On Thursday we hosted our final Happy Valley meeting of the season and I must say that it was a really enjoyable night, especially as we had over 16,000 enthusiastic racegoers on-course at the Valley creating a fantastic atmosphere. I’m sure that two of our horsemen, Caspar Fownes and Zac Purton, enjoyed the evening even more than most as they teamed up for a winning double. The results helped Caspar close in on leading trainer John Size, while Zac extended his advantage in the jockeys’ premiership.
We have more exciting action at Sha Tin on Sunday but I will not be there to enjoy it in person as I’m now in Japan preparing to attend tomorrow’s Yasuda Kinen raceday at Tokyo Racecourse. It has been the practice over the past few years that the Japan Racing Association hosts the Hong Kong Jockey Club Trophy on Yasuda Kinen day, so that is another reason for me to be here, as well as to support Glorious Days in the big race.
Glorious Days will be the only Hong Kong runner participating in Japan’s top summer mile event this year, and also the last Hong Kong horse to run in an overseas race this season. His trainer John Size arrived in Japan earlier in the week to oversee pre-race preparations and I noted that John mentioned to the media that his previous runners in this race have bumped into Japanese superstars like Vodka and Lord Kanaloa. That is a reminder that the strength of Japanese runners lies not only in the middle and longer distance divisions but also in the mile category, which contains many talented horses.
I think it’s no great revelation to say that Glorious Days has a hard task ahead of him. The opposition is tough and includes the outstanding Dubai Duty Free winner Just A Way, currently rated the world’s best racehorse. Having said that, Glorious Days is lightly raced this season and I know that his trainer feels that his freshness will be a benefit going into the race. I just watched the footage of him working on the Tokyo dirt track on Thursday and Friday and his action was good. It appears to me that his condition has improved since his decent run last time in the Champions Mile. In this race, I think Just A Way is a deserving favourite off his six-length victory in the Dubai Duty Free and he will be very difficult to beat in the Yasuda. Another horse that I will keep my eye on is Fiero, one that could make it interesting over the final 200m in one of the top mile races of the year.
While our LONGINES Hong Kong Mile winner Glorious Days will be chasing more big-race success in Japan, another of our Hong Kong International Races heroes, Akeed Mofeed, is going to be retired as announced by his trainer Richard Gibson yesterday. The LONGINES Hong Kong Cup winner suffered minor injuries during trackwork on the eve of the Audemars Piguet QEII Cup in April, and his connections have decided to retire him to Australia to start his stud duties. I wish the horse and connections the best of luck and I’m sure you are all as keen as I am to see Akeed Mofeed’s sons and daughters in action on Hong Kong’s racetracks in the coming seasons – that will be something to forward to!
Whilst one of our star horses is about to begin a new career, a few of the stars in the making will line up for our last pattern race of the season, the Prince Jewellery & Watch Premier Cup at Sha Tin tomorrow. Over the past few years a number of top quality runners have managed to get six wins in a season, but it’s rare for us to see a horse winning six times in a row. Aerovelocity from the Paul O’Sullivan stable will attempt to join this exclusive club, as he is one of the 10 runners in this HKG3 handicap. I will be keeping an eye on the race via the internet to see if he can make it.
For this race I think Dundonnell will be well positioned behind a modest pace and will carry a light weight under handicap conditions. He is a win and place chance in a terrific race loaded with winning chances. Rewarding Hero has won his last two races with flying finishes at a mile but is also capable over this 1400m trip and enters the race in the best form of his career. Secret Sham, Golden Harvest and Tour De Force are all in with a chance in their current form. Aerovelocity has enjoyed his success this season at 1200m and will need to prove it over the additional furlong, but you have to admire his tenacity over the closing stages but I am not convinced he will handle the step up in distance after such a tough race two weeks ago.
Before then our attention will turn to our simulcast of Epsom Derby day tonight. A field of quality three-year-olds will attempt to join the longest Derby roll of honour in the sport and this year it really is an intriguing contest on paper. Meanwhile, the evergreen French champion Cirrus des Aigles, who is in sizzling form this season with two G1 wins in France, will compete for the first time over the challenging course at Epsom in the Coronation Cup. Racing fans in Hong Kong can follow the action live through our simulcast but for me, with my knowledge of the Japanese language being rather limited, I hope I can manage to access the live coverage of the Epsom races here!
Trainer Aiden O’Brien will saddle four runners in the race and he has won the Derby four times with Galileo, High Chaparral, Camelot and Ruler Of The World. He has said that Australia, this year’s Derby favourite, is “a Derby horse like we’ve not had the likes of before and we’ve never had a horse like this.” Yet, I prefer Geoffrey Chauncer, another O’Brien runner in the race from the proven sire Montjeu, which is a nice name to have attached to a pedigree when trying to win this Classic.
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