Every racing fan in every country feels a buzz of excitement when he hears the word ‘Derby’, and I can assure you I’m no different. Now as the great race is only just over a week away that buzz increases in intensity, and it will go on doing so until the runners pass the post on 20 March and we again crown the winner of Hong Kong racing’s greatest local prize, the Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Derby.
I have been looking into the history of the great race – not the one that stretches back 138 years, although I may do that one day if work gives me time, just the history of the professional era – and it is quite revealing to see what an international event our biggest local event has become. Unsurprisingly this internationalization parallels the development of Hong Kong racing as a whole.
Expatriate trainers have prepared 16 of the past 20 Derby winners, the exceptions being Brian Kan, twice successful in the last two decades, who with five victories altogether in the professional era is the most successful Derby trainer of them all, and Tony Cruz, who besides his two as a trainer has four victories as a jockey to his credit too.
The international dimension doesn’t end with trainers either. Seven HK Derby winners in the past 20 years have been won by South African jockeys , six by Frenchmen, surprisingly only two each by Australians, Britons and Irishmen and just one – yes, Tony Cruz again! – by a local rider. But in the meantime I am keen to see another product of our apprentice training scheme emerge as a talent capable of challenging those international stars. Both Matthew Chadwick on California Memory in the Citibank Hong Kong Gold Cup and Alex Lai in the Sprinters’ Stakes in Japan back in October have proved that local riders are more than capable of holding their own in competition with overseas champions, and I’m sure it is only a matter of time before another Hong Konger joins Tony as a Derby hero.
It’s notable that of the 20 most recent Derby winners eight have been bred in New Zealand, seven in Ireland and four in Great Britain, with only one Australian bred among them. This is not exactly amazing as it reflects the tradition of stamina production in Europe and New Zealand and the emphasis on sprinting in Australia. Incidentally I will be as excited as anyone to see how the new sprinting sensation and world top rated sprinter, Black Caviar performs under top weight in the Newmarket Handicap which will be simulcast for betting this morning.
So we have eight days to go now until we find out the name of the 2011 Derby winner. And if anyone doubts the excitement the race is already generating they should have a look at the numbers for our phone-in Derby quiz. More than 920,000 calls were logged on the first two days, March 6 and March 9, and with two more phone-in quizzes to come, one later today and the other on Wednesday, the total number of those phoning for our free Derby prizes will certainly be measured in millions.
Meanwhile we have more excitement this afternoon with the Hong Kong Macau Trophy. Last year Macau triumphed through the Gary Moore-trained Viva Pronto. The year, I believe we may have a stronger team in this HK G3 event. The race is expected to be run at a good to fast pace and Happy Gladiator will try to get to the front but from Gate 14 and with our speed machine Romantic City on his inside will make this difficult. Cerise Cherry, Supreme Win and Wealthy Man should be running in good positions, but the main chances are in midfield. For the Macau team, in my opinion Kaaptan is the horse which has the best chance to be in the finish. I like Final Answer but the draw is a little handicap for him and for St Fevre as well, they are both at risk to be staying three wide during the race. My favourites are Sparkling Power which should be positioned around midfield and Elegance Desire, which used to come from the back and with the expected fast tempo, has a good chance too.
Another trophy race of the day is the Association of Hong Kong Racing Journalists Challenge Cup which is a good staying contest over 1800m. The pace is expected to be slow and with that, Almighty Windpower will have to work a little bit from his Gate 13 but he should lead with the upcoming staying star Liberator who will be travelling in the box seat position. Liberator will be difficult to beat despite being top weight and his main opponents should be Hear The Roar and The Only Kid.
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