Kung Hei Fat Choy! As always on the second day of the Lunar New Year, it is a pleasure to share my best wishes. May I take this opportunity to wish all of you the best in the Year of the Dog!
I’m sure you have enjoyed many Lunar New Year activities and entertainment over the past two days with family and friends. Of course, as it is a local tradition of its own, we will have a festive day at Sha Tin Racecourse tomorrow on the third day of the New Year.
While the Class 1 Chinese New Year Cup takes place at this meeting, run as race eight, our racegoers will surely enjoy a magnificent renewal of the HK$10 million Hong Kong Classic Cup, which is the second leg of the Four-Year-Old Classic Series. Nothingilikemore will be out again in force, the strong favourite after his Hong Kong Classic Mile win, but this race is over an additional 200m and some new faces to the Classic Series will try to keep him from landing the double.
The Hong Kong Classic Cup run as race 9 over a distance of 1800m. All horses carry a weight of 126 pounds and the first three will be given a priority to start in the BMW Hong Kong Derby which is the last leg run over a distance of 2000m.
The pace is expected to be good to slow with The Golden Age being a front-runner who should inject some pace in the race. All his recent racing has been from the front at Happy Valley and he should have plenty of speed to make the running here. Morethanlucky trialed without blinkers and was very impressive. He should also show speed and be close to the pace, with Grand Chancellor likely nearby. Nothingilikemore will likely race behind the speed. Singapore Sling and Rattan should be following from midfield, with Ruthven and Rivet likely to get wide runs. Exultant will be near the back with Goldfield and Doctor Geoff.
Nothingilikemore is working very well and should be well positioned. With his ability to accelerate, he is the horse to beat even if there is a question mark about his ability to stay the extra distance of 200m. Joao Moreira was very confident after the Hong Kong Classic Mile win about the ability to stay the extra distance against his 4-year-old rivals.
Exultant will appreciate the extra 200m which gives him a better chance than in his last outing to beat Nothingilikemore. He is working very well, but I still have him only as my second choice. Exultant seems to have adopted better to the style of racing in Hong Kong in his last start, but he is still learning and not an easy ride for Zac Purton.
Singapore Sling ran very well last time in the Classic Mile and was making some ground on Nothingilikemore and ran the last 400m in 23.17 seconds compared to Nothingilikemore’s 22.90s, and he was not pushed out in the last 100m. Exultant ran 23.03 and looked flat footed when Nothingilikemore took off. Singapore Sling is my third choice under the given circumstances.
Morethanlucky finished third in the Classic Mile and was given 10 pounds in the handicap ratings for this result. His last run should entitle him to be considered for a place especially being well-positioned behind the pace in the box seat. The same applies for Doctor Geoff who finished strongly in a Class 2 over 1600m but was hanging out badly. Ruthven has been imported to Hong Kong with a Group 1 win over 2200m in Australia and will appreciate the extra distance, but he is still in my view not fully fit and was disappointing in his last start over 1800m. The same applies to Rivet who was a 2-year-old Group 1 Winner in Great Britain.
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