Tracking the development of quality horses is a fascinating exercise and, in a season where Hong Kong has witnessed the emergence of a cluster of potential top-liners, the performances on Saturday (1 July) of Frankie Lor pair Dream Winner and Sword Point builds further confidence for the future.
Dream Winner, a powerfully-built sprinter who is still only three, carried 132lb to victory over 1000m in Class 3 and Frankie has high hopes for him next season when the exciting gelding will be even stronger and more mature.
At the opposite end of the distance spectrum, Sword Point is part of this season’s Classic Generation we hope can further enhance our staying ranks. His effort, at his 10th start of the season, to defeat more seasoned opposition over 2000m to win the Class 2 Hong Kong Reunification Cup Handicap while carrying 132lb on Saturday was commendable.
Frankie has indicated Sword Point, who is already placed at Group 3 level over 2400m, behind another talented young stayer Straight Arron, will be given a chance at more Group races next season.
It was pleasing to host many Mainland visitors at Sha Tin on Saturday when we celebrated the 26th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. We also staged the Guangdong-Hong Kong Cup as a continuation of the rich collaboration between Guangdong and Hong Kong.
The Club is a long-standing supporter of Guangdong-Hong Kong collaboration in sports, the equine industry development and many other areas and we look forward to fostering this collaboration into the future.
Tonight (Sunday, 2 July), we will simulcast the Deutsches Derby, Germany’s most important race. It is carded as S1-7 to be run over 2400m at 8.15pm from Hamburg Racecourse. The going is likely to be good but it is important to monitor the ground conditions in Hamburg because if it rains, it could get very heavy which would suit horses like Mr Hollywood or Winning Spirit.
Straight was impressive winning the G2 Union-Rennen (2200m) on 11 June. He was held up at the tail of the field before taking the lead in the last 200m to sprint away for an easy five-length win, breaking the Cologne course record.
Andreas Wohler is chasing his sixth Derby win and combined with rider Eduardo Pedroza to win the race with Laccario in 2019, who had also won the Cologne race leading in. Straight is my win and place selection.
Fantastic Moon won the Derby Trial (2000m) on 20 May at Baden-Baden on good ground, beating Vintage Moon by more than four lengths with Straight in third place. Fantastic Moon is by Sea The Moon, who won the 2014 Derby and is trained by Sarah Steinberg, who will make history with victory as the first female trainer to win the race. Fantastic Moon will likely benefit from stepping up to 2400m and is best on a good and good to soft track, but gate 16 makes it more challenging. He is the main danger to Straight and is a place chance.
Mr Hollywood won his Maiden by 16 lengths and then beat Fantastic Moon easily in the Bavarian Classic in Munich on 1 May on heavy ground. He was well beaten by Straight at Cologne on firmer going and he may not get the conditions to best suit his chances again.
Peter Schiergen, who won the race for the sixth time last year with Sammarco, has four runners with the best of his chances being Napolitano and Winning Spirit.
The race is rarely won by internationally-trained runners. This year, Ireland is represented by Jessica Harrington-trained Pivotal Trigger, who comes off a win at Roscommon. English trainer Ralph Beckett saddles If Not Now, who won a three-horse contest by a big margin at Sandown last start. Both will need to progress further to challenge the local contingent.
The Irish Derby will be run over 2400m at The Curragh and is carded as S2-4 10.40pm.
The pace in the race should be good with San Antonio and Adelaide River expected to set a strong gallop in front, as they did in the Epsom Derby.
Their stablemate Auguste Rodin came from the back half of the field to beat King of Steel in a driving finish with the pair clearing away from the rest of the field. The colt by Deep Impact has suffered defeat only once and that was in the 2000 Guineas when he resumed on unsuitable ground. Auguste Rodin is a dominant favourite and should give champion trainer Aidan O’Brien his 15th victory in the race. Ryan Moore takes the ride and is searching for his first Irish Derby win. Auguste Rodin is my win selection.
Auguste Rodin’s main opposition comes from White Birch and Sprewell, who ran third and fourth, respectively, at Epsom beaten a considerable margin.
White Birch is a hold-up horse who will settle at the tail of the field and run on and is a place chance again. Sprewell was an easy winner of the Irish Derby Trial on 7 May at Leopardstown and didn’t have a lot of room early in the straight at Epsom, where he stayed on well for fourth. He is capable of further improvement and also has a place chance.
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