Nothingilikemore landed the opening leg of the Four-Year-Old Classic Series, the Hong Kong Classic Mile at Sha Tin on Sunday. The newest ace in John Size’s deck was heavily backed by racing fans in his first start over 1600m, but he showed no flaws in his race performance. To me it was an utterly strong and dominating display, just merely performing like a class above of his opponents. With this success, he has improved to six wins from seven starts in his short career. Many will look forward to seeing if he can replicate this success in the Hong Kong Classic Cup next month.
I have been in London for the LONGINES World’s Best Racehorse and LONGINES World’s Best Horse Race Ceremony. Connections of American dirt champion Arrogate received the World’s Best Racehorse Award in the ceremony, while the second and third highest-rated horses, Winx, Cracksman and Gun Runner (joint third), were also celebrated. Arrogate hit a top mark of 134 for his Dubai World Cup win which was the single highest-rated performance of the year, and it is notable that the second placer that day, Gun Runner, never lost again and is likely to be named America’s Horse of the Year this week.
Still, the accomplishment that strikes me most of all is the sublime season from champion mare Winx, whose nine wins, including six at Group 1 level, were added to a tally that is now tied with the great Black Caviar at 22 straight pattern race wins. Her third Cox Plate this year brings her on par with Kingston Town to achieve that mark and given the ubiquity of turf racing across the globe, it is no small feat to be the world’s top-rated horse on grass for consecutive years.
Our horses in Hong Kong had a strong presence globally this past year, with 22 horses named to the list, the third highest return of Hong Kong horses to make the rankings, and all occurring in what was, without question, a transition year for our horse population. Overall, we are on par with breeding powerhouse Ireland at a joint sixth for most horses on the list, and just behind France.
Nine of our Group 1 races landed in the world’s top 100, a significant accomplishment considering we run just 800 races a season. The Chairman’s Sprint Prize was Hong Kong’s highest-rated G1, ranked 34th overall, and the joint fourth top sprint in the world.
Our first G1 races of 2018 are coming this weekend with the very competitive Stewards’ Cup and the newly-promoted Centenary Sprint Cup. Before we enjoy the G1 racing action, we will have a race meeting at Sha Tin’s all-weather track tonight. The sixth race is an extended-band Class 3 event, the Kestrel Handicap, and run over 1800m of the dirt track. A field of 12 are due and the pace is projected to be good. Let Us Win could go forward to lead from a good draw in gate three with Green Dispatch, Prawn Baba and Thunder Stomp behind. Roman Impero, Little Dragon and King Of Mongolia, who could be caught wide, are likely to be in midpack. Circuit Hassler is another who could end up wide and will likely be near the back with Gran Master and Willie Way.
Prawn Baba ran very well in his all-weather track debut last time and is once again well-drawn. He will have to overcome top weight but is a significant chance to gain the win. Gran Master has done all of his racing on the dirt and has just missed last time out. He is a winner over this course and will try the 1800m for the third time. I have him as one of my main win and place chances. Willie Way is a dirt specialist, with two of his three wins on the surface coming over this trip, and should appreciate the extra 150m with his first four runs of this season being over 1650m. Thunder Stomp has an interesting pedigree on his dam side, she being by a key American dirt stallion Storm Cat, and could be a placing hope if he takes to it.
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