For all Hong Kong racing fans, last night was an exhilarating night of simulcast racing from Ascot Racecourse, and I am certain most of you were as thrilled as I at watching Little Bridge’s scintillating success in the G1 King’s Stand Stakes. This Danny Shum-trained runner also became the second Hong Kong-based horse – after Cape Of Good Hope’s triumph in the 2005 Golden Jubilee Stakes – to win at the prestigious Royal Ascot race meeting.
This season, connections of our top racehorses have sent them to participate in major races in Australia, Japan, Singapore, the UAE, etc. Before last night, we endured a barren run as those contenders couldn’t land a victory in their overseas adventures. Little Bridge and Joy And Fun were the last two top local racehorses to take part in any major overseas race this season. That’s why I’m delighted that we enjoy such a climax when approaching the end of the season, with Little Bridge obtained a first success for a Hong Kong-trained horse in the UK for seven years, and for the first time at Ascot proper as Cape Of Good Hope won when the meeting was held at York Racecourse.
Little Bridge looked fantastic in the parade ring and his performance was outstanding. He travelled exceptionally well in the race, with his ear pricked, giving Zac Purton an easy job. The jockey just needed to start riding out his horse from about 250m and the horse accelerated with ease to win the race convincingly. Things went a bit differently for Joy And Fun as he needed to be re-saddled after arriving at the start. This made him a bit fractious and caused him to sweat up a bit. Though he made a fair start, this veteran sprinter was never able to get into the race and eventually finished behind midfield.
In recent years, our sprinters have performed admirably at the international level, repeatedly showing that they are up to world-class standard. This could best be illustrated by our domination in the HK Sprint every year. But as prestigious as that event is, our top speedsters have to perform in these important international meetings on foreign soil to ensure they receive proper global recognition – horses receive great kudos and added respect when winning away from home. I’m delighted to see Little Bridge achieve such a milestone in the UK – it is an outstanding achievement. Hopefully it will be the catalyst for more important victories for Hong Kong runners in similar prestigious overseas race meetings in the future.
I have already returned to Hong Kong and will be available to attend the races and share my joyful experiences in UK with my colleagues and friends at Happy Valley tonight. I studied tonight’s card during my return flight from the UK. The Ho Chung River Handicap is the best race of the day as a true Class 2 event over 1650m. The pace is expected to be good with Oracle and Emperor Claudius to take the lead, and Real Supreme in the box seat. Straight Forward, who has performed well since joining the Andreas Schutz stable, has to push forward from Gate 6 to be well positioned with Leeli's Star, Victor Delight, Elegance Desire and Sunrise. Straight Forward is a place chance for me with Emperor Claudius too, but I prefer Elegance Klammer who has to come from last and Happy Tumbler who has to come from a similar position. Both horses work very well recently and are for me the most likely winners. Real Supreme has further improved since joining the Tony Cruz stable and Gate 4 will help him in his first start in Happy Valley. He is on form and show nice performance in the trackwork, which makes him being hard to be left out. Having said that, it will be quite testing as it is not easy to face so many proven Valley performers and veterans.
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