Most of the overseas runners invited to take part in the BMW Champions Mile and Audemars Piguet Queen Elizabeth II Cup have already arrived in Hong Kong, and have all been admitted to our quarantine stables at Sha Tin Racecourse. I believe some of our racing fans may be interested to know what these horses will be doing while in quarantine. So let me take this chance to give you some information on this aspect of international racing.
In the past week, racing fans have been able to find on our Club website photos of the arrival of our overseas contenders as well as pictures taken as they got off the horse float outside the quarantine stable. Apart from our Club photographers and other stable staff, the Club’s vets are also at the scene to perform on-site health checking for the visiting horses before these visitors are led to their own stable stalls to settle down.
In fact, the Club has always believed in high standards of equine health and quarantine as a prerequisite of Hong Kong’s drive to stage more successful international horse racing events. This explains why we always place huge emphasis on monitoring the health of these overseas contenders.
Currently, the Club’s vets adopt the practice of checking and measuring the body temperatures of each visiting horse twice a day. Such horse health monitoring measures help ensure all horses remain in good health during their stay in Hong Kong, and help our vets to detect slight health problems – should there be any – as soon as they arise. As a result our vets will be able to offer prompt treatment and medication to any horse who needs it without any delay.
Talking about the APQEII Cup runners, I think many of you would be surprised to know that Douglas Whyte will replace Maxime Guyon on the remarkable Derby winner Ambitious Dragon in this 2000m event. The replacement was made as the Frenchman was required to ride for his retaining trainer Andre Fabre in France, and was therefore unavailable to ride in Hong Kong on 1 May.
Some horses, only click with one jockey, but not all. That’s why it’s certainly not ideal to break up such a successful horse-jockey partnership ahead of this important race, particularly when it comes after Guyon has already partnered this Tony Millard-trained four-year-old to win four races in a row, including two Hong Kong Group One events in the process. Having said that, Douglas is a champion and a very intelligent rider, and I shall see if he can build up some kind of special bond or connection with this promising horse in such a short period of time.
For the moment, it appears that the horse and the jockey get along with each other very well, as Ambitious Dragon performed soundly with Douglas in the saddle when finishing second behind BMW Champions Mile contender Lucky Nine at a Sha Tin 1000m barrier trial yesterday morning. I hope the horse will continue to improve and produce another emphatic performance in his first appearance at international G1 level on Sunday week.
I also know some racing fans were recently quite concerned about the news surrounding trainer David Ferraris, with reports suggesting he might be about to move back to South Africa. I’ve had a short chat with David since then and he told me he didn’t quite understand why anyone should say this, as he, his wife Pamela and his two children all love Hong Kong a lot, and he himself also enjoys training in Hong Kong. In fact, David has also been quite successful in local training ranks since he moved to Hong Kong in 2003, with his most famous success being former champion Vengeance Of Rain. In terms of winners he’s going through a relatively low period by his own standards at the moment, but I am confident this fine trainer will emerge from it very soon.
At tonight’s meeting Ferraris has a runner in Amazing Sky in the Stadium Path Handicap. Let’s see how this horse performs in this 1000m race. For the other seven races on the card, I will also be paying particular attention to the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union Cup (Handicap), as many runners appear to be very competitive in this six-furlong trophy event.
With the expected fast pace, horses coming from the back of the field have a fair chance. Frontrunners may include Ocean Wide which was drawn in Gate 8 and Free And Easy from 7. I believe both have to work hard from their draws to get to the front, but both of them are in good form and I think they have good chances to finish in the top three. However, I think Groovy will be the runner with the best chance in this race. He is working well in trackwork recently, and should possibly be positioned a little behind midfield. I’ll be interested to see how he performs tonight. Manfred Man-trained Master Rio will be his main opponent, as from Gate 4 he is likely to be well-positioned behind the pace. Flora Danica, who won nicely last time over the course and distance but is drawn to start at Gate 11 this time, should not be too disadvantageous with the expected fast tempo. I think he will be a real threat in this race, too.
In the Wylie Path Handicap, this Class 2 event looks terrific and is also expected to be run at a fast pace. Several speed runners, including At Moment In Time, Chevalier King, Happy Reunion and Good Words, are likely pushing to the front and try taking the lead. The pace may help horses coming from the back of the field. Chevalier King is working very well recently. Starting from Gate 4, he is one of the main chances in this race. My favourite in this race remains to be this year’s Million Challenge winner Turbo King. He was given a nice break after his last start in February, but he is working well recently. He should be well positioned in this race but certainly it would not be a walk in the park for him. Shining Victory gave unbeaten sprinter California Choice a real run for the money last time in Sha Tin and I expect he will run well here tonight. I also favour the outsider chance of Easy Winner as he’s working well and trialed impressively at the Valley on 2 April.
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