Last Wednesday we announced the list of selected runners for the BMW Hong Kong Derby, which will be run on 15 March. Many of you will have been keeping an eye on news reports to discover which jockeys have been booked to ride in this HK$18 million event. There will be a few new partnerships formed and a number of top overseas riders, among them Ryan Moore and Christophe Soumillon, will be flying in to participate. One of the most interesting bookings is Zac Purton for the top-rated Luger, as Purton has had very few rides for Luger’s trainer John Size in recent seasons. Zac showed on Wednesday that he’s in prime form with a Happy Valley four-timer, which was a good response to Joao Moreira’s six-timer during the previous race meeting at Sha Tin last Sunday.
There was great news for Hong Kong racing earlier on Wednesday too, when the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities announced the World’s Top 100 G1 races for 2014. All six international Group 1 races staged in Hong Kong last season made the frame. Four of them, the Champions Mile, Audemars Piguet QEII Cup, LONGINES Hong Kong Mile and LONGINES Hong Kong Cup, even ranked in the high bracket of the top 25 G1s in the world.
Our tally of four G1s in the World’s top 25 puts us on a par with France and just shy of the UK. In my view, this is certainly a huge accolade and an outstanding achievement for all members of Hong Kong’s racing industry. What makes the achievement especially notable is the fact that we only staged six international G1s last year. This just emphasizes again that our best races and our elite racehorses, even with our small horse population of only around 1,200, are in the top echelon in world racing.
I’m not a fortune teller but I’m quite bullish in my belief that the number of our races in the World’s Top 100 G1 list can increase further. There are a couple of standout reasons for this. Firstly we have four more international G1 races in our racing calendar this year; and secondly we have a solid pool of elite horses of world-class ability, and they will be participating in these newly promoted contests. It will be great to keep this momentum going, so let’s see if I am proven right in 12 months’ time.
A new home-grown jockey will also try to prove his quality and credentials when he makes his Hong Kong debut at Sha Tin tomorrow. Jack Wong is the Club’s latest apprentice to join the jockeys’ ranks and I know that he performed well when he was indentured to trainers such as Lance O’Sullivan, Mike McCann and John Sargent in New Zealand over the past couple of years. It’s good to see his mentor Me Tsui giving Jack a nice introduction on his first day when Me Tsui deliberately arranged the young talent to take only five rides tomorrow. Similar to the trainer, I think the number of ride for Jack should be about right for him in his first Hong Kong meeting. Perhaps you can cheer Jack to an early win. It would be fantastic if he could open his Hong Kong winning account on his first day riding.
The day’s race highlight will be the first leg of the Interport races, the HKG3 Hong Kong Macau Trophy. A total of five horses have made the trip across from Macau to Hong Kong and will take on nine Hong Kong horses. These visitors will be trying to break the dominance of the home contingent, who will be seeking to win this race for the fifth consecutive year. We have a few of our very decent 1400m horses in the field and it promises to be an exciting contest.
Super Lifeline is the winner of this race last season and he has won six of 14 races at the course and distance. He is a win and place chance to repeat his prior success in this race, particularly after closing off with a strong final section in his last start against top horses such as Real Specialist and Divine Calling. Wonderful Moments, Arpinati and Pikachu are also place chances in their current form. Wonder Mossman is the best of the quintet from Macau and is coming off an impressive front-running win at 1400m in a Macau Group 2 last month. He will go forward and be a prominent factor from the outset.
The sixth race on the card is the Association of Hong Kong Racing Journalists Challenge Cup, a Class 2 at a mile, with Brilliant Shine a real chance to win for the fifth consecutive time and the fourth time this season. He steps up in trip but the additional furlong should not pose a problem. Santa Fe Sun is a solid place chance along with Tableaux and Principal.
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