With only 11 days to go until FWD Champions Day, final preparations are well underway as excitement grows with the arrival of the first wave of international contenders for our flagship spring meeting at Sha Tin on 27 April.
Japan’s LIBERTY ISLAND and DANON MCKINLEY were the first to settle in at Sha Tin followed by Australia’s MR BRIGHTSIDE and Bahrain’s CALIF. By week’s end, they will be joined by a wonderful group of champion horses including GOLIATH, LUGAL, PROGNOSIS, ROYAL PATRONAGE, EL VENCEDOR, A SHIN FENCER, GAIA FORCE, GOEMON, LAKE FOREST, SATONO REVE and TASTIERA.
Over the next week and a half, a host of world-class visiting jockeys and trainers will descend upon Sha Tin in preparation for the staging of three outstanding Group 1 races – the HK$22 million Chairman’s Sprint Prize (1200m), HK$24 million FWD Champions Mile (1600m) and HK$28 million FWD QEII Cup (2000m).
Hong Kong’s defence at one of the sport’s premier international meetings will be led by the world’s highest-rated sprinter KA YING RISING, top-class miler VOYAGE BUBBLE and a string of fellow Group 1 winners in BEAUTY ETERNAL, LUCKY SWEYNESSE, VICTOR THE WINNER and INVINCIBLE SAGE.
With 16 international Group 1 winners included among the 41 selected runners, I wish all owners and trainers the best of luck during the final phase of preparations.
Chris So has been a familiar and popular figure on Hong Kong’s horseracing landscape since joining the Club as a track rider in 1997. Having also served as an assistant trainer to Caspar Fownes, Chris was granted a licence to train starting in the 2013/14 season after working with leading overseas stables.
Since then, Chris has been a consistent contributor to Hong Kong racing and with a double last Sunday (13 April) at Sha Tin with the emerging HONG LOK GOLF and WITH A SMILE, Chris posted his 400th winner as a trainer.
I congratulate Chris on his career so far and wish him the very best into the future.
Angus Chung also notched a personal milestone on Sunday with his first treble at Sha Tin with wins on DIVANO, GUSTOSISIMO and PARENTS’ LOVE.
Like Chris, Angus is forging a fine career, having received expert tutoring at the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Apprentice Jockeys’ School before riding successfully overseas and he is now bearing down on 100 Hong Kong wins with 92 victories so far. At 28, Angus has already won the Tony Cruz Award as the leading homegrown jockey in the 2023/24 season.
Angus was most unfortunate to suffer a facial injury in a racing accident earlier this season but he has shown tremendous commitment and professionalism to rebound strongly and his three winning rides last weekend were first-class.
The Club is committed to supporting the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government’s development of the city’s tourism by showcasing our world-class horse racing and racecourse entertainment as one of Hong Kong’s distinctive tourism products to key international tourism stakeholders.
We are delighted to sponsor a Closing Ceremony at Happy Valley tonight (16 April) of the World Tourism Cities Federation (WCTF) Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit. Established in 2012 under the initiative of the Beijing Municipal Government, WTCF is a global tourism organisation comprising 166 city members from all continents as well as 83 associate and institutional members, including key players across diverse industries and businesses.
Since its inception, the summit has been hosted by major global cities, including Beijing, Helsinki, Los Angeles, Rabat and Fez and Wellington. The summit serves as an effective platform for its members to exchange experiences, reinforce cooperation and build consensus on tourism development.
The summit has been staged in Hong Kong this week with about 450 guests and delegates, including mayors, deputy mayors, as well as key tourism officials from 40 countries and regions, gathering here to take part in key discussions and activities.
The Club’s hosting of the Closing Ceremony demonstrates its significant ongoing contribution and staunch support for Hong Kong’s tourism development and enhances stakeholder understanding of the Club’s current tourism offerings and future development plans for horse racing tourism.
Our Neon Nights – Japanese Nights theme continues at Happy Valley on Wednesday night (16 April) with a celebration of Japanese music, culture and food and beverages in the Beer Garden.
International singer Natalia D will provide the musical entertainment, while our guests sample Japanese food delicacies along with Kirin beer and Sake while enjoying Hong Kong’s world-class racing.
On the track at Happy Valley, the feature race is the Class 3 Chamomile Handicap which is carded as Race 9 at 10.50pm and run over 1650m with prizemoney of HK$2,050,000.
The pace will be good with HIGHLAND RAHY (Lyle Hewitson) the likely leader. LOVERO (Angus Chung) likes to race handy to the speed and has drawn barrier two, with SMART TRIO (Matthew Poon) also likely to take up a forward position from gate four. STURDY RUBY (Keith Yeung) may have to go back from his gate 12.
EMBRACES (Jerry Chau) should get the run of the race from gate six. Since winning over this course and distance in December, his last four runs have been at Sha Tin and he ran home strongly in the closing stages when second to PATCH OF COSMO on 9 March. He had to come across heels in the straight to get clear running and he is a win and place chance.
AESTHETICISM (Zac Purton) started an overwhelming favourite last start and posted an impressive victory from DEFINITIVE and LOVERO on 2 April at this course and distance. AESTHETICISM was dominant last time and, if he can reproduce the same effort from gate eight, he is also a win and place chance.
HIGHLAND RAHY has turned his form around in spectacular style winning his last two starts in Class 4 by leading throughout and held on to beat HARMONY GALAXY over this course and distance at the most recent run, on 2 April. HIGHLAND RAHY is a place chance despite the rise in class.
STURDY RUBY has been consistent at this course and distance this season finishing in the top four at all six starts, including two wins. He has drawn the outside which complicates his task but he is a place chance along with LUCKY TOUCH (Karis Teetan), NOBLE PURSUIT (Luke Ferraris) and LOVERO also in consideration.
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