The victory of Peter Ng-trained Super Plus at Wednesday’s Happy Valley meeting has ensured that competition for this season’s 1O1O Million Challenge series will go right to the final night once more, as this seven-year-old gelding surpassed Mr Bond to move to the top of the leaderboard by a slender four-point margin.
Any of the top six horses in the table can still claim the HK$650,000 top prize, or at least a share of it, if they manage to win or finish in the frame in next Wednesday's Million Challenge finale. I'm delighted to see that all of their connections have responded to the challenge and entered their horses for races that night. So the top positions of the Million Challenge may well twist again at the last minute, and I'm sure that will add a lot of extra appeal and excitement to next Wednesday's meeting.
Today we're bringing you all the first simulcasts of 2012, six races from the Blue Diamond Stakes day at Caulfield Racecourse, Australia. Apart from the Blue Diamond Stakes itself, a premier Group 1 event for two-year-olds, there are two other G1s on the card, namely the Futurity Stakes and Oakleigh Plate.
As regards the Futurity Stakes, the buzz until recently was that world-leading sprinter Black Caviar would contest this 1400m race. But no doubt many of you will have heard the news that her trainer Peter Moody has decided to bypass both the Futurity Stakes and Dubai World Cup meeting to concentrate his mighty mare on the Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Britain's Ascot Racecourse on 23 June. This race, part of the Global Sprint Challenge, used to be called the Golden Jubilee Stakes, but has been renamed this year to mark the 60th year of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign.
Over the past two weekends Black Caviar has raced in the CF Orr and Coolmore Lightning Stakes, the latter being the opening leg of the Global Sprint Challenge. She won both of them comfortably, despite coming back from 1400m to 1000m in the space of a week, to extend her unbeaten run to 19, which equals major records in Australia and New Zealand. Therefore, I think it’s understandable that, with Royal Ascot in mind, the connections want to freshen her up after these two big G1 wins, so as to get her perfectly prepared and spot-on for their next big target race in the UK.
If everything goes right, according to what has been widely reported, we can look forward to seeing Black Caviar displaying her awesome talents against some of the best European sprinters in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes. Having won two legs of this year's Global Sprint Challenge in two different racing jurisdictions, victory in a further leg of the series in a third racing jurisdiction – either the Sprinters Stakes in Japan in September or our Hong Kong Sprint in December – would see her become the first horse to win the US$1 million GSC bonus since the series began in 2005.
Although it's still four months away, I'm sure all of us will be eagerly awaiting Black Caviar's performance at Royal Ascot to see if she can achieve the new Australasian winning record at this very prestigious meeting. Much more imminently, though, we have some further HK Group 1 action for you to enjoy tomorrow in the Citibank Hong Kong Gold Cup at Sha Tin.
John Moore is the most successful trainer in this prestigious race as he has won it on seven occasions, including four times in the past six seasons. He will have a strong hand in his bid for an eighth success in this second leg of the Triple Crown series, as he has entered four runners in the 10-strong field, including Group 1 winners Xtension and Mighty High.
However, Moore’s team will be facing some tough competition, led by Ambitious Dragon and California Memory. The former is seeking a second victory in the Triple Crown this season, while the latter is targeting to be the 6th horse since 1990 to achieve back-to-back successes in this 2000m race. With the race attracting almost all highest-rated older middle distance horses in Hong Kong, it’s certainly one of the highlights of the racing calendar, and I'm expecting to see a really thrilling battle tomorrow.
Despite the small field, the expected slow pace in this race is not helpful for horses coming from the back. Super Pistachio will take the lead. From the good draw, I expect Xtension to be ridden in a more forward position like last time, so as to give him a chance to counter the terrific acceleration of Ambitious Dragon and California Memory. Xtension is working much better than before his last start, in which he finished second and he is a place chance in this race. But I still think that both Ambitious Dragon and California Memory are likely to out-sprint him, especially if California Memory can obtain a good position in midfield from his draw of 3. Ambitious Dragon from Gate 6 has to find a good position in midfield and avoid to be trapped wide. He is working very well as is California Memory. Both horses possess great qualities and the difference of winning or losing may depend on the running they will get in the race. If I must choose one of them, I will tend to slightly favour Ambitious Dragon’s chance.
Thumbs Up is in terrific form. He is working well and should not been underestimated. He has to come from the back from Gate 7 and with the slow pace, it will be a disadvantage to him but I think he still has a place chance. Irian was disappointing last time but he was travelled wide which could be one of the main reasons for his defeat. The 2000m is a better distance for him and he will come with a later run from the back, but I don't think he can overthrow Ambitious Dragon or California Memory under normal circumstances.
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