I hope you all enjoyed last night’s races from Royal Ascot. It was particularly exciting to see Lady Aurelia win the King’s Stand Stakes, the first three-year-old filly to win the race in its Group 1 history, and by an impressive margin of three lengths. It was a fantastic win.
There were quite a few headlining accomplishments from last Sunday’s Members’ Day meeting at Sha Tin. Shamal made it five consecutive wins, all on the front-end, and has now risen 40 points in the ratings over that period, sitting on a mark of 99. This run of performances rates him as one of the most-improved horses during the season. Believe it or not, the last horse to win five consecutive races under handicap conditions within one season was Aerovelocity, our two-time LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint winner who will be celebrated in a farewell ceremony this Sunday at Sha Tin.
It was the team of Zac Purton and Paul O’Sullivan who, not only did so much good with Aerovelocity, but also had big days last Sunday. Zac managed four wins from the first five races of the day, while Paul trained four consecutive starters to wins on the day, a personal best in Hong Kong for the Kiwi conditioner.
Aerovelocity has been flagbearer of Paul’s stable over the past few seasons and this great sprinter, having won over top level in Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore, was officially retired last week. I’m sure all of our racing fans recall that Aerovelocity was always a real character, whether it be during trackwork or in the parade ring before his races. His win in December, at the age of eight, was incredibly special to his team given that the Aerovelocity had several issues in the months leading up to that win, including his unfortunate colic episode which kept him out of last year’s attempt to defend his title in the Takamatsunomiya Kinen.
It was great to learn that Aerovelocity will spend his retirement at Muskoka Farm in New South Wales, joining Champions Mile and two-time Singapore Cup winner Dan Excel who also resides there. Before his departure, he will parade in front of our fans one last time in his farewell ceremony at Sha Tin Racecourse and you can come join us to offer your final salute to this sprinting champion on Sunday.
Before then we have another midweek race meeting at Happy Valley tonight, with eight races on the card and the Cheung Chau Handicap is the last race, a very competitive Class 3 over 1650m.
The pace will likely be good to slow and with the rail out on the C course, runners in the front of the field have normally a slight advantage. There are several potential leaders in this field, including Super Sprinter and Bullish Smart, and with the weight spread, Super Sprinter is most likely to take up that role. Land Grant and Skyrockets will likely be close too, with Spicy Sure tracking. Gamechangers and Star Majestic are likely to come from off the pace with Kiram near the back in the early going.
Super Sprinter is working well and in good form, plus having Matthew Poon on board with his ten pound claim makes him my first choice for a win and place. Land Grant is my second choice for a win and place. He is working very well and finished second in his last start over course and distance. He is likely being perfectly placed behind the leaders. Star Majestic has to come from the back of the field and is ridden by Joao Moreira. He too is working very well too and should be at least be a chance for a place.
Bullish Smart has won three times over course and distance and does not mind good-to-yielding going, plus being back in a Class 3 warrants, in my assessment, to be considered as a place chance.
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