Our international guests are arriving in Hong Kong for the APQEII Cup week and will surely join us at the races tonight in Happy Valley. We will also have many friends from Korea here tonight for the annual running of the Korea Racing Authority Trophy.
Korea is a growing jurisdiction in Asian racing, promoted last year to Part II status in the International Cataloguing Standards Book. They also hosted a very successful international race meeting in Seoul last September. On that occasion our own horse Super Jockey became the first Hong Kong runner to win on Korean soil, taking the Korea Sprint. Their top runners also did well when racing abroad in the Dubai World Cup Carnival this year, and made a landmark appearance at the World Cup meeting. Our next Asian Racing Conference will also be held in Seoul in May 2018.
With Korean racing on the rise, I would not be surprised if we see more of their best horses performing on the international stage in the future. I wish them much success in the years to come.
The Korean Racing Authority Trophy is raced as a Class 3 handicap over 1200m and is run as our seventh race tonight on the C track, which tends to favour horses closer to the pace. With the expected good-to-fast pace, horses coming from off the pace should have their chances too. You Read My Mind, Hella Hedge and Gracydad all have the profile to lead, but it seems Gracydad might not be able to cross them and he could be wide. Perpetual Joyance should be just behind them on the rail with Wonderful Fighter to his outside. King Mortar and Our Hero are likely next in midfield with Beauty Kingdom settling off the pace.
Perpetual Joyance is working very well, and from gate 1, should be well-positioned which makes him my first choice. Wonderful Fighter should also get a good position being ridden by Joao Moreira which makes him a win and place chance too. Hella Hedge and You Read My Mind are both ridden by apprentices and are at risk of taking each other on for the lead, but are still place chances for me. Beauty Kingdom and Our Hero are likely to come from off the pace and should not be ignored for a place.
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