Hong Kong is one of the world’s top racing jurisdictions. As with any leading jurisdiction it’s important that we have new stars coming through to sustain the quality of our sport. Each new season brings with it the excitement of potential new heroes; some of those talented youngsters will have raced overseas before arriving in Hong Kong, others come here as unraced young griffins and a few, like Silent Witness or Ambitious Dragon, will progress through the classes to reach the elite level.
While Privately Purchased horses might have already shown a glimpse of their talents, and perhaps more than a glimpse in many cases, I think the rise of the unraced griffins has an added appeal for our racing fans. These horses start their careers in Hong Kong, so the fans can recall their very first races in the lower classes. I find that being able to watch a horse develop from its first race and progress into a high-class performer, or even a champion, often forges a deeper affinity and so race fans will have a greater appreciation for its achievements.
In midweek we announced the list of nominees for our Champion Awards this season. The focus has fallen, quite naturally, on the G1 performers such as Able Friend, Aerovelocity, Blazing Speed, Designs On Rome, Gold-Fun, Helene Happy Star and Helene Super Star. But it’s always worthwhile for us to take a look at the new generation, which in this case means the horses who are nominated for the season’s Champion Griffin award, or who are vying for the Most Improved Horse title, namely Country Melody, Thewizardofoz, Eroico and Contentment. Whichever of these up-and-coming types carries off the titles, they are the young talents that we hope will become the future stars of Hong Kong racing.
If you glance back at the recent past winners of the Champion Griffin and Most Improved Horse awards, you will find the names of Amber Sky, Entrapment, Joy And Fun, Glorious Days and Ambitious Dragon. As followers of Hong Kong racing know, they all went on to perform at the international G1 level. Tracking further back we find Silent Witness and Good Ba Ba, who, like Ambitious Dragon, eventually became outright champions with international profiles. Right now, the sky’s the limit for this latest crop of emerging stars, and I shall watch with great interest to see which of them will win the gong at our Champion Awards presentation ceremony on 10 July.
Before then, we will host this season’s final Saturday meeting at Sha Tin Racecourse this afternoon. I know I’m not alone in being captivated by the “race for the Champion Trainer title”, in which John Moore, with 61 wins on the board, is leading John Size and Caspar Fownes by three and five wins. The two Johns will saddle nine runners each, while Fownes will send out eight contenders, so I think it will be very interesting to see how they perform on Saturday. With only four race meetings left after today, it’s looking like we could be heading right to the wire again.
Among the 10 races on the card, the seventh race is named The Hong Kong Riding For The Disabled Association Cup, a Class 3 at 1400 metres, with a good tempo expected. Gran Bolivar, a last-start winner of a Class 4 at Happy Valley, will go forward from gate 12 under a very light weight as will Star Of Bond from his wide draw. Bullish Smart, Red Peony and Beauty King are three others that will be involved in the early mix.
Dashing Fellow is a win and top three chance despite carrying top weight of 133 pounds as he looks to be nicely placed in the better half of midfield and is proven over the course and distance. He drops back in grade after a good effort in a hotly contested Class 2 four weeks ago when the slow pace of that race was too much to overcome. Bullish Smart and Beauty King both flashed improvement in their last starts and are top three chances along with Racing Hero, a horse dropping back to Class 3 and returning to his best trip. All Win Boy is also a place chance from the good draw after a creditable showing in this same race three weeks ago.
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