The major flat season in Europe came to an end about a fortnight ago and this midweek was the annual Cartier Awards ceremony, offering accolades to those thoroughbreds and horsemen who had outstanding achievements in the past year. The top award, the Cartier Horse of the Year, went to the brilliant Aidan O’Brien-trained filly Minding.
If you watched our British Champions day simulcast last month, you may recall her emphatic performance in the G1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes that night. She produced an exceptional run in what was her fifth G1 success of the season, also her 7th G1 win in her career – and she’s just a three-year-old filly! It is expected that she will continue her racing career at four and I think she will definitely be one of the horses that most fans will follow in the next European racing season.
A young and promising jockey is also about to make his debut in Hong Kong this afternoon, UK-based Irish rider Oisin Murphy. I met him during our Happy Valley races on Wednesday night, and he was also officially presented to local media yesterday. Although Oisin is just 21 years of age, Qatar Racing has spotted his great talent and had him as their retained rider in Europe. It’s delightful to have Oisin to ride in Hong Kong and we will all be watching to see if he can make an instant impact from his eight rides at Sha Tin today.
This afternoon at Sha Tin we will host the annual Panasonic Cup, the longest commercial sponsor for Hong Kong racing, dating back to 1985. The Panasonic Cup is run as a Class 1 with a rating band from 110 to 85 over 1400m and has attracted a very competitive field. The pace should be good with Wah May Friend leading, a tactic he used to win here last season and has shown recent speed on the all-weather. From an inside draw, he should go forward. Spicy Sure, on the other hand, is drawn wide but will likely also go forward. Mr Bogart will likely settle just behind them, as he did last time out. Twin Delight was a big longshot winner first-up but missed the start last time. If he breaks well today, he should be handy too.
Blizzard and Mr Bogart are both working very well and are my favourites to win the race. Mr Bogart should be well placed and has a slight edge over Blizzard, but I would not be surprised if Blizzard could win.
Racing Supernova is in good form and steps up from 1000m to 1400m, but has solid form over 1200m in the past. He is ridden by Joao Moreira today and despite the risk of being trapped wide, is a place chance for me. Apollo’s Choice was three wide in his first-up performance and ran on well, making him another place chance. Super Lifeline is at his best over 1400m and his last-start second to Harbour Master was good – he could be a surprise winner.
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