The LONGINES Hong Kong International Races on Sunday gave us a fitting climax for our big week this year. The atmosphere was second to none as we had a record HKIR crowd of more than 85,500 - the highest ever figure for this race meeting. The horses produced some tremendous performances and the distribution of wins – one for Ireland, two for Japan, and another for Hong Kong – best reflected the international perspective of this meeting. I could proudly say it was the best international meeting we have ever held.
Ryan Moore was the most successful jockey in the four legs of the Internationals, with two wins and a second from his three HKIR rides. In the Vase race he rode Highland Reel and helped Irish training maestro Aidan O’Brien to snatch his long overdue first win in the HKIR, while the performance of Maurice, his ride in the Mile, was absolutely spectacular. The victory not only kept its unbeaten record in 2015 but also cemented its status as a global superstar in the turf mile category.
While our local team could not emulate the overwhelming success from 12 months ago, they all performed with huge credit, particularly for Peniaphobia and his jockey Joao Moreira as together they produced a marvelous success in the Sprint. It is particularly gratifying to see the horse go one better and return to top form after nearly winning the race last year. The top-four finish for Hong Kong in the Sprint again demonstrated the strong presence of our top sprinters in the category.
This year we had 29 G1 winners competing in our four HKIR events, showing the high quality of runners and competition we have this year. Certainly this couldn’t be achieved if without the support of many big owners and breeders to our races. That’s why it’s nice to see Coolmore, the Yoshida family with Maurice and the Hirai family of A Shin Hikari, each land a winner. Their successes showed that Sha Tin was not a fortress for the home team, as overseas runners can bring their A-game to our arena and win races on our track. I hope this would encourage these and even more connections to continue supporting, sending their best horses to contest the HKIR. Our racing fans will benefit from this as well, seeing even more elite overseas raiders contesting our flagship international event.
After these fascinating races, it's business as usual at Happy Valley tonight as we have arranged eight races in our regular fixture this evening. The Flamingo Handicap is run as race 7 and is a Class 3 over 1650m. The pace is expected to be good with Medic Kingdom and Go Go Win trying to secure a good position from their low draws, while Bullish Smart and especially Lucky Hammer, who jumps from gate 12, will be going forward to avoid being trapped wide. The expected good tempo should therefore give horses coming from off the pace a good chance to perform.
My first choice is Strong Foundation, who was not suited by the slow pace last time, but he still dashed well for a second. His gallops have been good and with Moreira on board he is the horse to beat. My second choice is Go Go Win who is working well and finished off strongly in his last start. Bullish Smart, Northern Falls and Triumphant Dragon are my next choices but I see them more as a place chances than winning the race.
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