It was with great sadness I learned of the passing of John Pearce, a former Club Steward and Honorary Steward, on Thursday at the age of 98. John was also the son of former Club Chairman Thomas “Tam” Pearce, who died in the defense of Hong Kong in 1941. While he owned horses here in Hong Kong, his greatest success came as both owner and breeder of Group 1 winner Arcadian Heights, who landed the Ascot Gold Cup in 1994. He resided at the Mandarin Oriental for decades and absolutely loved going racing at Sha Tin. Coincidentally, today we host the annual Pearce Memorial Challenge Cup, named to honour Tam’s contribution to Hong Kong racing, which included the purchase of the Club’s property at Beas River. John was present on many occasions to present the trophy for the race in his father’s memory, and today, we remember him as well, and extend our condolences to his family and friends.
Next week in this blog I will offer my thoughts on the first leg of Hong Kong’s 4YO Classic Series, the Hong Kong Classic Mile. While gaining a slightly revised title this season, the Classic Series is designed to pit the best of an equine generation, and in our case, the focus is always on those aged four. A year ago, Sun Jewellery landed the first two races while our eventual Horse of the Year, Werther, earned the big one, taking the BMW Hong Kong Derby, before going onto a big double when adding the Audemars Piguet Queen Elizabeth II Cup, a performance rated one of the world’s top runs in 2016.
We saw several Derby entrants in action on Wednesday night at Happy Valley. Tony Cruz’s California Joy got back to his winning ways and might be back on track in the series while John Size’s new import, Encounter, a German 2,000 Guineas winner, ran a nice fourth and should definitely improve with added distance.
To help you follow the stars during this year’s Classic Series, our team has a regularly updated website with the top contenders for your regular reference. More than 20 horses are profiled on the site which includes their notable key achievements both in Hong Kong and before arrival here, as well as all of the news and information you might need as the Classic Series progresses. To visit our special campaign site and view the key contenders, click here.
The Pearce Memorial Challenge Cup, the trophy race today, is run as a handicap over 1800m and despite it being just a Class 3, is a race which has horses with potential for the future as at least four horses are aiming to go to the 4YO Classic Series.
The pace is expected to be slow which will help horses closer to the pace. Only Unique Happiest and Prawn Baba seem likely to go forward here with plenty who might want to get well back in the early running. Istanbul Bey could be a bit more forward this time out and Booming Delight should have a nice position on the rails.
Booming Delight is working very well and he should appreciate the extra distance is my first choice in combination with Prawn Baba who is working very well too and should be ideally positioned. Whoop Whoop is my next choice especially because his work is improving. Willie Way, Mambo Rock and General Sherman have to come from the back of the field, which is not ideal, but I see them as chances for a place.
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