It is not often that we can discuss an amazing feat never accomplished in the history of Hong Kong racing, but one of those rare moments occurred on Wednesday when Contribution won the fourth race at Happy Valley. This win provided Mr Hui Sai Fun with his 100th win as an Owner in Hong Kong, the first to achieve a century. Joining the ranks of ownership in the 1950s, Mr Hui has campaigned 41 horses over the last 61 years, including some major winners I’m sure you will recall. Inspiration landed a Hong Kong Sprint in 2008 while Motivation was a winner of the 1993 Hong Kong International Cup and Scintillation won many big races over the years, including the Centenary Sprint Cup and the Hong Kong Classic Mile.
His first win came in October 1957 at Happy Valley when his pony Temptation took the second race of the day by “many lengths” as the record of race histories from that season noted. His white silks with red and blue stripes have been seen around our racecourses for many years and it was nice to see many of his long-time friends in the winner’s enclosure on Wednesday. An honorary steward and voting member, we are planning to celebrate Mr Hui’s milestone when he is next at Sha Tin.
Another milestone was reached on Wednesday when trainer Danny Shum landed his 500th winner as a trainer when Winning Faith took his second straight at the Valley. My many congratulations to Danny on the achievement. Eagle Way proved that he was back to his very best as he defied top weight to take the G3 January Cup. This was his Happy Valley debut and he coped with the city racetrack like an expert, traveling comfortably throughout the race and producing a terrific turn-of-foot late to take the money.
The Golden Age, second not far away behind Eagle Way, was also impressive from the front in his first start at local pattern level. Although he was not entered for the Hong Kong Classic Mile on Sunday week, I believe that this four-year-old will be able to make an impact in the later stages of the Classic Series. For today’s race meeting, the Hong Kong Shipowners Association 60th Anniversary Cup is the sporting highlight of the day. The Cup Race is run as race 7 and is a Class 2 over 1650m on the dirt track. The pace will be good which should ensure every horse has a fair chance.
The pace seems to be somewhat dependent on how aggressive Keith Yeung will be on Classic Emperor, but Sunny Win is likely to lead and Classic Emperor might just track him. Beauty Prince and Big Bang Bong should track them with Prawn Baba and California Whip next, along with California Joy who could be caught wide. People’s Knight should settle behind midfield with Fight Hero and Friends Of Ka Ying. Zilong will be near the back with Divine Boy.
Classic Emperor is working very well and his performances on the dirt track were very good, especially his win over the 1650m which was an impressive win by over 6 lengths in 1:37.63, which is significant faster than the standard time for a Class 2. He is the horse to beat despite having gone up in the handicap and carrying now 131 pounds instead of 121 pounds.
His main challenger in my view is Sunny Win who in his last race in Class 3 won impressively and will likely repeat the same tactic by leading, and then setting a fast pace in the middle stage of the race. People’s Knight is a 2-time winner over course and distance and despite his disappointing form is a potential place chance as are Divine Boy and California Whip.
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