The arrival of the first wave of international horses in Hong Kong on Saturday night (18 April) for next weekend’s FWD Champions Day at Sha Tin signals the start of the final stages of preparation for our glittering spring showpiece meeting.
DOCKLANDS and ROYAL CHAMPION were the first of the overseas contenders to settle in at Sha Tin ahead of next Sunday’s (26 April) meeting, which will also feature the world’s top-rated horse KA YING RISING along with global champion ROMANTIC WARRIOR, MASQUERADE BALL and SOSIE, among many others.
By tonight (19 April), the remainder of a decorated international contingent – including SATONO REVE, STRAUSS, GIOVANNI, JANTAR MANTAR, COMANCHE BRAVE and JUNE TAKE – will have taken up residence at Sha Tin.
I welcome connections of all our visitors and wish them all the best as they prepare their horses to challenge Hong Kong’s finest equine talent in three prestigious Group 1 contests – the HK$30 million FWD QEII Cup (2000m), HK$24 million FWD Champions Mile (1600m) and HK$24 million Chairman’s Sprint Prize (1200m).
Our simulcast programme continues on Sunday (19 April) with the running of the G1 Satsuki Sho, which is carded as S2-1 and will be run over 2000m at 2.40pm at Nakayama Racecourse in Japan.
The Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) is the first leg of the Japanese Triple Crown and has been won by some incredible horses over the past decade including CONTRAIL and EFFORIA, while champions such as EQUINOX filled minor placings in the race.
CAVALLERIZZO, Japan’s Champion two-year-old miler last season, has drawn barrier one for Damian Lane. CAVALLERIZZO’s sire SATURNALIA won this race in 2019 and, as the winner of the G1 Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes (1600m) on 21 December at Hanshin, he is my win and place selection.
LOVCEN (Kohei Matsuyama) is proven at this distance as the winner of the G1 Hopeful Stakes (2000m) and is beautifully drawn and is also a win and place chance.
GREEN ENERGY (Keita Tosaki) and REALIZE SIRIUS (Akihide Tsumura) both have claims as place contenders, while several other runners including PEINTRE NAIF (Christophe Lemaire), BASSE TERRE (Yuga Kawada) and MATENRO GALE (Kazuo Yokoyama) must be considered.
At Sha Tin today (19 April), we celebrate the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Community Day, which is an annual meeting introduced to highlight the Club’s long-standing and successful partnerships with Government departments, non-government organisations, community groups and academic institutions in support of Hong Kong’s social needs.
The Class 4 Hong Kong Jockey Club Community Trophy Handicap is carded as Race 5 and will be run over 1600m at 3.05pm as the feature race and carries a trophy for the winning owner which is actually 170 years old.
The intricately decorated sterling silver claret ewer was first presented to the owner of COCKSPINNER at Happy Valley in 1852 as the winner of the Wongneichong Stakes. Today’s winning owner will today receive the trophy from The Honourable Rosanna Law Shuk-pui JP, Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism for the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and I wish all connections the best of luck.
Later in the afternoon, the Class 2 Fostering An Enabling and Inclusive Society Handicap is carded as Race 11 and will be run over 1800m at 6.20pm for prizemoney of HK$3.12 million.
The speed will be good with VOYAGE SAMURAI (Keith Yeung) in his usual role as pacemaker. SKY HEART (Ellis Wong) has good early speed and will take up a forward position along with NEW FOREST (Richard Kingscote) and SWORD POINT (Matthew Poon) also settling close to the front.
PATCH OF COSMO ran well during the Four-Year-Old Classic Series, overcoming a wide barrier to finish third to STORMY GROVE in the Hong Kong Classic Cup over this trip, before staying on well for fourth to INVINCIBLE IBIS in the BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) on 22 March. Zac Purton takes the ride, having previously ridden him once for a win over 1600m in January and PATCH OF COSMO is my win and place selection from an ideal draw in gate four.
SERAPH GABRIEL finished fifth in the BMW Hong Kong Derby after going forward from a wide gate and battled on strongly in the straight. SERAPH GABRIEL has drawn wide again in gate 14 but, with a long run to the first bend, Harry Bentley might be able to get him into the field, one off the fence, and he is a place chance.
GENTLEMEN LEGACY has been racing in great form, winning his last two runs over 2000m. In his latest win he settled midfield, before making a sustained run from before the home turn, taking the lead passing the 150m mark and fighting bravely to hold off FORTUNE BOY. Hugh Bowman takes the ride again and, from a good gate, GENTLEMEN LEGACY is a place chance despite switching back to 1800m.
WINNING WING has won three times this season over 2000m and at his last start ran well at Group 1 level, finishing third to ROMANTIC WARRIOR in the CITI Hong Kong Gold Cup on 1 March. WINNING WING is a talented stayer and will be running strongly at the end of the 1800m. He is a place chance for Dylan Mo.
SKY HEART (Ellis Wong) and JOY OF SPRING (Joao Moreira), both trained by Caspar Fownes, ran well to be placed last start and have claims again here.
STUNNING PEACH (Angus Chung) is also in good form having won successive races over 1600m and 1800m before finishing ninth to LUCKY SWEYNESSE in the G2 Chairman’s Trophy on 6 April when he went back to last from the outside gate and made good ground late.
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