In the middle of January each year, the latest World Thoroughbred Rankings are announced by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities, the world governing body for the sport. The rankings are based on the performances of horses over different distances and surfaces during the calendar year just finished, and serve as a valuable way of benchmarking the quality of our Hong Kong-trained runners against those from other parts of the world. They list all horses given an international rating of 115 or above.
In the 2010 rankings announced by the IFHA last Tuesday, we have a record 19 Hong Kong-based horses on the list, four more than the 15 in 2009. This is really quite a remarkable achievement when you consider that it was only 12 years ago that Hong Kong gained its very first entry in the rankings, then known simply as the International Classifications, namely Johan Cruyff in 1998. Since then a total of 58 locally-trained horses have been ranked among the world's very best.
This sharp jump from one to 19 vividly illustrates the rapid improvement in Hong Kong's racing standards over the past decade, and the huge efforts we've put into upgrading our racehorse quality in that period, with the invaluable support of our owners and trainers.
However, it is not only about racehorse quality; equally important is the quality of the races in which they compete. The ranking officials base their assessments on the classifications of the races concerned and the strength of the competing fields. So besides our own 19 entries, it's encouraging to see that top overseas horses like JJ The Jet Plane, Rocket Man and Mastery have all earned high rankings for their performances in the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Races, recognising the very high standard of these Group 1 events.
Conversely, a number of our world-ranked Hong Kong horses have earned their place on the list partly for their impressive performances overseas – notably our sensational sprint trio Joy And Fun, Green Birdie and Ultra Fantasy, winners of the Al Quoz Sprint in Dubai, KrisFlyer International Sprint in Singapore and Sprinters Stakes in Japan respectively. All three have earned ratings of between 115 and 118 on the new list.
It’s also rather special to see our evergreen stayer Viva Pataca, who turned to nine in the New Year, listed for the fifth consecutive year – with a 118 rating reflecting his second victory in the Audemars Piguet Queen Elizabeth II Cup last April. Equally, it's very encouraging to see some of our young, up-and-coming stars like Let Me Fight and Lucky Nine making the international list, thanks to their very promising performances in the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Sprint. Indeed, Let Me Fight is ranked joint second in the world among three-year-old sprinters. I'm looking forward to seeing how much further they can develop in the coming weeks, when we should see them in action in a number of upcoming top-level sprints.
The first of these is tomorrow, when the Kent & Curwen Centenary Sprint Cup kicks off this year's Hong Kong Speed Series. It will be our first Group One event of Hong Kong in 2011, and in fact the first of four domestic Group One races to be staged on consecutive weekends, which should give our racing fans lots of exciting action to look forward to.
For tomorrow's big race, Aaron Kwok, who is the brand ambassador of Kent & Curwen, will join us at Sha Tin and present souvenirs to the winning connections. As many of you may know, Aaron last year became one of our successful applicants for a horse import permit, which means he can import his own Privately Purchased Griffin to Hong Kong in the 2011/12 season.
In recent years, the Club has launched various special programmes to provide channels for younger members – as other professionals such as lawyers, doctors, accountants, successful businessmen and even government officials did – joining the ranks of horse owners and sample the enjoyment and satisfaction of horse owning,
For local celebrities like Aaron to become horse owners, I think it will also bring another dimension to local horse racing and enhance its public image, which will certainly be beneficial to our sport.
Going back to the Kent & Curwen Centenary Sprint Cup, I'm sure many of our fans will be especially interested to see how Sacred Kingdom performs in tomorrow's race. Although now seven years old, he is still Hong Kong's top-ranked horse in the 2010 list with a rating of 121, the fourth year in a row he has been rated above 120. However, his performances in the Cathay Pacific Jockey Club Sprint and Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Sprint were below par and a bit disappointing. So let’s see if he can bounce back to his best and claim his sixth career Group One success in this 1000m event.
I think it has a small but quality field in this trophy race. With the expected good pace, it should give every horse a fair chance. Ultra Fantasy, Dim Sum and Sweet Sanette will contest for the lead, putting Sacred Kingdom in an ideal striking position behind the speed and I think he has a nice winning chance. Having said that, his body weight is up which is of some concern and I would be not surprised that One World, who is working very well, could topple Sacred Kingdom.
In the Sandown Handicap, although it is only a Class 4 event but there are some high potential horses in the field. The expected good to fast pace will give some advantage to horses coming from the back of the field like Jimson The Best. I hope he can finish close in this race. The key contenders of this 1400m are likely be the three-year-old horses, namely Smart Giant and John Dory. John Dory is expected to be just behind the speed in an ideal position to attack and should run well, but I prefer Smart Giant who in his previous start was severely disadvantaged with Darren Beadman losing his left stirrup. Dreams Maker ran well as an outsider last time and I expecting a good performance of him, too.
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