Last Sunday we witnessed another trainer achieving a first in Hong Kong as Chris So earned the inaugural four-timer of his career. Our champion jockey Joao Moreira also did well, getting back in the groove with a hat-trick of wins, and it is not out of the realm of possibility that he will really hit his stride in the meetings to come.
Earlier this week, I enjoyed reminiscing about Super Jockey’s dominance in the Korea Sprint at the official celebration party hosted by his connections. This success would not have been possible without the tremendous support and assistance – over the quarantine and horse movement arrangements – given by the health and agricultural authorities of both Hong Kong and Korea.
Yesterday, Mrs Cherry Tse, the Permanent Secretary for Food and Health of the Hong Kong SAR, also Mr Kim Kwang Dong, Consul-General of the Republic of Korea in Hong Kong, were with me in a Club ceremony as we expressed our thanks for their huge support on that occasion, also commemorating the successful agreement of the bilateral protocol between Hong Kong and Korea on horse movement. As one of the world’s leading jurisdictions, we are happy to develop closer ties with more overseas counterparts and we are hopeful it will bring some greater collaborations between Hong Kong and Korean racing in the future.
Following the Korea Sprint a fortnight ago, racing fans will be treated with more top-notch overseas simulcast races this Sunday, with the Sprinters Stakes day from Nakayama Racecourse in Japan and also the seasonal racing highlight in Europe in the same evening, the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe from Chantilly Racecourse. I’ll write more about those this weekend.
Before that our horses and jockeys will again lock horns at Happy Valley tonight. For the eight races on the card, the CITI Sprint Challenge Cup is run as race 7 and is a Class 3 over the distance of 1200 meters on the C+3 course.
The pace will be good because there seems to be quite a number that want to go forward. Circuit King will likely go out right away with Excel Oneself following. Extremely Fun probably must press forward from the outside. This will likely leave Momentum Lucky to sit behind the pace, especially off top weight, with Wonderful Journey and Mission Possible following them. Navas looks to have some good speed and should be in midpack too, while Hang’s Decision should also be midpack. Both Lucky and Victory Follow Me will be further back while Rainbow Fighter and The Show will have to come from last which is not easy on the C+3 track which favours horse in the front of the field.
Hang’s Decision is in good form and working well. He is, for me, a win and place chance. Momentum Lucky is sharper for two trials, will be well-positioned in the race, and is also a win and place chance too. Wonderful Journey is backing-up after his win last week and should not be underestimated with Kei Chiong on board, despite going up to Class 3 from Class 4. The same applies for Mission Possible and Circuit King which should both have good trips. An interesting newcomer to Hong Kong is Navas, who moved well in his Happy Valley trial to finish third and I can see him running a place.
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