Last Sunday we staged three fabulous Group 2 events at Sha Tin. These three important lead-ups enabled us to study the credentials and the condition of our home runners ahead of the LONGINES Hong Kong International Races on 9 December. It appears that our two very own defending champions – California Memory in the Cup and Lucky Nine in the Sprint – both have a decent chance to repeat their international successes this year. The two horses won narrowly in Sunday’s LONGINES Jockey Club Cup and Jockey Club Sprint respectively, but showed that there may be more to come and that they are well armed and within shooting range as they aim for repeat honours next month.
Personally, I was particularly impressed with the performance of California Memory as he was drawn out wide, was at the tail when entering the home straight and had to squeeze between rivals 300m out. This pint-size but combative grey horse still produced the fastest last section among all the runners for the final 400m, and won the race in a thrilling finish. I’m also of the view that his home-grown jockey Matthew Chadwick executed an accomplished riding performance, as he showed great patience and nerve to wait before proceeding through the pack. Finger crossed the six-year-old will stay sound and carry his form to the big day next month.
In the Jockey Club Mile, the newly-added blinkers probably helped Glorious Days to perform to another level, as he gained revenge and consigned Ambitious Dragon to a comprehensive defeat, although it must be noted that he carried 5 pounds less than the two-time Horse of the Year. It was an outstanding victory, and I believe, should he repeat the same performance when facing other top overseas milers on 9 December, he will be very competitive. Like last season, Ambitious Dragon finished runner-up in the Jockey Club Mile, with his performance seeming a little flat and lacking the impressive dash of his seasonal debut. Hopefully he will rebound from this performance in time for the main event in three weeks.
From the three races you may have gauged which top local horses will have secured their starting berths in our four G1s on 9 December. You can find out those that are in, and the list of overseas raiders they will face, when we announce the selected list of runners for these four LONGINES HKIR feature race events during our Happy Valley races this evening. There are quite a number of top names in the list, including several of those that have featured in our simulcast races, such as the world’s highest-rated active horse Cirrus des Aigles. Famous British trainer Sir Michael Stoute will also send a pair of runners to our flagship international event. One of those will be this year’s G1 Prince Of Wales’s Stakes runner-up Carlton House, owned by Queen Elizabeth II. The colt’s participation will draw much attention from around the world, and I’m glad to see our flagship event attract such a high-profile runner.
The fact that quite a number of the selected runners featured in our previous simulcast races shows the benefits of our simulcasts – both tax revenue-wise and also in the way they enhance our racing fans’ knowledge, understanding and enjoyment of the top runners overseas. Anyway, you may check out the entire list of selected runners through different Club channels later this evening.
Tonight at Happy Valley we will also host the Asian Pop in the Valley meeting, with top Asian singers performing and fabulous food treats on offer. It promises to be another cracking race night with a wonderful on-course atmosphere at the Valley.
For the eight races on the card, I will pay my special attention to the Happy Valley Clubhouse 20th Anniversary Cup (2nd section). It’s a Class 3 handicap race over 1650m, and is expected to be run at a good to slow pace. Mighty K and Soldier are likely to take the lead, with Flying In, Zachary and Legend Express all being well placed in the front. The C Course tends to favour horses in the front and this will make it more difficult for horses like Mega Champion and Supreme Winner who have to come from the back. Due to their good form they still have decent place chances, but I prefer Zachary who is working very nicely recently, as well as Mighty K and Forgive And Forget who will be coming from midfield.
Comment
