Three weeks ago we saw Archie da Silva’s Key Witness carry the same famous silks as the legendary Silent Witness as he won the Club’s 130th Anniversary Cup at Sha Tin. The same horse was in the spotlight once again at the same track last Sunday, this time bringing a landmark 1,000th win for his trainer Tony Cruz.
He is only the second person, after John Moore, to have achieved 1,000 wins as a trainer here in Hong Kong and I was pleased to congratulate him on this wonderful achievement as soon as I saw him, just after the race. As I’m sure you know, it’s not easy for a trainer to get so many wins, especially in Hong Kong, which is not only highly-competitive but also the limit of no more than 60 horses our trainers oversee at any given time, due to space constraint. Among those 1,000 wins, Tony prepped some world-class racehorses, led by Silent Witness, Bullish Luck, California Memory, and most recently, the sprint sensation Peniaphobia. He has also been champion trainer twice, with those titles coming after his six champion jockey titles, not forgetting two as champion apprentice way back at the start of his great career, which began here in Hong Kong in the 1974/75 season.
In fact, as well as these 1,000 wins as a trainer, Tony collected 946 Hong Kong wins in his previous career as a jockey. That even didn’t include plenty of top-class successes as Tony achieved during his past days of riding in Europe. So it’s very natural, as Tony said after the race, for him to set his next target as to get his 2,000th Hong Kong win overall, combining his wins as a trainer and jockey. In my view, his achievements are particularly notable when you consider there are only about 750 races now held each season in Hong Kong.
Tony’s current sprint star, Peniaphobia is among one of the 14 horses in the list of nominees we released on Monday for the HKG1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize on 15 February. He will be aiming to win this second leg of the Hong Kong Speed Series, following his triumph in the first leg, the Centenary Sprint Cup, last month. It’s interesting that other nominees include not only his LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint conqueror Aerovelocity and veteran champion sprinter Lucky Nine, but also the two-time Hong Kong Mile runner-up Gold-Fun.
Gold-Fun will be dropping down in distance to 1200m for the first time in his career, so it will certainly put his class and natural speed to the test. Having said that, Belgian ace Christophe Soumillon will partner the horse on Sunday week, and I’m looking forward to seeing whether or not this top horse can make a breakthrough against a field of top sprinters.
Meanwhile, I am very delighted to see our magic-themed party at Happy Valley Racecourse last Wednesday was very well received by racegoers. Tonight, we will present the final edition of the show with renowned Singapore magician Jeremy Pei and Hong Kong’s Avon Lee to demonstrate their world-class acts and magic skills. So don’t miss the chance and I encourage you to come along with friends to enjoy our racing party.
Of course you can’t afford to miss the exciting racing action and there will be, as usual, eight exciting races in tonight’s card. The Hoi Yuen Handicap is a Class 3 over 1800 m with an extended rating band of 85 to 60 which give some Class 2 horses the chance to participate in the race. The pace is expected to be slow with no definite leader in the race, which should favour horses who can take up positions in the first half of the field. Po Ching Treasure should take the early lead, with Bullish Smart and Level Player both likely to push forward to overcome their wide draws. Executive Mandate, Top Act and Wrath Of Fire should be well placed, while Holmes Legend and Redwood Baby would have to come from the back. Executive Mandate is working very well and he is my first choice along with Wrath Of Fire. Top Act and Willie Invictus should both have good chances to be placed.
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