After months of meticulous planning, the finishing touches are being applied to what shapes as a wonderful staging of the 2022 LONGINES Hong Kong International Races (HKIR) at Sha Tin on 11 December with the selection of a world-class cast of internationally-acclaimed horses for our flagship meeting.
With 26 individual Group 1 winners from Hong Kong, Japan, Germany, Great Britain, Australia and Ireland selected to vie for four glittering G1 races for a combined purse of HK$110 million, we are gratified and delighted with the support of owners and trainers from overseas and locally.
The presence of Glory Vase, Panthalassa, Jack d’Or, Saffron Beach, Broome, Order Of Australia, Stone Age and Salios among the overseas brigade is evidence of the quality required to succeed on our biggest day.
Golden Sixty, Romantic Warrior, California Spangle, Lucky Sweynesse and Wellington – assuming he is fully recovered – will lead Hong Kong’s defence and it will be fascinating to watch Golden Sixty handle the challenge to his throne in the G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Mile (1600m) from Japanese Group 1 winners Schnell Meister and Danon Scorpion along with England’s Saffron Beach.
Bank Of China Hong Kong Raceday delivered on all fronts last Sunday (20 November) with the stunning performances of Golden Sixty, Romantic Warrior and Lucky Sweynesse ahead of the LONGINES HKIR.
All three had tremendous wins and it was fantastic that we were able to safely host almost 13,000 passionate customers, who created a wonderful atmosphere as they celebrated our local champion horses.
While Manfred Man’s feat to land a G2 win with Lucky Sweynesse was very impressive, the training efforts of Francis Lui with Golden Sixty and Danny Shum with Romantic Warrior were remarkable with both horses beating quality opposition after 211 days between races.
Golden Sixty was short of peak fitness but still ran fantastic closing sectionals of 21.32s for the last 400m and 10.91s for the last 200m in running down California Spangle, whose performance – along with that of Romantic Warrior – again showed the quality of last’s Classic generation.
On the displays of our top horses, we are looking forward to a strong performance from our Hong Kong team against the rest of the world at LONGINES HKIR.
Regarding jockey performances, we were delighted with the achievements of James McDonald (two wins, including Romantic Warrior), Mickael Barzalona – who made a successful flying visit to win on Ricky Yiu’s Mighty Stride – and Hugh Bowman, who completed a successful return on Good Buddy for David Hall.
Rarely a meeting goes by without Zac Purton impacting and he did so again with a four-timer, including Lucky Sweynesse, as Vincent Ho continued his strong start to the campaign on the incredible Golden Sixty.
The final three positions in the LONGINES International Jockeys’ Championship (IJC) on 7 December will be decided tonight with five riders in contention to join Hollie Doyle, Jamie Kah, Ryan Moore, Zac Purton, James McDonald, Yuga Kawada, Mickael Barzalona, Tom Marquand and Jye McNeil in the elite line-up.
Vincent Ho (19 wins) is assured inclusion as Hong Kong’s leading home-grown rider, while Silvestre de Sousa (16) is also well placed. The final slot shapes as a four-way contest between Matthew Chadwick (12), Lyle Hewitson (10) and Luke Ferraris (10). Alexis Badel’s (11) absence through injury unfortunately rules him out.
At Happy Valley on Wednesday night, the Kwun Tong Handicap for Class 3 horses over 1650m closes the card as Race 8 at 10:50pm.
There will be genuine speed in this race from the outset with a number of runners having had previous winning success setting the pace in races.
En Pointe and Dr Winning will go forward from their favourable draws. Jade Phoenix will also drive forward for Derek Leung from gate seven in an attempt to find the front as he did when winning at his last start on 30 October. Jade Phoenix has had some time in Conghua since that run and he is a place chance.
Zone D went back early from the outside gate and then made a looping run mid-race and held on well for second to Red Majesty here on 30 October. Since then, he has also been in Conghua where he had an easy trial. With a better draw here, Zac Purton can have him in a striking position behind the pace and I make him a win and place chance.
Spirited Express comes back in class from his latest effort behind Kings Shield on the AWT at Sha Tin when not far from the placings. Hugh Bowman takes the ride for Ricky Yiu and although the five-year-old is having his first run at Happy Valley, I make him a place chance closing late off a fast pace.
Storm Legend has been placed at his last two runs and comes off a last start third to Amazing One Plus when he got through on the rails in the straight. He has had five weeks since that run and while he has had a relatively easy time on the track, he is a place chance with Jye McNeil riding him off the pace and running home late.
Dynamic Spirit, ridden by Vincent Ho, is also a place chance being a dual Group 1 winner over 1600m in Brazil and also on the basis of his good performance last time out over 1200m at Happy Valley when he was making ground strongly in the last 100m.
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