On Wednesday we announced the list of selected runners for the four Group 1s at the LONGINES Hong Kong International Races on 14 December. No doubt a number of you will have already checked through the list of 50 horses. In keeping with the tradition of our past international races, there is plenty of world-class talent in the list. Among the selected runners, we have 10 whose international ratings are now at 120 or above.
We have received solid support from European connections for our HK$83 million showpiece event this year. The Euro contingent will be led by Arc and Breeders’ Cup Turf runner-up Flintshire and French veteran and this season’s three-time G1 winner Cirrus Des Aigles. With a rating of 124 Flintshire now sits joint 9th in the LONGINES World’s Best Racehorse Rankings. It was no disgrace for him to just lose out to the exceptional mare Treve in the Arc, nor to find the best US turf runner Main Sequence a little too good at Santa Anita. In fact, those two runs alone mark him as one of the very best 2400m runners in the world. As for “Cirrus” his performances this season belie the fact that he’s actually an eight-year-old and his connections have every right to hope it will be sixth time lucky in Hong Kong on this occasion. The European racing community always pays close attention to news updates about their horses once they have arrived at Sha Tin to prepare for our Turf World Championships, and I’m certain they will be particularly interested in these two stars.
And we can expect the same level of attention from the Japanese racing circle this time - if not more. Team Japan will have its largest ever representation at the HKIR this year, as 10 of their horses are included in our list. That includes a quartet who will try to emulate the feat of Japan’s Hat Trick, the Hong Kong Mile winner in 2005 and also, incidentally, the last overseas raider to win this contest. Following Lord Kanaloa’s back-to-back wins in the Sprint the last two seasons, there has been an enthusiastic response from connections of Japanese sprinters again this year. Snow Dragon, Straight Girl and Little Gerda are surely the form horses in that category in Japan currently and they are a very potent force to be reckoned with.
In a fortnight’s time you will see whether one of them will give Japan a third Sprint victory in a row. Tomorrow you will also have the chance to watch a top Japanese horse trying to win the nation’s most prestigious international race, the G1 Japan Cup, for three consecutive years. Gentildonna will be bidding to create an incredible piece of history and become the first ever horse to win thrice in the Cup. She will be ridden by Ryan Moore, winner of the LONGINES World’s Best Jockey award who will take part in our LONGINES International Jockeys’ Championships on Wednesday 10 December. I’ve just arrived Tokyo this afternoon and will be there in the racecourse for the race tomorrow. It will be great to see if this great jockey can continue his outstanding form and claim his 16th G1 win of the season.
For the weather condition, it is raining here in Tokyo and the track condition should be more kind to European horses such as the German runner Ivanhowe, who was a bit disappointing in the Arc. Having said that,Gentildonna is one of my favourite horses and is still my top choice, with Harp Star and Epiphaneia followed.
To Hong Kong racing fans’ interests Zac Purton is also participating in the World Super Jockeys Series at Tokyo racecourse this weekend. Our colleagues will provide online updates about him so you can stay informed of his progress over the two days. It would be great if he could win this contest again, as he did in his debut two years ago, and I wish him good luck.
Here in Hong Kong, our meeting at Sha Tin tomorrow has an interesting Class 1 highlight. The Chevalier Cup, which was won by our reigning Horse of the Year and LONGINES Hong Kong Cup runner Designs On Rome last year, has again attracted some good contenders, notably Khaya and Pleasant Gains, two horses selected for the Hong Kong Vase and Hong Kong Cup respectively.
In this Class 1 handicap over the mile, Divine Calling was absolutely sensational when returning from a long layoff and won his Hong Kong racing debut last month. He steps up a furlong and a grade in the Chevalier but a mile is thought to be his best distance. Formerly trained by Gai Waterhouse in Australia, Divine Calling ran 1400m in a final time of under 1m 21s last month at Sha Tin, something that occurred only four times last season. More impressively, he won being eased down. He looks like a solid each way chance but will be tested in the Chevalier by Flame Hero and Kabayan.
Flame Hero contested the pace and fought on bravely to finish by a short head margin over this same course and distance behind rising star Beauty Only, a horse that has impressed winning both of his two races since arriving in Hong Kong. A four-time winner last season, Flame Hero looks to be back in top form and is a solid place chance. Much like Divine Calling, Flame Hero has natural speed to be in close striking position from the outset and he may even take up the running. Kabayan will come from the back and drops back in trip from 1800m when he was flying at the finish in his last start to run third in a very good effort. He, too, is a solid place chance.
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