It was another proud moment for Hong Kong on Sunday as our seasoned sprinter Green Birdie defeated Singapore champion Rocket Man to win the KrisFlyer International Sprint at Kranji Racecourse. Following the victory of world champion sprinter Sacred Kingdom in the same race last year, Green Birdie has become the second Hong Kong runner in a row to defeat the home favourite on his own turf.
Before the race, I was not expecting Green Birdie, who has been no more than a placegetter at Group One level up to now, would produce such a fantastic performance, especially because I heard that the horse was not eating that well and has always had some hoof problems.
To my surprise when I arrived in Singapore, the news was that the horse was eating well in the last four days, and that the team got the hoofs right for the first. With the rain starting to fall, the optimism of Caspar Fownes was growing every minute. But the potential of the horse has always been there, and credit must go to Caspar for preparing the horse so well, as well as to jockey Mark Du Plessis who rode him with great patience before letting him loose on the home straight.
The weather was terrible and we all got soaked as we watched the race from the front of the stand, but it couldn’t dampen our happiness as all of us in the Hong Kong cheering team, including Caspar and Green Birdie’s Owner Roger Li, savoured that fantastic moment.
Another Hong Kong runner, John Moore’s Happy Zero, ran home for a very creditable third despite coming into the home straight at the back of the pack, making up a huge amount of ground. The performances of these two horses underline the high racing quality we have in Hong Kong, especially among our top sprinters, who have proven themselves to be the best in the world at the moment.Caspar says he now intends to run Green Birdie in some top Australian sprints later this year, while John is sticking to his plan to take Happy Zero to the Royal Ascot meeting next month, so I hope these two local heroes can deliver some further international glory for Hong Kong.
Apart from being successful on the track for Hong Kong, the KrisFlyer International Sprint and its companion race – the Singapore Airlines International Cup – proved to be quite popular in attracting local betting support, too, as we reported a total turnover of HK$31.5 million for these two simulcast races.
One reason for that, I'm sure, is our local fans' strong familiarity with many of the horses involved, as the KrisFlyer had three Hong Kong runners in the line-up while a number of the SAI Cup contenders had previously run in our international races in Hong Kong, or contested our recent simulcast races in Dubai. It’s good to see this trend, and I hope you will continue giving such strong support to our upcoming simulcast races this season.
The happy memories from Singapore will live on, but it will be back to business as usual tonight at Happy Valley, where we have eight interesting races lined up for you. If you're an avid football fan like me, you will also enjoy the “Shoot for Glory” party we're hosting there, where you can meet some of the star players from the South China and TSW Pegasus teams and take part in a variety of football-themed games and activities. So please pass the word to all your footballing friends.
In tonight's racecard, I think the Min Fat Handicap will be run in a slow pace, giving those horses running on the pace some advantages. I’m therefore expecting a good performance from Packing Friend, the frontrunner who has made outstanding runs in his last two starts at Happy Valley. Despite that, I think Caspar Fownes’ runner Mark Up, who has shown remarkable improvement and being a conqueror of Packing Friend twice this season, will still be the horse to beat in this race. Other runners like Fearless and Fun Rider may not be helped by the slow pace, but they are in nice form and I think they can also make a late run and get placed.
In the Happy Valley Vase, with Dumberton Rock and Lu Yue likely to challenge for the lead, the pace is expected to be good to fast. This should help Yue Lu Treasure, who has shown a nice turn of foot in his two appearances at Happy Valley back in January, to run for a place in this competitive event. For other runners, both French import Little Dreams and John Size’s improving runner Sapelli are in sizzling form, they can pose great challenges in this trophy event. Cerise Cherry and Beauty Forever, who are both seeking for their maiden victory in Hong Kong, will also have some outsider chance this evening.
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