After months of intricate planning and preparation, the moment of destiny has finally arrived for the 37 world-class horses, including 16 individual Group 1 winners, who will vie for glory at FWD Champions Day at Sha Tin on Sunday (27 April).
A total of 14 overseas competitors from Japan, France, Australia, New Zealand and Bahrain will contend with Hong Kong, China’s finest horses for combined prize money of HK$74 million across three blue riband contests – the HK$22 million G1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize (1200m), HK$24 million G1 FWD Champions Mile (1600m) and HK$28 million G1 FWD QEII Cup (2000m).
Outstanding horses such as GOLIATH, LIBERTY ISLAND, TASTIERA, CALIF, EL VENCEDOR, MR BRIGHTSIDE, ROYAL PATRONAGE, SATONO REVE and LUGAL will do battle against fellow Group 1-winning stars from Hong Kong including KA YING RISING, LUCKY SWEYNESSE, VICTOR THE WINNER, INVINCIBLE SAGE, VOYAGE BUBBLE, BEAUTY ETERNAL and MOMENTS IN TIME.
Adding further lustre to one of the most important race meetings on the international stage is the presence at Sha Tin of champion jockeys, notably James McDonald, Zac Purton, Yuga Kawada, Damian Lane, Hugh Bowman, Christophe Soumillon, Craig Williams, Tim Clark and Andrea Atzeni, among others.
They will be joined at our spring flagship meeting by training luminaries including Noriyuki Hori, Francis-Henri Graffard, John Size, Haruki Sugiyama, Keiji Yoshimura, Ricky Yiu, David Hayes and his sons, Ben, Will & JD, Adrian Bott who trains in partnership with Gai Waterhouse, Stephen Marsh, Haider Ebrahim Shaheen, Francis Lui, Danny Shum, Fawzi Abdulla Nass and Mitsumasa Nakauchida.
A string of fabulous social events and business meetings over the past week has set the scene for a magnificent day of fantastic racing and I would like to express my gratitude for FWD’s continued and valued support of Hong Kong’s world-class racing, which showcases our city as a tourism and sporting destination of choice.
World Pool will operate on FWD Champions Day for the first time this Sunday, offering the deepest and most liquid pari-mutuel pools by accepting bets from the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s overseas partners. World Pool showcases the sport’s top Group 1 races and plays an important role in contributing more to grassroots racing and building a sustainable business model for the whole racing ecosystem.
I would like to wish all participants the very best of luck this Sunday and I look forward to celebrating a wonderful day of racing.
The first of the FWD Champions Day features is the G1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize, which is carded as Race 5 and will be run over 1200m at 2.50pm.
The pace will be good with VICTOR THE WINNER (Karis Teetan) and COPARTNER PRANCE (James Orman) going forward from wide gates. KA YING RISING (Zac Purton) will take up a handy position from barrier four, with LUGAL (Yuga Kawada) and BEAUTY WAVES (Andrea Atzeni) also prominent.
KA YING RISING is the world’s highest-rated sprinter and looking to extend his winning streak to 12 races. KA YING RISING won the LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint in December to record his first G1 win, beating HELIOS EXPRESS and SATONO REVE. He has won three times since with his latest victory in the G2 Sprint Cup, when he jumped brilliantly and led from the halfway mark and scored easing down. Zac will have KA YING RISING in a forward position and ready to strike early in the straight. He is my win selection and will earn a HK$5 million bonus if successful for sweeping the Hong Kong Speed Series.
SATONO REVE (Joao Moreira) is by the sensational Japanese sprinter LORD KANALOA and in my view is even better condition than in December when he settled midfield and made ground in the straight when third to KA YING RISING in the LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint when beaten less than a length. SATONO REVE resumed with a brilliant win in the G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen at Chukyo on 30 March when he sprinted quickly to beat NAMURA CLAIR and MAMA COCHA in quick time. SATONO REVE has worked very strongly this week and he will be a serious contender to KA YING RISING, who has to be at his best to win.
HELIOS EXPRESS (Hugh Bowman) has been placed six times behind KA YING RISING this season and at his latest run chased hard in the straight to finish second again, beaten three lengths. HELIOS EXPRESS has drawn gate 13, but that won’t impact his racing style and he is a place chance.
LUCKY SWEYNESSE (James McDonald) was the best sprinter in the world in 2023 and won this race brilliantly two years ago. He was injured when winning his last start in the G2 Sprint Cup in April, last year. He returns after 12 months away from racing and has had four trials leading to his return, improving with each outing. This is a massive task for him but his connections will look forward to a positive performance from their champion sprinter.
