We have finally entered the Derby weekend and I am delighted with how the various arrangements have gone during this eventful past week. In this morning’s Hong Kong International Sale, 26 unraced horses passed through the Sha Tin Racecourse auction ring and were purchased by their excited new Owners. Tomorrow brings the most prestigious local racing event of the season, the Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Derby, when we will all witness the emergence of a new champion.
Potential buyers and Members have given great support to our International Sale as more than 600 people were in attendance at our event today. Their enthusiasm created a vibrant bidding atmosphere, too. I’m more than satisfied with the sale results and I’m convinced that the quality of the lots offered this year were of a particularly high quality. Although the average selling price of the sale was slightly less than last year, at HK$4.4 million, the highest price paid for a single horse reached HK$9 million, breaking the sale’s all-time record.
It has been more than a decade since our International Sale was first held in 1995. Over the years it has increased in popularity among our Members, Owners and potential buyers, as it offers those who might not be available to travel aboard to select and purchase young horses, an extra opportunity to acquire the horse of their preference. It’s not our intention to generate profits in the sale; rather we place greater importance in offering a more convenient platform and service for Owners to purchase racehorses. At the same time, we have invested significantly on Owners’ facilities and racecourse services and we hope that by making all these efforts, we can offer them top-class horse ownership experiences.
Quite a number of HKIS graduates have done pretty well in the past. And among tomorrow’s Derby field, there’s also ISG representation in the David Ferraris-trained Liberator. This year, our selected horses are generally nicely put together and most of them are ready to run. I hope these horses can achieve some nice race results for their new Owners as they each commence a promising racing career in Hong Kong.
For the Derby, this historical racing event is always anticipated as one of the season’s highlights. For the Derby distance of 2000m, horses will face a stern test in terms of both speed and stamina. From the Owners’ perspective, this Classic is also a highly coveted and special honour – it is a thrilling and captivating quest.
A majority of Owners also showed this past week how much they care about Sunday’s race by attending the Derby barrier draw ceremony on Thursday and personally drawing stalls for their horses. Although we just have one Gate 1 on offer and cannot satisfy all Owners in the draw results, I am sure they enjoyed the occasion and I wish them all the best of luck; and of course I hope that each of the horses can deliver their best performances in Sunday’s race.
I’d also like to extend my special compliments to our race sponsor Mercedes-Benz. They have given us staunch support by generously sponsoring this prestigious race since 2004. Thursday’s barrier draw ceremony also provided our Owners and I an enjoyable chance to take a close look at their latest manufactured sedan vehicles, including this hot red SLS AMG which I think is a really cool car!
In our Derby field this year, apart from those runners who have already shown their credentials in our four-year-old series, such as Sweet Orange, Zaidan, Fay Fay and Dominant, a number of other runners are exciting prospects. Several appear to have great potential for further development, and in time could possibly develop into Hong Kong’s next wave of stars. Some observers have commented that it’s a rather open Derby race this year – I too believe that it is a competitive affair, and one of real quality. It will be an exciting occasion, and I am looking forward to seeing which horse will ascend to the throne and be crowned the Derby champion tomorrow.
I’ve also prepared some interesting statistics which might be useful for your study on this year’s Derby. Since the race distance was changed from 1800m to 2000m in 2000, horses bred in the Northern Hemisphere and in the Southern Hemisphere have won six of the past 12 runnings apiece: a 50/50 split. If classified from the winners’ origins, horses bred in New Zealand won the Derby five times, and those from Ireland won the Derby four times. It is clear that the situation is quite even and there is no significant advantage for runners coming from one particular hemisphere. In the meantime, it is an interesting fact that each of the past 12 Derby winners all notched up at least one win in Hong Kong prior to winning the Derby and all at least finished in the top 4 in their start immediately before the Derby. This highlights the tendency that form runners appear to have a better performance record in this Classic. I will be watching whether tomorrow’s winner follows the same pattern, or if they will break this all statistical trend to clinch success. After all, it’s worth remembering that horses cannot read – they do not know the trends.
The expected race in this race should be good to slow, which will make the task for Fay Fay from Gate 14 being more difficult to find a good position in midfield. Having said that, I think he remains to be one of the place chances in this race. The strong pacesetter Bullish Champion is supposed to lead and dictate the pace which is an advantage, but I have serious doubt about his stamina. Both Masquerader and Liberator should be well placed, but in my opinion Masquerader needs more time to settle in Hong Kong and acclimatise, which also applies to a list of our recent Derby contestants. Zaidan is an underestimated runner in many occasions, but he will be well-positioned in midfield and is a place chance for me. Dominant is working very well and has a proven 2000m record form being placed in Group 2 in the UK over the same distance. He will be a win and place chance for me, as well as Dan Excel who has similar credentials and no issue with the distance.
The horse to beat in the Derby is still Sweet Orange, who is for me very unlucky last time as he ran the fastest 400m sectional of the day at 22.26 seconds. This David Ferraris-trained runner is in top condition and he should find a place behind midfield to come with a strong run from behind. One uncertainty is if he stays the 2000m distance, but I felt he should be able to do so. And I think Real Specialist will be the dark horse in the field. Not only because John Size made a strong case for him, but he is also able to run a very good last sectionals, and could be benefitted from the experience of jockey Felix Coetzee on board.
Comment
