During the past week of increasingly worrying news from Japan, connections of Green Birdie and Joy And Fun – the two Hong Kong runners who have entered the Japanese G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen on 27 March – have both decided to pull out of the race. While it's obviously disappointing for local racing fans that Hong Kong will no longer be represented in this important springtime event, let me say that I fully understand and support the decision.
The safety of horses and their supporting teams, including trainers, jockeys, work riders and stable staff, is a top priority to us whether competing at home or overseas. Looking at the fast-evolving situation regarding the nuclear radiation threat now clouding Japan, it's a wise and sensible decision not to risk the journey any more. Hopefully everything will be back to normal by this time next year, and we can once again send a top team of Hong Kong sprinters to challenge for this race.
Last Saturday we brought you the Newmarket Handicap simulcasts from Melbourne. Trainer Peter Moody of emphatic race winner Black Caviar, who remains unbeaten in her 10 career starts, said after the victory that his latest stable star will have her first overseas campaign in December’s Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Races.
I’m delighted to hear that connections of this wonderful sprinter are making our premier international event their top target, as it shows Hong Kong is now in a leading position when leading trainers and Owners around the world look at campaigning their top runners overseas. It's a great compliment to Hong Kong racing and shows that our long-standing efforts to uplift the standards of our top events, as well as provide quality hospitality and horse care arrangements to visiting connections, are now paying off handsomely.
Meanwhile, this weekend is another very busy one for many of us in the Club, as this morning we hosted this year’s Hong Kong International Sale, while tomorrow afternoon the Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Derby, our most prestigious domestic racing event, takes centre stage.
For the International Sale, this year we had an encouraging turnout of close to 500 Owners and guests and the total amount raised by the 20 lots was HK$94 million. This is a 34 percent increase on the HK$70.4 million fetched by 19 lots in last season’s sale.
Another special point for our sale this season is that we have arranged it to be held in March, instead of December as in the past few years. By doing so, we hope to give these juvenile horses more time to mature, which we believe will be relatively more beneficial to the Owners and all parties concerned. I heard some comments from those who visited our quarantine stable to inspect those young horses after the breeze-up last Sunday that this year’s lots give a general impression that they are quite calm and showing better maturity. Hopefully these horses can deliver some good results in our griffin races in the near future.
Actually, we never place great importance on whether we record a profit or deficit on the International Sale, because our main objective is provide a service to our Owners by giving them an opportunity to purchase horses that have been specially selected for their suitability to Hong Kong’s racing environment. In this way, we hope to further enhance the quality and reputation of Hong Kong racing, and that will be the gain we most value. I hope those Owners who made successful bids today will see their young horses bringing future glory to Hong Kong racing.
While it will be some time before we see how these unraced griffins shape up in local races, tomorrow at Sha Tin you will have a chance to see the best of their preceding generation, our four-year-old elites, bid to be crowned champion of this year's HK$16 million Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Derby.
Again we have a full field of 14 runners in this 2000m event, seven of whom boast ratings of over 100. In Thursday's barrier draw, some of the top contenders such as Ambitious Dragon and Let Me Handle It drew wide gates which may make the race even more open and competitive.
An interesting point to note here is that among the 11 Derby winners since 2000, two each have come from Gate 3 and Gate 10. This year these two stalls have been drawn for David Ferraris-trained Semos and Tony Millard-trained Treasure Lands, who will be ridden by last year’s Derby-winning jockey Douglas Whyte. Let’s see if these two horses can benefit from this favourable statistic tomorrow.
The Derby is one of the races in the racing calendar which I look forward to with great anticipation. With the expected slow pace and most of the favourite horses drawn in Gate 9 or higher, these two elements make the race to be even more interesting.
Xtension is an exception and with his good draw in 1, he should be in a good position and not as far back as last time. He looks to have a good chance for a close finish for me. Despite the horror draw of 14 and the expected slow pace, Ambitious Dragon remains to be the horse to beat. With his tremendous ability to accelerate, he will have to produce his best coming from off the pace. As a son of High Chaparral, Let Me Handle It will appreciate the additional distance and he also has nice chance to get a place. I expect a great run from Free Judgement especially if we would have more rain and some give in the ground. Among other runners, the surprise horses are Fat Choy Oohlala, Treasure Lands and the Gerald Mosse-ridden Victor Delight who is coming to form.
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