With 13 meetings left in the Hong Kong racing season, the battle lines for the 2020/21 trainers’ championship are clearly drawn in what shapes as an exciting finale to another spectacular 12 months of competition.
After success at Happy Valley on Wednesday night, Caspar Fownes (63) has narrowed the gap to John Size (65) with the season-long tussle to resume at Sha Tin on Sunday (30 May), when Caspar has the weight of numbers across the 10-race programme.
John, who boasts a season-best 49 wins at Sha Tin this term, has six runners on Sunday – Caspar, who has again justified his standing as ‘King of the Valley’ with 33 victories at the city circuit, will roll out 12 runners across the 10 contests as he looks to add to his 30 wins at Sha Tin.
Both stables are clearly in form and both yards will be eager to maintain the impetus with Frankie Lor (56), Danny Shum (56) and Francis Lui (55) snapping at their heels.
Healthy competition is a signature of Hong Kong racing and, while Joao Moreira’s 21-win lead over Zac Purton appears unassailable, the ‘Magic Man’ will not celebrate a fourth title until it is confirmed on 14 July, such is his respect for Zac.
Last season’s battle for the trainers’ championship was epic with Ricky Yiu denying Tony Cruz 67-65. This season’s title looks as if it won’t be decided until the very last stages of proceedings with John striking at 15.01 percent and Caspar at 11.86 percent.
As the Hong Kong season approaches its mid-July conclusion, international racing in other jurisdictions is certainly heating up with a string of major global events featuring in our simulcast programme over the next few months.
Tonight (Saturday, 29 May), some of South Africa’s leading middle-distance three-year-olds will contest two G1 events over 2000m at Greyville Racecourse, Durban – the Greyville 2000 for colts and geldings and the fillies’ equivalent, the Woolavington 2000.
There are only six runners in the Woolavington and the two fillies I like are War Of Athena (Muzi Yeni) and Princess Calla (Grant Van Niekerk). Netta (Warren Kennedy) will be hard to beat after her career-best performance four weeks ago over the same trip. Triple Tiara winner War Of Athena will start a short-priced favourite. She has been dominant this year and is a G1 winner, defeating Netta earlier this season, and is clearly the one to beat. She is a solid place chance. Princess Calla is bred to get the trip and is also a place chance.
In the Greyville, Kommetdieding (Sihle Cele) has the opportunity to make amends for the only blemish to his perfect record when he encountered a troubled trip earlier this month. He is a quality colt and will appreciate the step up in trip. He is a place chance.
Linebacker (Grant Van Niekerk) is in top form and is the likely favourite. He is in top form and should go very close as a win and place chance. He will settle about midfield and is proven over the distance. Second Base (Warren Kennedy) and Copper Mountain (Gavin Lerena) are also place chances.
Our eight-race simulcast card, which is live for betting in Hong Kong, begins at 6:25pm.
The G1 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) is the second leg of the Japanese Triple Crown and will also be simulcast live from Tokyo Racecourse at 2:40pm during tomorrow’s Sha Tin meeting (Sunday, 30 May). The Tokyo Yushun (2400m) is the biggest race in Japan for the Classic generation, boasting an honour roll containing Deep Impact, Vodka and Orfevre, and this year has a field of 17 lining up for the 2400 metre test.
Efforia won the first leg of the Japanese Triple Crown last month when he won the Satsuki Sho by three lengths to extend his unbeaten record to four wins. He will be ridden by regular rider Takeshi Yokoyama and is a win and place chance from a prominent position. He has drawn the inside gate and should get a dream run behind the early leaders.
Satono Reinas (Christophe Lemaire) is the only filly in the field but is a big danger as she takes a giant step up in trip from 1600 metres to 2400 metres. She is a daughter of Deep Impact and has shown a big finishing kick over the shorter distances and may be another in a long list of superb Japanese fillies to win major races. She will settle a bit worse than midfield and is a place chance.
Yoho Lake (Yuga Kawada) will appreciate the step up in trip and will be closing ground as a place chance along with the improving Red Genesis (Norihiro Yokoyama).
At Sha Tin, the G3 Lion Rock Trophy is the third of ten races at this Sunday’s race meeting and will be run over one mile. Last season’s winner Ka Ying Star (Zac Purton) will carry 133 pounds under the handicap conditions and will make the running along with Healthy Happy (Alexis Badel). They will not go overly hard during the early stages and I expect each section will be faster than the previous as the pace intensifies throughout the race.
Ka Ying Star carried 129lb when he won this race last year and finished second in the 2019 edition. He has trialled well in preparation for this test and is a solid place chance.
More Than This reunites with Karis Teetan for new trainer Danny Shum and comes into the race after a big effort when he chased home Golden Sixty to finish a hard-closing second in the FWD G1 Champions Mile. He looks to be in top form and is a win and place chance coming from the back. Teetan has ridden More Than This on four occasions for three wins, which is an impressive strike rate for a horse that has four wins from 17 starts since arriving in Hong Kong.
Sky Darci (Joao Moreira) makes his first start since winning the BMW Hong Kong Derby and has worked well in the interim, including another stint in Conghua. This looks like his preferred trip and he will get every chance from his good draw and light weight. I expect him to go very close as a place chance.
Fast Most Furious (Matthew Poon) has spent two months in Conghua preparing for this race and this may be the ticket to a more inspired performance. He finished a close third in last year’s Lion Rock and is a place chance from midfield.
In addition to the Lion Rock, the race meeting features a massive Triple Trio jackpot of more than HK$37 million across races four, five and six. In the event that there is only one HK$10 winning unit for the pool, the Triple Trio dividend will reach an estimated HK$60 million, the highest dividend for a Sha Tin meeting since the 2012/13 racing season.
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