Japanese sprinters A SHIN FENCER (Craig Williams) and DANON MCKINLEY (Damian Lane) are improving with each run, have both worked well this week and can run well.
The G1 FWD Champions Mile is carded as Race 7 and will be run over 1600m at 4pm.
The pace will be good with GOEMON (Kevin Stott) likely to lead. ROYAL PATRONAGE (Tim Clark) and MR BRIGHTSIDE (Craig Williams) have both drawn inside gates and will be in the leading group, as will MY WISH (Luke Ferraris), who has drawn barrier 1. HAPPY TOGETHER (Alexis Badel) and RED LION (Hugh Bowman) will also be prominent.
VOYAGE BUBBLE (James McDonald) is racing in outstanding form having beaten SOUL RUSH in the G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Mile, followed by victories in the G1 Stewards’ Cup (1600m) and G1 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup (2000m). If James can get VOYAGE BUBBLE into a good position, one off the fence from gate 10, he is a win and place chance.
MR BRIGHTSIDE has been incredibly consistent at the highest level in Australia for an extended period, winning nine times and placing eight times at G1 level. He has been impressive in his trackwork and Craig should have him in a perfect position from gate two and he is also a win and place chance.
MY WISH rises to G1 level for the first time, but won the Hong Kong Classic Mile before finishing second in the Hong Kong Classic Cup (1800m) last month. The merit of his last-start second in the BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) has been well explained, going back from the outside gate and making a sweeping run down the outside to just miss victory behind CAP FERRAT, running very quick closing sectionals. MY WISH is working very well and it seems he has recovered from his tremendous effort in the BMW Hong Kong Derby when he ran his heart out. But I advise watching him in the parade ring closely to see how he copes with the hype during the preliminaries. MY WISH has drawn well and is a place chance.
ROYAL PATRONAGE is a recent G1 winner in Australia and last start was narrowly beaten in the Doncaster Mile and is a leading contender along with GALAXY PATCH (Zac Purton), who is also working very well and is at his best distance and should not be under-estimated.
BEAUTY ETERNAL (Aaron Atzeni) and RED LION (Hugh Bowman), while CHANCHENG GLORY (Joao Moreira) and HAPPY TOGETHER (Alexis Badel) will also run well.
The G1 FWD QEII Cup is carded as Race 8 and will be run over 2000m at 4.40pm.
The pace will be good with EL VENCEDOR (Zac Purton) likely to lead from barrier one. GOLIATH (Christophe Soumillon) will likely go forward from gate nine draw along with ENSUED (Brenton Avdulla) and MOMENTS IN TIME (Joao Moreira).
TASTIERA (Damian Lane) was third to ROMANTIC WARRIOR and LIBERTY ISLAND in December in the G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Cup (2000m), after he had finished second to DO DEUCE in the Autumn Tennon Sho (2000m) in October. TASTIERA is the winner of the Japanese Derby and, while resuming here, his trackwork has been excellent and he is a win and place chance.
GOLIATH was the fourth highest-rated horse in the world in 2024 and brilliantly won the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2400m) at Ascot in July, when he easily beat the subsequent Arc winner BLUESTOCKING with REBEL’S ROMANCE third. GOLIATH ended the year with a sixth placing in the Japan Cup where he was unsuited by a slow pace. GOLIATH starts his 2025 campaign here and is in good shape. He should get suitable ground, which is expected to be Good and not too firm but his ideal distance is over 2400m and may find the Sha Tin 2000m on the short side. GOLIATH has stringhalt in left hindleg which when walking looks very strange but has no impact on his ability. His class with an international rating of 126 makes him a place chance.
LIBERTY ISLAND (Yuga Kawada) is a high-class mare who swept Japan’s three-year-old Fillies’ Triple Crown in 2023. She finished her campaign last year with an excellent second to ROMANTIC WARRIOR in the LONGINES Hong Kong Cup in December. LIBERTY ISLAND was caught wide in Dubai at her seasonal reappearance, finishing eighth behind SOUL RUSH and ROMANTIC WARRIOR in the Dubai Turf on 5 April. LIBERTY ISLAND will improve from that run and is a place chance.
PROGNOSIS (James McDonald) has finished second in this race for the last two years beaten each time by Hong Kong’s global champion ROMANTIC WARRIOR. PROGNOSIS was runner-up to VIA SISTINA in the G1 W. S. Cox Plate (2040m) in October but has been slightly disappointing in two subsequent runs. He is a place chance.
EL VENCEDOR is unbeaten in four starts this year, the last three at G1 level. EL VENCEDOR is among several place chances, along STRAIGHT ARRON (Matthew Poon), ENSUED (Brenton Avdulla) and BMW Hong Kong Derby winner CAP FERRAT (Craig Williams).
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