Tonight at Ascot Racecourse the third leg of this year’s Global Sprint Challenge will be run – the 1200-metre Golden Jubilee Stakes. I was hoping to be there in person and cheer on our two Hong Kong runners – Happy Zero and Joy And Fun – but I've had to change those plans as there is too much pressing work to attend to here. But never mind, as I'll still be able to enjoy watching this premier sprint event, along with four other top races from Royal Ascot, through our simulcast this evening.
Although some racing commentators have suggested that European sprinters tend not to be as strong as their counterparts from Australia and Asia, the record shows that they remain quite dominant in this event on home turf. The Golden Jubilee winners of the past four years have all been Europe-based runners, with the last overseas success coming from our own Cape Of Good Hope in 2005. Moreover, that was a one-off year when the race was held at York, as Ascot Racecourse was then under renovation.
I believe the undulation of the Ascot track is one of the main reasons for this home advantage, as many of the overseas runners do not appear to race as comfortably there as they do elsewhere. A case in point is probably our champion sprinter Sacred Kingdom, who had no previous experience of racing uphill when he contested the Golden Jubilee Stakes last year and could only finish fifth. Nevertheless, I think it was a very creditable performance.
This year, we have two of our top sprinters contesting the race for the first time, John Moore’s Happy Zero and Derek Cruz’s Joy And Fun. They have now had almost a month to prepare for this race and acclimatise to the local weather, as both horses travelled to Britain straight from Singapore after contesting the KrisFlyer International Sprint there in mid-May. I know that both of them have settled quite well in Britain and are raring to go. They have also had special training on an uphill track as part of their workouts.
Those of you who watched our simulcasts from Ascot earlier this week will know that the home straight of this racetrack, particularly the final furlong, climbs uphill and requires the runners to have a bit more stamina in reserve. But Happy Zero and Joy And Fun have performed well at both 1200m and 1400m before, so I feel they should have the necessary stamina to cope with this special feature of the track.
Anyway, I certainly hope our two runners will be able to earn more international glory for Hong Kong in this £450,000 (HK$5.2 million) event. I hope you will also be giving your support through our live simulcast tonight.
Personally, I think the race is wide open and both of our runners have nice chances to get some decent results. Apart from whether they can handle the tricky track, the other main question is whether they can overcome the trip from their training stables to the race track itself. Last year, Sacred Kingdom was worked up and lost all chances. I hope the two Hong Kong runners will cope with the journey well and I will be watching closely on how they look in the parade ring.
On balance, I think Happy Zero has a good chance to win the race if he can hold his nerves in the parade ring, but the John Gosden-trained Showcasing will be the main danger. This three-year-old showed his promising talent when facing a group of older opponents in the Duke of York Blue Square Stakes, just finished half-a-length behind the winner for a close second despite not being fully fit. However, it will be his first start at Ascot and let’s see if he can cope with the track and maintain his form again.
Another improving three-year-old Society Rock is a course and distance winner at Ascot. I’ll see if he can spring a surprise. Other runners like course and distance winners High Standing and Sayif, as well as Fleeting Spirit – the Jeremy Noseda-trained runner who will be making his first start of the year, are also capable to challenge for the top prize.
For our local races tomorrow, I will be keeping a close eye on those runners to be ridden by Brett Prebble and Douglas Whyte. In our races at Sha Tin last Wednesday, these two leading jockeys delivered some outstanding performances as they both scored four winners on the 11-race programme. This means Brett is still edging Douglas by 90 winners to 86. With just seven race meetings and 68 races remaining this season, let’s see if it’s Brett who can extend his leading margin, or Douglas who can close the gap tomorrow.
The battle for the Champion Apprentice title is equally exciting as Matthew Chadwick still holds a narrow lead with 28 winners, followed by Keith Yeung on 27, and both Ben So and Derek Leung on 25. I'm sure these young riders will be going all out to challenge for the coveted title in the remaining races
Let me also remind all of you that tomorrow’s day races will be held at Happy Valley. It’s proven to be quite popular among racing fans and I hope you all enjoy our programmes tomorrow. Among the 10 races on the card, the Hong Kong Exchanges Challenge Cup is a very competitive race. With Douglas on board Shifachi Tradition and Brett to be riding Jumbo Gold, both runners appear to be the dominant forces in this 1200m race. However, I will be slightly favour the chance of Jumbo Gold as in his penultimate start over the same course and distance, his winning performance was really impressive. For other opponents, in-form runners like Free And Easy, First In Command and Solar Up, can also finish close in this event.
On football side, there will again be three World Cup matches tonight, featuring the likes of Holland, Japan and Denmark. For my home team Germany, they have played their second match against Serbia last night, but they lost 0-1 in this match. I was generally disappointed with their performances, but I think they still deserved a draw for playing 10 men, after the referee made a highly questionable decision in sending German strike Miroslav Klose off for a foul which was at most a minor infringement. I hope they can perform better when facing Ghana in their last group match on Wednesday.
Looking at the results of the tournament this year, I can’t recall any other World Cup with so many unexpected results. But at least, there are still a few teams delivering impressive performances, for instance Argentina has shown great determination and class in their games. Despite that, I still believe Brazil and Spain will be the teams to beat this year!
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