It has been four years since a new face has joined our community of trainers, and as I’m sure you all know, we will welcome Michael Freedman from Australia. Michael was at Sha Tin yesterday to meet the media and get familiar with the surroundings on his quick visit.
He earned high accolades during his eight seasons of training in Singapore and is one of the brightest talents in racing in Sydney. He’s a seasoned trainer and found immediate success in Singapore after starting fresh in a new jurisdiction. Our fans will surely have more chance to learn more about Michael in the next few months and I wish him every success when he starts his stable operations here this summer.
On a more personal note, I am currently in Doha, Qatar where my horse Now We Can will make his seasonal debut in the US$1 million G1 HH The Emir’s Trophy at Al Rayyan Racecourse tonight. Now We Can is an eight-year-old gelding, and he is in good shape, but you never know how he will perform when fresh, but this was a good opportunity for him and it will be exciting. While he has traveled before, going to America and running second in the Belmont Gold Cup last year, he is normally based in France at Chantilly with my trainer, Nicolas Clement. Stephane Pasquier, who has ridden him on three occasions, including a win in his second start last season, will be aboard for the ride, and I hope he can produce a good performance here tonight.
After the race I will rush back from Qatar to Hong Kong, so that I won’t miss the full day of racing with the G1 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup. It is possible, given my flight schedule, however, that I might not be back in time for the G1 Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup, which goes as the third race on the card. While the fields for these races are on the smaller side, they are incredibly competitive, and should be attractive contests for our racing fans.
The Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup goes as race three and is run over 1400m. This race features the first four finishers from the G1 Stewards’ Cup, and they were separated by just one and a half lengths. The Stewards’ Cup fourth placer, Contentment, is the reigning champion of this race, and always must be respected over the trip with five wins in eight tries at 1400m, but he does not seem to be going as well as he was last year.
There is no clear leader in this race and it is possible Sun Jewellery will try to lead as long as he can with Contentment chasing. Strathmore should also be quite prominent in the early running. The main chances are all likely to be racing from off the pace.
My main win and place chance is our former Hong Kong Horse of the Year and Champion Miler, Able Friend. His trackwork has been very good and he encountered serious traffic in the Stewards’ Cup which may have been just enough to keep him from reaching Helene Paragon and Joyful Trinity, both of whom are incredibly consistent, and I think are also very strong chances in this race. Another John Moore trained trio remains possible, but I side with Able Friend who should have a better trip with a shorter field to contend with on Sunday.
Blizzard is a specialist over this distance and was running on late in the final stages over 1200m last time. He is a placing chance for me, even getting into international Group 1 company for the first time in his career.
The Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup goes as the seventh race on the card and features Werther’s return to 2000 metres, the distance at which he was successful in both last year’s Derby and APQEII Cup. The pace is also likely to be quite slow in this event too as it lacks a very natural front runner. Basic Trilogy has occasionally led in some of his races and might go forward with Blazing Speed in a tracking position. Werther should secure a nice midfield spot early with Designs On Rome and Beauty Only well back early.
For me, that first-up run from Werther was probably very useful and he should be fitter for this race while also being likely to enjoy the extra 400 metres of this race over the Stewards’ Cup trip. I will make him my first choice on Sunday. Beauty Only is a placing chance for me as, while I understand the decision to go over a longer trip, it might just be a bit too far for his liking at this stage of his career. Blazing Speed is very consistent with six placings, including two wins, over this course and distance and is a placing chance, along with Secret Weapon, who is definitely in the mix should he run back to his Hong Kong Cup form from December.
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