We all enjoyed a real treat last Sunday at Sha Tin. Our reigning Horse of the Year Designs On Rome made no mistakes in the Citibank Hong Kong Gold Cup as he won the HK$10 million Group 1 event with relative ease to further enhance his claim to being one of Hong Kong racing’s greats.
If you supported Designs On Rome on Sunday, you probably didn't have too much worry during the contest. Once Joao Moreira gave the horse the go signal, he showed his world class acceleration to hit the front approaching the furlong mark and powered on for the win.
With this latest victory Designs On Rome has claimed a grand slam in winning all of the top-class 2000m contests staged in the territory in the past 12 months: the others being the BMW Hong Kong Derby and Audemars Piguet QEII Cup last season, and the LONGINES Hong Kong Cup in December. Next he will step up to the mile and a half to challenge for the Dubai Sheema Classic at Meydan in three weeks’ time. This will be his first run overseas and I believe many local racing fans and overseas horsemen will be watching with excited anticipation how he runs in that race. The legendary Vengeance Of Rain also won the Derby, AP QEII Cup and Hong Kong Cup in 2005, before winning the Sheema Classic in 2007. It would be great if Designs On Rome could emulate the success of that racing great.
Designs On Rome has shown that he is in top form heading to Dubai. A few other possible Dubai-bound horses, including Rich Tapestry, Amber Sky and Bundle Of Joy, stretched their legs in the barrier trials at Sha Tin yesterday morning as part of their preparations ahead of their departures to the Emirates in the next fortnight or so. I’ve watched the footage and they all look to be in good order, and the trial performance of Amber Sky being brilliant. The same can be said of another two star triallists, Able Friend and Luger, who will be running in the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup and the Derby respectively on Sunday week. Luger trialled very well. And although Able Friend finished 5th in his trial, I think it showed John Moore has been easy on him and he only needed that trial to gain back race fitness.
Alongside Designs On Rome, another star shone at Sha Tin at the weekend. I’m referring of course to his jockey, Joao Moreira. Along with that big race success in the Gold Cup, Joao rode a total of six wins on the 10-race card. That puts him in a very exclusive club of jockeys who have ridden six wins in a single Hong Kong race day – namely Brett Prebble, who achieved his six at a Happy Valley meeting in 2010, and Douglas Whyte, who hit six at a Sha Tin meeting in 2013. Moreira’s sextet of wins further extends his lead in the Jockeys’ Premiership. His tally is now 81, which is 30 more than the second-placed Zac Purton, last season’s Champion Jockey.
Contentment, another of Moreira’s wins on the day, also gave a very notable performance in his Class 2 victory, as he ran away from the rest of the field after sitting handy early in the race. That atoned for his slightly disappointing performance last time in the Hong Kong Classic Cup, and the win has guaranteed him a starting place in the BMW Hong Kong Derby, the field for which we just announced in a press conference at Happy Valley today.
The crop of Derby runners last season, led by international G1 winners Able Friend and Designs On Rome, set a very high benchmark for the four-year-old generation. In my opinion, as you look at the list of selected runners, it is a more open Derby this year. But that does not mean there is not quality in the race, there is plenty, and there is some depth too. I expect to see a few of the contenders progressing further with time and I’m sure we will see some of them contesting international Group 1 races in the future. You can see on our website, or later when you come to the races tonight, whether or not your preferred horses have been selected for this most prestigious local race on Sunday week.
Before then let’s put our focus back to our races at Happy Valley this evening. In tonight’s fourth race, the Hong Kong Football Club Centenary Challenge Cup, Yo-Yo Da is a win and place chance off his good recent form which has already produced a win and a second in 2015. He has drawn the inside gate and is expected to secure a box seat position behind The Prince and Hayhay in the early stage of the race. Yo-Yo Da has had only one race at Happy Valley and it was a respectable effort, suggesting that the switch from Sha Tin should not be an issue.
Winning King turned in the most promising effort of his six-race Hong Kong career when taken back off the pace last time and he finished off to be beaten only two lengths. He drops a class tonight and should be no worse than midfield from his good barrier to give him a solid place chance. No Ties and O’Socoole will both be running on over the final 300m and are place chances here.
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