This Sunday at Sha Tin we will stage the top domestic contest of our racing season – the Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Derby. After months of preparation, 14 Derby contenders will hit the Sha Tin turf in a bid to be the top horse of their generation.
I would say this renewal looks like being one of most competitive and open in the 133-year history of the Derby, as it features a real quality field in which eight of the 14 runners have ratings of 100 or above. Also, for the third year running, we have not had any single horse dominating the four-year-old lead-up events. Tony Cruz's Beauty Flash captured the Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Classic Mile in January, while Sean Woods' British import King Dancer prevailed to win the Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Derby Trial last month, and several other horses put in eye-catching performances in their previous starts.
Making it more special is the fact that the line-up includes two unbeaten runners – Brave Kid, trained by John Size, who has already notched up six consecutive wins this season, and Fair Trade, trained by Caspar Fownes, who returned from a long lay-off to win impressively last month in his season debut. Should either of them snatch victory in Sunday's HK$16 million event, they would become the first unbeaten Derby winner in almost 20 years, emulating the feat of the great River Verdon in 1991.
That's why I can understand the nerves and tension shown by the Owners and Trainers involved at Thursday's barrier draw, as a good draw can definitely boost a horse's chances of snaring the top prize. But despite the fierce rivalry, it was also a moment for mutual respect and friendship, especially when the five trainers who have runners in the Derby – John Size, John Moore, Caspar Fownes, Sean Woods and Tony Cruz – held the trophy together for media photographs. It was great to see such a friendly gesture ahead of the big race, though I'm sure the gloves will be off between them tomorrow!
By the way, when our friends in the media asked trainers about race tactics after the Derby draw, the trainers all firmly declined to disclose their plans, and that's a policy I totally agree with. As everyone knows, it's important before any big race for a trainer to plot out a set of tactics, which might easily include a surprise move, and giving away those plans to rivals makes no more sense than for a card player to go showing his opponents his hand. If all race tactics were made public beforehand, so much of the fascinating complexity of the sport would be lost, along with much of the art of jockeyship which demands of riders that they adapt according to changing circumstances, not stick rigidly to any pre-arranged blueprint.
For this intriguing race with a good pace to be expected, I would rate King Dancer and Super Satin as the main contenders in this Group 1 event. King Dancer especially performed superbly in the Derby Trial, as he showed tremendous acceleration at the final stage of the race. For his pedigree, his dam sire Acatenango is a very outstanding classic distance champion from Germany. So I think he can surely handle the longer distance. On Sunday he will again be partnered by Gerald Mosse, who always seems to do well in big races. So I think he will be the horse that catches most attention from our racing fans.
Super Satin will be another focus as he just lacked a bit of luck in his narrow defeat to King Dancer last time. The horse is in great form and has proven records at the 1600m and 1800m distances, which I think they can handle the extended distance. There's no doubt his jockey Douglas Whyte will do his very best tomorrow to try winning the Hong Kong Derby for the first time.
For Beauty Flash, he won with great ease in the Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Classic Mile. After getting a favourable draw of 2 in this race, I've chatted with his Owner Simon Kwok and he was full of confidence about his horse's chance. He will be ridden by top rider Frankie Dettori this time and I think he must be another top challenger for this event. For the unbeaten Fair Trade, the draw of 14 will pose some difficulties, as you need a fair amount of luck to get a good position from this gate in a 2000m event. However, he will have Shane Dye on board, a jockey who is very experienced and always a threat on horses coming from behind. So let's see if he can rise to this tough challenge. Little Dreams, who just suffered a narrow defeat to Brave Kid in his last start, showed steady progress and he could be a dark horse in this race.
Our racing fans can also enjoy more Group 1 action tomorrow as another feature race will be the Queen's Silver Jubilee Cup – the final leg of our Hong Kong Speed Series this season. Although there are only eight runners in the field, I would say that it still looks very competitive as most of the contenders possess sound performance record at the 1400m distance. With frontrunners like Egyptian Ra and Regency Dragon likely to create a good pace in this race, I reckon that Happy Zero should have no problem to settle behind the leaders and I think he should be the horse to beat. However, Fellowship made a very nice run in winning the Stewards' Cup, his first victory at the Group 1 level last time. It has been six weeks since and it gives him a bit of freshness. I think he can also finish close in this race.
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