We are just hours from the end of 2017 and it has been an exciting year for the Club. We have enjoyed many memorable events over the last 12 months. The late Rapper Dragon made history to become the first horse to win all three legs of the Four-Year-Old Classic Series. We reported a very healthy growth in our turnover and all of our existing 11 G1s are ranked among the World’s Top 100 G1s last year. One of the top stories of the year, for me, was Derek Leung’s win aboard Beauty Generation in the Hong Kong Mile. Derek is one of our homegrown talents, and was quick to note his many thanks to his training through our Apprentice Jockeys’ School. Besides his three big wins aboard Beauty Generation early this season, he was the freelance representative in the International Jockeys Championship and is sitting a very strong fifth in the current standings.
I have said on several occasions that I believed 2017 was a transition year relative to the horses racing here. While we sadly lost Rapper Dragon far before his peak, many of our top stars over several years retired in 2017, among them Able Friend and Military Attack. I do think we have some very strong rising talents, however, and it should make for a very fun 2018.
Some of our horsemen achieved great success too, with various notable accomplishments in their careers. John Size further cemented his status as the most successful trainer in Hong Kong in recent time, notching his ninth champion trainer title last season. Joao Moreira was also crowned champion jockey for the third consecutive year, in the process setting two new records – winning 170 races last season, as well as riding an eight-timer in a Sha Tin race meeting in March. In the LONGINES Hong Kong International Races earlier this month, Zac Purton won the Cup aboard Time Warp, completing his own personal sweep for the four G1s of the day.
It beckons to be a fascinating year ahead in 2018. Hong Kong racing will reach a new milestone when our Conghua Training Centre goes into operation in the coming summer. More top-class racing will also be on offer in our racing calendar, as the newest promoted Group 1 race, the Centenary Sprint Cup, will now give us 12 top flight races. We and our regional partners will also converge in Korea to discuss the latest racing trends and development, and the way forward, in the Asian Racing Conference in Seoul this May.
There’s plenty for us to look forward to and I hope it will be the same for all of you. May I wish you all much success in the new year!
At Sha Tin tomorrow we will also stage the first local race meeting in 2018, in our “Lucky Start January 1 Raceday” at Sha Tin. The G3 Chinese Club Challenge Cup is the feature race among the 11 races on the card and the field includes the Hong Kong Mile third Helene Paragon, as well as three fast-improving talents in Beat The Clock, Southern Legend and Fifty Fifty.
The expected pace of this 1400m handicap is good with Peniaphobia likely to have more than enough speed to clear this field. Winner’s Way and Dashing Fellow should follow him with Beat The Clock and Fifty Fifty behind them. Contentment and Dundonnell are both at risk of being caught wide. Southern Legend and Helene Paragon will likely have to come from well off the pace.
Helene Paragon is the highest rated horse in the race at 126 and performed well in the LONGINES Hong Kong Mile. After this good but demanding effort, going back to 1400m and carrying top weight of 133 against some young upcoming horse like Beat The Clock, Southern Legend and Fifty Fifty, this will not be easy but I still see him as a place chance.
Beat The Clock is working very well, carrying only 115 pounds, being ridden by Joao Moreira and with his tremendous ability to quicken in running, being able to clock the last 400m in 21.59 seconds, makes him my first choice.
Both Southern Legend and Fifty Fifty are working well too and are my next choices.
Giant Treasure, with our new Club jockey and 2016 French Champion Jockey Pierre-Charles Boudot on board, ran well in his last start which makes him an interesting outsider for a place.
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