Christmas is a time of joy, hope and reflection and, as we look back across the first four months of the 2024/25 Hong Kong racing season, we have much to be grateful for.
We not only live in an amazing city filled with energy and its famed ‘can-do spirit’, but Hong Kong’s world-class racing continues to shine on the international stage with champion horses, trainers and jockeys showcasing our sport globally.
It is only 18 days since the staging of a truly memorable LONGINES Hong Kong International Races (HKIR), when ROMANTIC WARRIOR, VOYAGE BUBBLE and KA YING RISING shared the limelight with Great Britain’s GIAVELLOTTO as Group 1 victors at our flagship meeting.
The memories of those stirring victories endure as the 2024/25 season rolls on but the highlights continue to flow.
James McDonald brought down the curtain on a remarkable 11-week stint with a quartet at Sha Tin on JOHANNES BRAHMS, DIVANO, LADY’S CHOICE and SUPER LEGENDS on Sunday (22 December).
James rode 19 winners and 21 minor placings from only 89 rides during his stay and starred at LONGINES HKIR aboard ROMANTIC WARRIOR (G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Cup) and VOYAGE BUBBLE (G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Mile).
As impressive as James’ statistics are, his presence in Hong Kong goes beyond mere numbers. His professionalism and overall excellence as the 2024 LONGINES World’s Best Jockey also serve as an example to our aspiring homegrown riders who have the chance to compete against James and learn.
I look forward to welcoming James back next month for the G1 Stewards’ Cup (1600m) and G1 Centenary Sprint Cup (1200m) on 19 January.
It was wonderful to see Jerry Chau post a treble on FIRE BALL, ANOTHER WORLD and SKY JOY at the weekend while Antoine Hamelin is to be congratulated on riding his 100th Hong Kong winner on RAGING BLIZZARD.
Jerry and Antoine have overcome their challenges this season but both have displayed tremendous resilience in working hard at trackwork and travelling to Conghua for trials.
Similarly, I would like to congratulate Matthew Poon on winning his 250th race in Hong Kong when successful on KA YING ATTACK. As a result, Matthew is no longer eligible to claim a two-pound allowance and he is only the fifth homegrown jockey to reach this milestone following Vincent Ho, Matthew Chadwick, Derek Leung and Keith Yeung.
The Four-Year-Old Classic Series continues to take impressive shape with the performances of JOHANNES BRAHMS for Pierre Ng and James, who also won on DIVANO for Francis Lui.
JOHANNES BRAHMS ran second at Group 2 level in England for Aidan O’Brien and he is progressing nicely towards the HK$13 million Hong Kong Classic Mile (1600m) on 31 January after his strong win over 1400m on Sunday, when he carried 131lb and accelerated sharply late.
DIVANO posted the fastest final 400m sectional of the meeting – 22.16s – in his win over 1200m and it is interesting that James believes the gelding can also perform well over 1400m and possibly further.
Our Winter Wonderland extravaganza continues at Happy Valley on Thursday night (26 December) as we celebrate the festive season with wonderful entertainment spearheaded by the appearance of Rechelle Mansour.
With public admission from 4.10pm for the 10-race programme, patrons can enjoy themed Christmas food and beverage while watching world-class racing and also enjoying Rechelle’s performances between the races.
The first race on our Boxing Day programme is the Class 5 Mercury Handicap (1200m) at 6.10pm with the feature race being the Class 3 Uranus Handicap, which is carded as Race 9 and run over 1200m at 10.15pm for prizemoney of HK$1.86 million.
The pace will be good with ALLGREEKTOME likely to lead from gate 10 from AURORA LADY and FLYING FORTRESS. SERGEANT PEPPER and BRIGHT DAY are also likely to be prominent, while BEAUTY DESTINY is expected to drift back and settle midfield.
BEAUTY DESTINY has been a revelation since being ridden more quietly, posting successive wins over this course and distance under Andrea Atzeni. He rises to Class 3 for the first time but has drawn barrier one and, with the expected good tempo, will be ridden to finish off strongly and he is a win and place selection.
KYRUS DRAGON (Hugh Bowman) has a good course and distance record and ran well last start for Colin Keane when second to AURORA LADY. From gate six, he is a place chance.
AURORA LADY (Zac Purton) covered ground from barrier 12 but still proved too strong during the LONGINES International Jockeys’ Championship for Mickael Barzalona. He is another horse in this race with good form over this trip and he is also a place chance.
Several other horses also have strong claims in a very competitive race, including PRAWNS ELEVEN (Matthew Poon), GALLANT VALOUR (Brenton Avdulla), NORDIC DRAGON (Alexis Pouchin), who has five wins over 1200m at Happy Valley, and SERGEANT PEPPER (Ellis Wong).
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