Horse Of Fortune produced a game run to make his pattern race breakthrough, in his victory in the G3 Sa Sa Ladies’ Purse at Sha Tin on Sunday. In my opinion it was also quite impressive to see the top-weighted Helene Paragon flying home from way back to get a runner-up finish in the same race, as he finally showed that he’s returning near to the top of his game. I am anxious to see how these and some of our more established G1 runners perform in our Jockey Club Races in a fortnight’s time – the entries released earlier this week look fabulous.
Elsewhere in the racing world, the Breeders’ Cup race meeting last weekend was a fascinating one. Last year’s LONGINES Hong Kong Vase winner Highland Reel scored his second G1 of the season in the Breeders’ Cup Turf. With his dominating front-running display, he again showed that he is such a mentally strong and durable horse. We will be very happy to have him back in our internationals next month. He bested our 2014 Vase winner Flintshire, who was retired following the race and will stand in America. They are two living legends when it comes to the durability of the thoroughbred, and it was a glowing endorsement for the international quality of the Hong Kong Vase given they were also the quinella runners from last year’s renewal.
For the feature event of the Breeders’ Cup meeting, the Breeders’ Cup Classic, there was a thrilling stretch run between the winning horse Arrogate and Dubai World Cup winner California Chrome. California Chrome looked to be heading for a comfortable win after setting an easy tempo early, but Arrogate stormed home and got the better of that champion in the final few strides of the race. The pair were nearly a dozen lengths in front of the third place finisher when they crossed the wire. I will be most interested to see their ratings and how they compare in the next edition of the Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings.
We will return to our regular fixture at Happy Valley this evening, with eight nice races on the card. The Queen’s Road Central Handicap is the last race of the meeting and is a Class 2 over 1200m. The pace is expected to be good to fast which will give horses who come from midfield and the back of the field a better chance to show their best. Blocker Dee won last time with a bold run but has added weight to carry today. You Read My Mind will likely lead and Happy Yeah Yeah should sit outside of them. Borntoachieve can also go forward but is probably not as quick as You Read My Mind. Charity Joy will likely take a seat behind Blocker Dee on the rail with Flying Tourbillon and Verbinsky in handy midpack spots. Back In Black should get a normal run near the back and hope to run on.
Blocker Dee is in good form and working well and better drawn than in his last start, which makes him a win and place chance. The same applies for Flying Tourbillon who was only beaten by a head by Blocker Dee, but had to come off heels at the 250m. Back in Black is working very well too and in his last, raced tight at the 100m and shifted out late and was not pushed out. But still, he was beaten only a length in the same race and should be a win and place chance. I like Verbinsky too even though he moves up into Class 2 and with the Tony Cruz stable in good form, he is my first choice in this competitive field.
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