Last Sunday we enjoyed another very exciting BMW Hong Kong Derby race meeting and saw an increase in our Derby day attendance, exceeding the 60,000-mark for the third year in a row. This time, 64,000 racing fans came along to watch this prestigious racing event, and they created an electric atmosphere on-course. I think most of our racing fans would be pretty satisfied because not only did they get to see Luger become the latest four-year-old attain once-in-a-lifetime glory in the Derby, but also they were privileged to see the world’s top miler Able Friend produce a mesmerizing display to win the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup.
Able Friend and his jockey Joao Moreira gave trainer John Moore and their supporting fans some nervy moments. After entering the home straight they progressed along a tricky passage down the inside before managing to squeeze out, burst clear and cruise home for the win. With 250m to race, it looked like Able Friend would enjoy a relatively tight victory at best, but his extraordinary change of pace carried him to an emphatic win. I think at the moment Able Friend must be the world’s best horse from 1400m to 1600m on turf. It will take a very good horse to beat him in his next two races – the HKG2 Chairman’s Trophy next month and the G1 Champions Mile in May.
Able Friend’s win was a performance worthy of taking the plaudits on any race day, but we had a second highlight when seven-time Champion Trainer John Size combined with reigning Champion Jockey Zac Purton to win the Derby. Before the race many of you like me held doubts as to whether Luger could handle the Derby distance of 2000m, but the son of Choisir quashed all such worries in the best possible manner. The race was run at a genuine early pace, and Luger was running three-wide throughout the trip. But he made a great run for the win, clocking a very impressive finish time of 2m 1.28s. So far Luger has won seven from ten career starts in Hong Kong. It’s nice to note there might be more to offer from the horse as Zac commented after the race that he still felt raw and the horse appeared to have a lot more to come. I hope he will keep improving and develop into another genuine G1 star when he takes on other all-age rivals in the future.
Two such stars, Lucky Nine and Peniaphobia, were involved in the Sha Tin barrier trials on Tuesday in preparation for their departure to the Emirates for the Dubai World Cup day meeting on Saturday week. Both horses looked very good in winning their respective trials. Our other Dubai-bound runners Designs On Rome, Amber Sky, Bundle Of Joy, Rich Tapestry and Super Jockey have also shown in their recent trackwork that they are in good order too. Hopefully they will continue to have smooth preparations ahead of their races. They all fly out on Saturday, and earlier that day another Hong Kong Group 1 star, Dominant, will be in action in the Ranvet Stakes in Australia.
Before we get sidetracked by the excitement of those overseas challenges, we shall turn our focus to our races tonight as it will be the second last Happy Valley meeting for the season’s Happy Valley Million Challenge before the series concludes on 1 April.
Four of the top 10 contenders currently on the leaderboard will come out and try to accumulate more points tonight. Among that quartet there include Amazingly, Twin Delight and Oriental Prosper, the three horses who are currently with 36 points and could take the lead spot into the final week of the contest should any of them win this evening.
The former two horses will feature in the Indian Recreation Club Challenge Cup and in this Class 2 1800m contest. Twin delight will be the regular early leader in this event, with Sunny Ying and Top Ace joining him on pace. The expected pace should be good to slow which will favour horses in the front of the field. Savvy Nature should sit behind the leaders with Vanilla and Noble Deluxe being well placed too. Wayfoong Express and especially Amazingly are at risk to be trapped wide. Good Choice, Ashkiyr and Lucky Omens will have to come from the back of the field.
Twin Delight is working well. Even he was outclassed in the Hong Kong Classic Cup, he is my first choice here, especially as he seems to perform better in Happy Valley. Wayfoong Express with Brett Prebble on board is a win or place chance, despite the risk of being caught wide, as is Lucky Omens. Savvy Nature is for me a win and place chance too despite this will be his debut at Happy Valley.
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