I was just reflecting back on the sensational LONGINES Jockey Club Races day we had at Sha Tin last Sunday. I’m sure you will agree that the three G2 events on the day were very exciting especially as we saw some of our leading hopefuls deliver decent performances going into the LONGINES Hong Kong International Races next month.
Looking at the three winners of those important step-up races, it seems to me that Gold-Fun in the Jockey Club Mile was the one that won in the most impressive fashion. Olivier Doleuze just needed to coax the four-year-old to lead close home to bag the horse’s third consecutive success in group events this season, and it may well be one of the easiest short-head wins we’ll see this season. Gold-Fun’s trainer Richard Gibson was of course delighted with the way it won, and I noted that in his post-race comments he said he has tried to leave some more in the tank for the biggest target at Sha Tin on 8 December. Before plying his trade in Hong Kong, Richard earned past successes at the HKIR with Doctor Dino, with consecutive Vases in 2007 and 2008. With this horse in peak form, I’m sure he will feel upbeat about adding to his HKIR winning tally and can’t wait to see what improvement Gold-Fun still has to offer in the mile next month, when the horse could well face some top fillies from Europe.
Endowing and Charles The Great also made breakthroughs with their wins in the Jockey Club Cup and Sprint respectively. It was great to see the one-two in last year’s HK Derby, Akeed Mofeed and Endowing, perform so well in a set-weight contest in the Jockey Club Cup. Endowing gained revenge for his Derby defeat in a thrilling drive to the line for trainer John Size and jockey Tye Angland, but Mr Gibson and his owner Mr Pan must have been delighted with Akeed Mofeed. They now, along with Gold-Fun, have two exciting candidates for the big day. These three top young horses also proved the outstanding credentials of our latest generation and the solid form of our Derby last season. Other than the emphatic performances of these new blood in Hong Kong racing, I think highly-rated runners such as Military Attack and Frederick Engels also ran decent races given their poor draws, and there was no disgrace in their defeats.
Perhaps not many took note of the fact that eight of the 11 races on Sunday were won by four-year-old horses. These included the winners of all three of the day’s pattern races. Apart from the big trio one of the other highlights was the victory of My Favorite in the last race of the day, bringing much joy to his celebrity owners Aaron Kwok and Julian Cheung – and plenty of cheers from the crowd, too. It was a nice seasonal debut and the future looks good for him. I’m sure many fans of the horse and also of its owners would love to see him participating in races of even higher class and even at pattern level some time in the future.
Many of you also know that I am a keen football fan. Last night, I went to Hong Kong Stadium for Hong Kong team’s Asian Cup qualifier match against Uzbekistan. It’s unfortunate for Hong Kong to have a player sent off a minute before the break, and had only 10 players on the pitch in the second half. Despite they conceded two late goals to the Uzbeks and were basically eliminated from the contest, they gave it all in the game and I believe many spectators would be as proud and satisfied with their performances as I did.
Back to racing. Tonight at Happy Valley the attention remains on our international races next month, as we will unveil the list of selected runners for the four G1s on LONGINES HKIR day. Come and join us at the racecourse to get the information first hand, and see which of your favourite local and overseas stars made the cut for the races.
For the eight races on the card this evening, the last race of today’s meeting is the Sutherland Handicap and is a Class 2 event over 1650m. The pace is likely to be good to slow with Bullish Boy expected to lead like he did in his last run over course and distance, which resulted in a convincing win. Shiny Day may join him in the lead while Flying Unicorn can either share the lead or take the box seat inside of Albiceleste. Outdoor Pegasus and Familists can be well placed in midfield. Little Dream, Jolly Fine, Travel Brand and Pleasure Gains are expected to settle behind midfield, with Vanilla and It Has To Be You at the back.
Pleasure Gains is an exciting galloper with four wins on the trot and is working very well. He is my favourite pick for the race and in my opinion he can head higher. Outdoor Pegasus should not be underestimated and he ran well in his last run even being short of room. Jolly Fine and Bullish Boy are my next picks but I see them more as place chance.
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