Last Wednesday at Happy Valley, Zac Purton produced one of the finest riding exhibitions of the season with five winners from nine rides at the city circuit to climb to 70 winners for the season – 25 behind Joao Moreira.
Remarkably, this was the eighth time Zac has managed a five-timer in Hong Kong. To put Zac’s achievement into context, only six other riders have ridden a quintet in Hong Kong racing since 2000 – Joao Moreira (18 times), Douglas Whyte (five), Karis Teetan (twice) and Christophe Soumillon (once), Brett Prebble (once) and Antoine Hamelin (once).
The BMW Hong Kong Derby is just two weeks away and the chance to secure a berth in the March 21 Classic is quickly dwindling, leaving the Class 2 Daisy Handicap (1800m) at Sha Tin on Sunday as dramatic finale for Derby aspirants.
In the contest to become the successor to Golden Sixty on the Derby throne, Sky Darci (with a handicap rating 103), Excellent Proposal (101), Healthy Happy (101), Shadow Hero (100), Tourbillon Diamond (98), Lucky Express (97), Russian Emperor (97), Lucky Patch (95), Panfield (90), Congratulation (89), Silver Express (89) and Packing Waltham (85) are among the obvious leading contenders.
Seven horses in the Daisy Handicap are chasing Derby starts – Berlin Tango (88), Conqueror (87), Celestial Power (83), Maximus (83), Super Football (83), Sea Of Life (83) and Tsar (82) – and could join the select field of 14 by either winning or running strongly.
This year’s Derby is one of the most open in memory and, for me, the two leading candidates remain Tourbillon Diamond and Excellent Proposal, but much can change quickly and, this weekend, connections of the seven horses in the Class 2 Daisy Handicap over 1800m will be hoping this is again the case.
The race is the traditional last call for Derby hopefuls and is carded as the 10th and final race of the meeting. Seven of the 14 runners are entered for the Derby and are also eligible for a HK$1 million High Achievement Bonus.
The pace will be slow with Butterfield (Zac Purton) and Maximus (Matthew Poon) expected to make the running, with Sea Of Life (Vagner Borges) close. Conqueror (Alex Lai) could be forced to use his speed to cross over from the outside draw. The race sets up as a sit and sprint.
Ho Ho Khan (Vincent Ho) has not finished in the top three in nearly two years but has been facing tougher opposition. He gets some class relief here and is a three-time winner over the course and distance. He should get a nice run from midfield and is a place chance.
Derby hopefuls Super Football (Karis Teetan) and Tsar (Keith Yeung) have shown positive signs recently and Super Football has won his last two races over a mile, closing his races in a manner that suggests the additional furlong should not pose a problem. On that basis, Super Football is a win and a place chance.
Tsar is a son of Kingman who showed big improvement at Happy Valley in his second Hong Kong start ten days ago. He should be a bit closer to the pace and the added distance should not pose a problem. He is a place chance along with Maximus, who is working very well after his little setback with the hoof problem and he is capable of producing a fast last sectional if the race comes down to a sprint.
Flying Quest (Dylan Mo) comes off a solid effort two weeks ago and gets in light in the handicap conditions. He is capable of a strong closing section and is also a place chance.
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