Our Monday meeting at Sha Tin was capped by the emergence of Magic Legend. This talented young private purchase earned his fourth consecutive win since arriving in Hong Kong, an incredibly rare feat for a horse which must jump straight into our incredibly competitive upper handicap classes. While trainer John Moore originally intended to face elite opposition in the Chairman’s Sprint Prize, a significantly tougher test than even the high quality Class 2 foes he faced last week, it does seem a sensible choice to not give him such an arduous task at this point in his career. There are, of course, more goals on the horizon and he will be another exciting horse to follow in the coming weeks and months.
Last week we announced the selected runners for the Audemars Piguet Queen Elizabeth II Cup and today the same occurs for the Champions Mile and Chairman’s Sprint Prize, both races firmly in the World’s Top 100 Group 1 races. As is the case on the international circuit each year, there are cycles of opportunity when some horses are traveling more than others.
We have now three runners from overseas for the APQEII Cup – one each from Australia, France and Japan. Hong Kong racing often provides the rest of the sport a rare window into the mixing of international form lines that often serve as clues to comparing jurisdictions.
Hong Kong’s runners are a bit more well-known to our racing fans, but the selected runners include the last three winners of the APQEII Cup, not least of which is Werther, whose performance in this race a year ago held up incredibly well in the world ratings as the joint fifth highest performance on grass. Pakistan Star brings the 4YO Classic Series form into the fray, which seems to have been well franked with the recent post-Derby wins by Rapper Dragon and Beauty Generation. Secret Weapon offers form from the Hong Kong Cup when second behind Maurice. Combine the overseas runners, and before you know it, the APQEII Cup offers a mix of some of the world’s most prolific form lines.
Starting with Japan, Neorealism hails from the yard of Noriyuki Hori, who has been no stranger to success in his recent Hong Kong visits. In his last race, Neorealism won the Nakayama Kinen while eventual Dubai Turf winner Vivlos was fifth. The United States, a Group 1 winner in Australia, brings the form of Winx into the mix after running fourth behind the world’s top-rated horse. Dicton was probably at his best last year in the Prix du Jockey Club when just three lengths behind Europe’s eventual 3-year-old champion Almanzor.
Our racing fans will be in for a great treat.
I look forward to offering more of my thoughts on these incredibly competitive races in the coming days. Tonight at Happy Valley, the Hong Kong Rugby Union Cup goes as the seventh race on the card and is a 1200m test over the B course. The pace of this race is expected to be good to fast, with several horses potentially wanting to lead. All Great Friends could go forward along with Multimax and Timely Arrived. Diamond Master, Moment Of Power and A Beautiful are also likely to be close behind with Arm Runda traditionally showing speed too. Sunny Dragon should be midfield while Experto Crede, Numero Uno and Grand Harbour will settle off the pace, along with Iron Boy.
This is a very competitive event and I will give a narrow edge to Diamond Master as my main win and place chance. He is making his third start back after a mid-season break and just missed last time when over a shorter trip. Another top choice is Arm Runda, who should sit a handy trip for Olivier Doleuze tracking the speed. He had two course and distance wins recently and was a credible third last time in his first try in Class 3. Moment Of Power adds blinkers and is a strong placing hope. I also think that, given his running style, Experto Crede is an outside placing chance for me.
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