Having attended major race events in Singapore and Japan over the past few weeks, it's now England's turn as I've just arrived in London and will be off to join the first day of Royal Ascot this afternoon.
This year our speedy mare Sweet Sanette will be representing Hong Kong in the G1 King’s Stand Stakes – the first of two major sprint events at Royal Ascot. It will be the third consecutive year Hong Kong has had a presence at this prestigious English meeting, following Sacred Kingdom in 2009 and Happy Zero and Joy And Fun last year. These three horses all contested the week's other major sprint, the Golden Jubilee Stakes.
Sweet Sanette will be the first Hong Kong-based mare to compete in a GI event overseas since Elegant Fashion contested the Cox Plate and Mackinnon Stakes in Australia in 2004. This Tony Millard-trained five-year-old will face a quite open field in the 1000m King's Stand Stakes, including Star Witness from Australia and Bridgetown from the US, as well as a strong European contingent led by G1 winners Sole Power and Kingsgate Native.
As regards Sweet Sanette’s chance in this race, five furlongs is definitely her best distance but this 1000m event appears to be a quite demanding task for her. Having said that, if she’s having her best day, I think she will still have a chance to run a place.
The Royal Ascot meeting spreads over five days but to me, today's opening programme promises to be the most exciting of all as it kicks off with three G1s in a row. First up, racing fans will be able to see a mouth-watering duel between European super-mare Goldikova and winner of four consecutive G1s, Canford Cliffs in the meeting's opening race, the G1 Queen Anne Stakes.
Then after the King's Stand, unbeaten English 2000 Guineas winner Frankel, runner-up Dubawi Gold and Japanese raider Grand Prix Boss will square up to each other in the St James’s Palace Stakes. So it beckons to be a truly thrilling day's sport, and I hope you will stay tuned to our simulcasts later tonight, Hong Kong time.
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