One great champion is getting ready to move on while another is back and at the peak of his powers.
This has been a hugely important news week for Hong Kong racing and our sport is extremely lucky to have stars like Douglas Whyte and Beauty Generation gracing its stage.
I have said this many times before but Douglas has been the ultimate professional during three decades at the top.
His great skill in the saddle, combined with an incredibly fierce will to win, has carried him to 13 successive championships and the statistics of his incredible career are mind boggling.
Douglas has ridden more than 1,800 winners since he arrived here in 1996, including practically all our big races, and is still a potent force at the age of 47. He is truly one of the titans of Hong Kong racing and no-one is better qualified to reflect on how racing here has developed into such a world-class model over the years.
It is a measure of Douglas’s status and reputation that our Licensing Committee have made him the first active rider to be awarded a training licence since Tony Cruz was granted the same privilege in the first season that Douglas came here.
Douglas has been a valued and trusted top class professional for many years now. I am certain I speak for everyone in wishing him the best for his final six meetings as a jockey and there is no doubt in my mind that he will continue to represent the very best of Hong Kong racing when he starts his new career as a trainer in September.
Beauty Generation has also been representing Hong Kong brilliantly for some while now and it was great to see him start 2019 with such a commanding display in the Stewards’ Cup at Sha Tin on Sunday.
His place in the LONGINES World’s Best Racehorse Rankings will be revealed by the international handicappers on Wednesday and it is fantastic to see him being recognized on the global stage.
Of course, ratings are just one measure of the impact any star horse makes on his sport.
The most recent rankings suggest that Beauty Generation will be rated at least as highly as Able Friend, who was rated 127 after reeling off six consecutive wins in the 2014/15 racing season.
However, John Moore clearly feels his latest star is the best horse he has ever trained and Beauty Generation’s rematch with Sunday’s Centenary Sprint Cup winner Beat The Clock in the G1 Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup on 17 February should be another race to remember.
The fourth race at Happy Valley tonight is the Class 4 Hong Kong Football Club Centenary Cup over 1200m with Wah May Princess, Very Sweet Orange and Royal Chocolate set to go forward and set a good pace.
Travel Datuk has drawn the rail and should use his speed to secure the box seat behind the leaders. He has run well in his recent races at the Valley and should get every chance from his good draw and the favourable pace scenario. I make him a win and place chance.
Bond Elegance returns to Happy Valley after six consecutive runs on the dirt track at Sha Tin. His last win came here at the Valley in March of last season and he is a two-time winner over course and distance. He is well drawn and comes off a good effort in his last run. I expect him to be close to the pace and make him a place chance.
Gallant Legacy is an interesting runner in the race and is a place chance in the second start of his brief career. He trialled well over the course on Saturday and seems primed to improve on his first-up run.
Naboo Star has jumped poorly in each of his two races, which has proved costly. He has drawn the outside gate but that might help him with his gate manners. He will be running on from the back and is a place chance.
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