Last weekend proved a very entertaining one for local sports fans, as the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon attracted record participation of some 65,000 runners, while our Sunday race meeting at Sha Tin featured the second round of this season's four-year-old series, the Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Classic Cup. There were also some fascinating football matches to enjoy on television.
In the Classic Cup, which is run at set weights, Tony Millard-trained Ambitious Dragon overcame the disadvantage of a 29-pound lower rating than top-ranked Lucky Nine to storm home to victory in this Hong Kong Group 1 event.
I must confess that before the race, I rated Ambitious Dragon as just that – a bit too ambitious to take on proven Group 1 performers. I was sceptical that he could make the big jump from Class 3 into Group 1 level. But I have to admit that he outwitted all my pre-race predictions, and did so in tremendous style.
If you look at the sectional times for the final 400m of the first four finishers, Ambitious Dragon clearly outperformed the others in running a time of 23.41 seconds. Lucky Nine, who in my opinion will develop as the best miler in Hong Kong and even in Asia, did not stay the additional 200m for the 1800m distance. He appeared to be cruising home when coming into the straight, but could not accelerate at the final stage. His sectional time of 23.82 seconds for the last 400m was actually slower than Let Me Handle It and Xtension – the third and fourth placegetters at 23.65 seconds and 23.72 seconds respectively.
I think Let Me Handle It will appreciate the extra 200m going into the Derby, but clearly Ambitious Dragon will now become the favourite for this race. It is great to hear that rising superstar jockey Maxime Guyon is aiming to come back and ride him in the Derby. Whatever the outcome, I think we can look forward to a terrific battle in this HK$16 million showcase event.
One of the delights of our sport is that sometimes we have racehorses who can defy the odds in overcoming stronger opponents at group level. It's the same in football, as sometimes lesser teams can produce giant-killing performances in Cup competitions, even though there may be a huge gulf in class between the two teams.
I'm sure that many of you will be familiar with that, having watched two apparent "mismatches" in the fifth round of the English FA Cup at the weekend, namely Premier League champions Manchester United hosting non-league Crawley Town at Old Trafford, and League One outfit Leyton Orient entertaining Arsenal. Both the lesser teams produced spirited and memorable performances, with Crawley Town a bit unlucky to suffer a 1-0 defeat to United, while Leyton Orient grabbed a late equaliser to earn a deserved replay with the Gunners.
I was particularly impressed with the performances of Crawley Town’s players. Although they are in the fifth tier of English football and many of the team players being part-time footballers, they played in a very organised way throughout the match and showed no fear, especially the defence who were very concentrated.
Tonight at Happy Valley we look set to enjoy another great sporting battle, the finale of this season's 1O1O Million Challenge. I'm sure most fans will be putting their focus on the final two races, the Kwai Fong Handicap and Briar Handicap, as the top three current contenders in the standings – Turbo King, Fun Rider and Cheer – will be participating in these two races, ensuring that the battle goes right down to the wire.
Between them, these three horses have won eight times and been runner-up in five other occasions at Happy Valley this season. Turbo King will get the HK$650,000 winner’s cheque for his Owner if he snatches his fifth winner of the season in the Briar Handicap. Both Fun Rider and Cheer also had the chance to upset Turbo King and clinch the top prize, only if any of them win the Kwai Fong Handicap but Turbo King scores no point in subsequent event. So I believe both races will be very entertaining. Let’s see how these three horses perform in the finale tonight.
In the Kwai Fong Handicap, the expected good pace should help Cheer with Douglas Whyte on board and out of Gate 1, to get an ideal position behind the leaders. He is for me the top pick in this race. Fun Rider with Brett Prebble aboard will be his main rival and the horse should be well positioned, too. Shifachi Tradition and Fluke are the other contenders with chance to finish in the money in this race.
The Briar Handicap is the highlight of the day and promises to be a great race. Romantic City has to work from Gate 11 and he shows for me some effects of his racing last time. I am not as convinced as I was last time about his chances. Vital Flyer, who should be well placed in the race from Gate 1, as well as Final Answer who is working well and has an ideal draw of 2, would both have chances to finish in the top 3.
Being my favourite runner in this 1200m event, Turbo King is working well and with the 5-pound apprentice allowance this time. I think he is the horse to beat. His regular rider Brett Prebble is on Perfect Style who is an outstanding Valley performer. This horse will hold the potential to spoil the party, particularly as Our Lucky Baby seems not to be the horse any longer he was last season. High Point had a nice form as he was beaten only a short head by Tai Sing Yeh in December. I would be watching the late odds movements on this horse to see how much confidence is in the market for him.
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