The impending arrival of Japanese champion Loves Only You as part of a high-class shipment containing Vin de Garde, Danon Smash, Indy Champ, Pixie Knight, Resistencia, Lei Papale and Stay Foolish means we are now only days out from the LONGINES Hong Kong International Races on Sunday, 12 December.
The first contingent is due on Wednesday night and others will quickly follow from England, Ireland and Japan in preparation for the Turf World Championships and in terms of pure quality alone, this year’s meeting shapes as one of the best yet.
I would like to thank all overseas connections who have shown their commitment to come to Hong Kong for this international event and have to follow stricter protocols than anywhere else and I hope for their understanding that public health comes first. I’m sorry that because of the COVID situation we cannot accommodate the wishes of overseas owners who want to travel to Hong Kong to watch their horses running at Sha Tin.
Preparations for the HKIR are making good progress. At the same time, we are closely monitoring the latest development of the COVID pandemic and the response of overseas countries in tightening international travel restrictions because of the Omicron variant. In the coming two weeks, we hope that there will not be any drastic changes to international travel restrictions that will affect the participation of overseas horsemen at the HKIR.
On the subject of Japanese racing, our friends from the Land Of The Rising Sun are making an art form of farewelling their champions in the most fitting fashion. A year after Almond Eye bowed out with Japan Cup victory, Contrail did the same thing in Tokyo last Sunday.
As dominant as the remarkable son of Deep Impact was in the heat of battle, the images of Yoshito Yahagi riding the colt in a post-race ceremony were incredible, underscoring the bond between a world-famous trainer and his retired champion.
As fate has it, Mr Yahagi’s Breeders’ Cup champion Loves Only You returns to Hong Kong for the final start of her career and her imminent retirement after the LONGINES Hong Kong Cup at Sha Tin adds another level of intrigue to what shapes as a wonderful celebration of elite horse-racing.
The old adage that you can never keep a champion down for long applies equally across the world, regardless of whether it’s in sport or business.
Hong Kong horseracing is blessed to have a treasure trove of high achievers and, as evidenced by the trainers and jockeys’ championships, sheer depth of talent underpins the competitiveness of our racing.
Zac Purton and Frankie Lor have made outstanding starts to the season. Zac is the only jockey so far this term to pass the 40-winner milestone, with his 42 victories coming at a strike rate of 23.1 percent, while his first-three strike rate sits 52.7 percent.
Frankie is the first trainer to post 20 winners for the campaign and his 24 victories have come at a strike rate of 16.6 percent, while an additional 36 minor placings give the championship-leader a first-three percentage of 41.4 percent.
Given the fact we are now into second quarter of the season, this is a decent sample size.
As prolific as Zac and Frankie have been, November provided evidence that a couple of proven champions – Joao Moreira and John Size – are now starting to peak.
Joao’s treble on Sunday not only cut his deficit to Zac to nine (42-33), but it also allowed him to tally 16 winners for the month, two more than his great arch-rival.
With both men competing for a fifth Hong Kong jockeys’ championship, Joao narrowly outpointed Zac during November with a strike rate of 22.5 percent to 20.9 percent. These are small margins, but crucial.
While Frankie continued to hit the target with remarkable consistency with 10 winners for the month, John posted 11 winners over the same period to boost his seasonal tally to 15 – still nine adrift of Frankie, but only four out of second place.
Given the way John typically builds into the season, it is no surprise his stable is starting to fire on all cylinders and his treble at Sha Tin on Sunday, which included the Class 1 Chevalier Cup quinella with Silver Express and Excellent Proposal, is further proof of a mounting charge.
At Happy Valley on Wednesday night, the Hong Kong Golf Club Centenary Cup is a Class 4 handicap over 1200 metres and is carded as the fifth of nine races on the programme. The field includes three first time starters, none of which have been to the city track. Loriz is the likely leader with Matthew Poon and the pace will be only moderate.
Wins All returns from an eight-month layoff and will use his natural speed to cross from an outside draw under Zac Purton. He has benefited from a stint in Conghua where he has trialled well. Wins All is a place chance.
Trust Me adds blinkers and I expect an improved effort here with Matthew Chadwick. He will get a good run from inside midfield and is a win and place chance in this grade.
A Smile Like Yours has been very consistent this season over the course and distance. He will be prominent throughout under Joao Moreira and is a place chance along with outsider Take What You Need with Lyle Hewitson riding.
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