I was pleased to see our racing in 2016 started with a bang as a record crowd of 77,000 came to enjoy the New Year’s Day races and they created a bumper atmosphere at Sha Tin. From a financial perspective, our total turnover of HK$1.549 billion was the highest figure so far this season.
Not Listenin’tome and Multivictory became our very first group race winners in the new year. Carrying top weight, Not Listenin’tome delivered another decent performance following his third in the LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint, powering home to win the Bauhinia Sprint Trophy and claiming his second pattern race success over 1000m this season.
In the Chinese Club Challenge Cup, supporters of Multivictory may have been a bit surprised by a switch from his usual tactics, but he still managed a great surge to land the win. Packing Pins and Contentment both did well to complete the placings and it will be exciting to see how they perform in some of the big races later in the term.
The battle line will be extended to Happy Valley this evening as we will feature the HKG3 January Cup, one of the annual racing highlights at our city racetrack. Since the race was promoted to a HKG3 status in 2012, it has attracted many solid runners, including some with G1 potential or past G1 success, most notably Military Attack and Pure Champion who won here in 2013 and 2012, respectively.
The field this year also boasts plenty of quality, most evidently with last season’s G1 Champions & Chater Cup winner Helene Super Star who will be heading the field here. Last year’s top 3 finishers – Pleasure Gains, Khaya and Harbour Master – will also join the fray, while Flame Hero is back to his favourite distance. I expect he will likely be one of the few to go forward, and his barrier in gate two should help. Romantic Touch was in good form before running tenth over the mile in the HKIR and I would not hold this run against him. He should end up sitting just off the pace, with Top Act and Pleasure Gains in behind.
Khaya, drawn wide, will likely have to settled midpack with Harbour Master and Got Fly, while Helene Super Star should be near the rear with the likes of Ensuring and Rainbow Chic.
Romantic Touch is working well and should be well positioned and is my first choice. Rainbow Chic is also going well in the morning and is back to his favourite course and distance. In my view, he should not be underestimated despite his recent disappointing results but he has to come from the back in a race with not too much pace, which is a slight handicap. Top Act is a win and place chance being well positioned and coming back from a slight break, while Got Fly is another horse I like for a place.
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