rewarding Together is a place chance, despite top weight and having an awkward draw.
Handsome Bo Bo continues to race well for Hugh Bowman and trainer Danny Shum and will have benefitted from time at Conghua since settling fifth the rail and coming off the leader’s back in the straight to beat Harmony And Rich here on 8 March. Handsome Bo Bo is really well suited over 1000m, charging home off a fast pace and will go back from his outside gate here but is a place chance out to the 1200m.
There are a number of other horses in good form with place claims in a race that concludes an excellent Happy Wednesday card. Rock Ya Heart has filled the minor placing at his last four starts and has been a model of consistency. He is a place chance again from his rails draw.
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