Last night, we hosted the Champion Awards Ceremony at the Ritz-Carlton, presenting multiple awards to honour our top horses of the season, those who produced outstanding performances in our major races over the last 12 months.
The Judging Panel faced a number of tough decisions. Some of the categories were very hotly-contested, especially in the Champion Sprinter and Champion Middle-Distance Horse divisions, while the Horse of the Year decision was a difficult one given there were a number of worthy contenders. I can understand that racing fans can hold different views as to who deserves the honours in each category and for Horse of the Year, especially when Horse of the Year differs from Most Popular Horse, which is determined by a public vote.
The Horse of the Year title was awarded to the John Moore-trained Beauty Generation. He was the dominant force in the mile category this season and was the only three-time G1 winner of the term. He joins Good Ba Ba and Able Friend as the only horses to win the Hong Kong Mile, Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup and Champions Mile, as well as taking Horse of the Year honours in the same season. On the basis of these significant achievements, he is a creditable winner of the highest accolade in Hong Kong racing. I believe many would hope he can maintain his ability – or even get better – next season.
After our top horses, it will be our leading horsemen who will be honoured after our Season Finale race meeting at Sha Tin tomorrow. John Size has already won his 10th trainers’ championship, while Derek Leung still leads Matthew Poon by two wins in the race to take the Tony Cruz Award for our top home-grown jockey.
In the all-important Champion Jockey title race, Zac Purton further consolidated his seemingly insurmountable lead by outscoring Joao Moreira two wins to one at Happy Valley on Wednesday night. This means that he will take a four-win lead into the 11-race card at Sha Tin on Sunday.
I’m not going to say that it is entirely impossible for Joao to overturn that deficit tomorrow, but factoring in Zac’s advantage in the event of a tie – he would win on a countback of the number of seconds – it means the Magic Man would need a five-win swing to win his fourth consecutive jockey championship. Having said that, he has won five races or more in a single raceday on eight occasions over the past two seasons.
It was a historic week for the Hong Kong Jockey Club with the integration of Conghua Training Centre into the Hong Kong system. The first 21 in-training horses arrived at the site on the Chinese Mainland on Thursday, while the turf course and the turf uphill gallop were tested for the first time by jockeys Derek Leung and Douglas Whyte yesterday. Both riders were full of praise for the tracks and the facilities, once again demonstrating the potential for CTC as an offering alongside Sha Tin. It will provide an ideal training environment for Hong Kong’s racehorses, ensuring a stronger and more sustainable future for our world-class racing product.
In addition to the Season Finale, I believe many of you will also give fair attention to the World Cup final tomorrow night. After defeating Belgium in the semis, France will aim to win their second World Cup after their success on home soil in 1998. They will be facing World Cup final debutants Croatia, who displayed their resolve and never-say-die attitude in their comeback win against England on Wednesday. An exciting match beckons and I’ll definitely catch the action after Sha Tin Finale Meeting.
Back to our 11 races on the card, the Sha Tin Mile Trophy Handicap is our feature race of the day, a Class 1 for horses rated between 115 and 90, to be run as race 8. The pace is expected to be good to slow with this race lacking a proper leader. Prawn Baba has plenty of stamina and it is likely that he will push forward if nothing else wants to lead. Romantic Touch will be close to the speed, with Rise High and Jolly Banner tracking the pace. Doctor Geoff and Born In China will settle mid-pack, with Rivet and Joyful Trinity expected to come from behind.
Rise High and Doctor Geoff, who are both four-year-olds imported from Ireland, are my two clear favourites for this race. Both are working very well and are in good form and have further potential to go up in the ratings. Rise High will be ridden by Zac, as he was in his last winning start, while Doctor Geoff is this time ridden by Joao, having had Zac aboard for his last win at Happy Valley. Rise High is my first choice by a small margin and both horses should be able to handle a potentially softer surface with the unstable weather predicted for tomorrow.
On a place line I like Rivet, who did not get a clear run in his last start, and Jolly Banner, who is working well after a break.
This race could prove to be one of the important contests which may decide the Jockey Championship race tomorrow. As mentioned before, though, Joao has it all ahead of him, needing five wins more than Zac if he is to claim his fourth title. Even for a jockey like the Magic Man, it is very difficult to turn this around.
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