After enjoying some dirt racing action that capped with Caspar Fownes’ four-timer on Wednesday, racing fans are about to witness some of our best young talents taking to the big stage, as the season’s 4YO Classic Series will commence with the Hong Kong Classic Mile at Sha Tin tomorrow.
When we discussed the strategy in 2000 to develop horse racing in Hong Kong to a world class level, we thought it necessary to create a 4-year-old series with very attractive prize money to encourage and incentivise our owners to buy top class horses for Hong Kong. We created the Hong Kong Classic Mile as the first leg followed by the Derby Trial over 1800m with the highlight and finale the Hong Kong Derby. The Derby Trial was later upgraded to the Hong Kong Classic Cup to reflect the importance of this race. The prize money in our Classics is far higher than in most other leading racing jurisdictions in the world. For example the prize money for the Classic Mile is HK$10 million compared with the £500,000 or the English 2000 Guineas.
The Classics in Hong Kong are different to other major racing jurisdictions which feature 3-year-olds. Our 4-year-olds have proven to be a key driver for having 23 horses in the International Classification 2015 of the best horses in the world which means that 11 percent of the top horses in the world were trained in Hong Kong, despite having only 0.7 percent of the world’s thoroughbred population. I look forward to the release of the 2016 ratings next week.
When we decided to open our HK Group 1 races to international competition to achieve International Group 1 status we decided to keep our Classics for Hong Kong horses only because we did not want to lose the incentive for our owners to go out and buy top class horses, which is already very expensive, and on top of this they would have to compete in these races with global owners which might have 100 horses or more in their stables.
Looking at the quality of the Hong Kong Classic Mile this policy should not be changed, and it is good to see the significant equine talent assembled for this race.
Many local champions passed the first elite test of their career in this race, and I would say those sprinters/milers enjoyed a considerable edge in recent years. From its roll of honour you can find some terrific names such as recent Hong Kong Mile winner Beauty Only, who scored his first top success in Hong Kong in this race two years ago, also Able Friend, Lucky Nine and Beauty Flash who all eventually succeeded in our international races. Helene Mascot in 2008 was, in contrast, a rarity as he was the only Classic Mile winner this century to have later won the Derby.
There is no clear leader in this field, or at least someone that really wants to go forward and lead throughout, so the pace is projected to be good-to-slow and benefits those up front. Winner’s Way was strong last time when showing speed and staying-on and is likely to go ahead while stablemate Circuit Hassler could as well. Seasons Bloom could track them from the inside and Beauty Generation should be close by, Rapper Dragon should be in midfield and likely 3-wide, but with some cover. Western Express and Pakistan Star should be well off the pace.
Rapper Dragon is my first choice because he is not only the highest rated horse in the race but his track work is very good and he has improved from his last start when not been 100 percent fit. He can run very good last 400m sectional times of 21.61 seconds which make him tactically agile. Moreira has to be careful not to be trapped wide which I see as the main risk for him. Beauty Generation is my second choice despite a little setback due to the cut to his leg in his last race. He is still a little bit on the heavy side with his best distance being longer than 1600 m but he is working well and should be good positioned in the race.
Eagle Way was impressive in his first start in Hong Kong and should be well positioned and is a place chance for me. The same applies for Seasons Bloom as an outsider. Western Express and especially Pakistan Star are horses with potential and even they have come from the back of the field are place chances.
Comment
