As much as COVID-19 has wrought significant change on Hong Kong over the past 13 months, impacting this amazing city and the incredible sport of racing in equal measure, some things remain mercifully unchanged.
Two of the sentinels of Hong Kong racing – John Size and Golden Sixty – were again to the fore at Sha Tin on Sunday in a reminder of enduring quality and elite performance.
John Size’s timeless skill in extracting the very best from his stable is evidenced by a remarkable 1,291 winners since arriving in Hong Kong in 2001, when he claimed the first of his 11 trainers’ championships.
There is a familiarity about John’s mid-season surge into second place on the 2020/21 trainers’ table with 34 wins, leaving him only five behind Caspar Fownes, after a treble at Sha Tin.
Hot King Prawn’s G1 breakthrough in the Centenary Sprint Cup (1200m) provided another example of John’s innate talent to nurture horses. The grey had been a constant presence at the elite level, with three minor placings from six attempts without enjoying the ultimate success.
But he underlined his status as Hong Kong’s leading sprinter under a copybook ride from Joao Moreira after being nursed back to health by John and his team after suffering a very serious colic attack.
While many had lost faith in Excellent Proposal after his puzzling first-up performance, John refused to panic and the horse rebounded impressively to claim the first leg of the Four-Year-Old Classic Series, the Hong Kong Classic Mile.
Blake Shinn deserves praise, too, for a masterly ride in the Melbourne Cup-winning jockey’s most important win in Hong Kong.
For me, the continued winning streak of Golden Sixty was confirmation of his extraordinary talent but the narrow nature of the margin – with only a head to the gallant Southern Legend – also speaks to the champion’s courage.
He was left vulnerable by the slow tempo and his trademark late surge was partially compromised by a slipped saddle under Vincent Ho. But, even in those circumstances, he still rattled home in 44.18s for the last 800m, capped by a breathtaking 21.80s for the final 400m – evidence of world-class quality.
In the end, nothing could stop Hong Kong’s equine “bubble hero” from registering his 12th win in a row and 15th from 16 starts for Francis Lui and Vincent. It is an exceptional performance.
Golden Sixty’s rise to international stardom was adequately measured on Tuesday night in London when he was acclaimed as joint third-best miler in the World’s Best Racehorse Rankings with only Palace Pier ahead of him among the elite active milers.
He is now ranked in the top 10 of the world’s best horses.
It is an amazing achievement for our racing community – and especially satisfying since he is a horse who is owned, trained and ridden by Hong Kong locals.
On Sunday, we had the privilege of farewelling Beauty Generation into retirement in Australia on the same day his heir apparent Golden Sixty again excelled.
Beauty Generation will forever occupy a special place in Hong Kong racing with a truly astonishing record crammed with highlights. As his owner Patrick Kwok observed, the passing of the torch from Beauty Generation to Golden Sixty is a significant juncture in Hong Kong racing.
On Wednesday night at Happy Valley, the Class 2 Chater Handicap is the eighth race of the night and will be run at a good pace over 1650 metres.
Reel Bizzy led throughout over this course and distance five weeks ago and he’s likely to go to the front again under Matthew Poon. From a wider alley (10), Magnificent (Vincent Ho) should also go forward. He’ll either come to rest outside Reel Bizzy or press on to take outright control.
Solar Wai Wai (Karis Teetan) can receive the run of the race following the leaders with Bear Again (Alexis Badel) racing to his outside. Alpha Hedge (Jerry Chau) can be next, along the rail, while Star Shine (Antoine Hamelin) should settle midfield on the fence, to the inside of The Rock (Joao Moreira).
Delightful Laos (Derek Leung) and General’s Delight (Christophe Soumillon) will settle toward the rear with Invincible Missile (Keith Yeung) likely to drop behind them rather than being caught three-wide.
This is a very competitive and wide open race and being on the C+3 course doesn’t make it easy to come from the back. Solar Wai Wai is ideally positioned and is for me a win and place chance with Sunshine Warrior (Zac Purton) who has to overcome to come from the back of the field but he is working well.
Alpha Hedge, Magnificent and Star Shine are chances for a place.
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