It is great to hear that plans are being put in place so that Australian horses can compete in Hong Kong again without having to spend 180 days in a third country before returning home.
I would not expect a major change for FWD Champions Day next month – as vaccinations would have to be done in the next few days and plans for many top Australian horses are already set in stone – but this is a good first step.
The new measures provide a great opportunity for those who want to target the LONGINES Hong Kong International races in December and hopefully further progress can soon be made to enable free movement for horses who have been stationed in Conghua.
Opportunity and ambition have been recurring themes in what has been another busy and fascinating week in Hong Kong racing.
John Size has the opportunity to win his fourth BMW Hong Kong Derby with the exciting Waikuku at Sha Tin next week and the champion trainer spoke vividly about how his former assistant Frankie Lor has earned a leading chance to saddle his first during our Derby Selection ceremony at Happy Valley on Wednesday.
Vincent Ho was also on stage at the same event and spoke with equal passion about his prospects of a what would be a famous homegrown Derby success aboard Ka Ying Star, who came through his final trial before the big day in good style at Sha Tin on Friday morning.
One of our new riders Martin Harley seized his opportunity to ride a first winner in Hong Kong when High Five battled home in a thrilling finish at the Valley later that night.
And our latest Australian import Regan Bayliss will be hoping his opportunity to get off the mark presents itself with a handful of strong rides at Sha Tin this Sunday.
Opportunity and ambition were also two of the key themes discussed when I addressed a large group of secondary school pupils as part of Hong Kong’s annual Student of the Year Awards programme this week.
The Jockey Club has been sponsoring this programme for six years now and it is always a pleasure to see how much curiosity and passion Hong Kong’s young people show when looking to the future.
This year’s sharing session took place under the heading ‘What Makes A Good Leader’ and the way the students responded to discussion about core values such as team building, inclusiveness and embracing change left me in no doubt that we have some extremely bright young leaders coming through.
Sunday’s Class 2 Lusitano Challenge Cup at 1650m is one of the better all-weather races of the season with eight of the 11 runners having won on the surface.
Last-start winner King Genki will set a good pace with pressure from the versatile Raging Blitzkrieg and People’s Knight. Glorious Artist will cross over from a wide gate to take up a contending position along with Dragon General.
King Genki returned from a four month break to win a rapidly-run Class 3 with an upper rating band of 85. Glorious Artist comes out of the same race and was very unlucky as he had to check while making what appeared to be a winning move. He finished a close second with a long way back to the third and the presence of this pair helps make this a very competitive race.
Elusive State has won five consecutive races, including his last three over the track and distance. He is one of the most improved horses this season and he has been able to win despite some difficult circumstances. This is the toughest test of his career as he must carry 16lb more than his last start but he seems up to the task and I make him a win and place chance.
Glorious Artist is a place chance off his solid effort in his last start along with the in-form King Genki. Dragon General is also a place chance as he makes his first start around two turns. He is in good form and has shown that he handles the surface.
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