In an environment where experience and expertise are invaluable, the 2022/23 Hong Kong trainers and jockeys’ championships reflect the value of both qualities.
The top seven in this season’s trainers’ championship features a string of seasoned and highly successful handlers with 11-time champion John Size (33 wins) leading Frankie Lor (31), Tony Cruz (28), Francis Lui (28), Ricky Yiu (27), Danny Shum (25) and Caspar Fownes (25).
With 21 wins so far in 2022/23, Manfred Man is in ninth place with a stable headed by the exciting, upcoming sprinter Lucky Sweynesse. At 65, Manfred is training as well as ever and I wish to congratulate him on securing an extension to continue training for the 2023/24 season. As we have seen with John, Tony, Francis and Ricky over many seasons, skilled and talented trainers get better with age.
While we are fortunate to have such a seasoned group of handlers, we are always looking to the future and it is extremely pleasing to see first-season trainers Pierre Ng (21) and Jamie Richards (13) making positive starts.
On the jockeys’ front, 40-year-old Zac Purton is still at the peak of his powers with the five-time Hong Kong champion jockey leading this season’s title race with 85 wins from Vincent Ho (44) after 41 meetings.
If Zac maintains his current winning strike rate of 24.92%, he will threaten Joao Moreira’s record of 170 wins in a single Hong Kong season. Speaking of experience, only 42-year-olds Hugh Bowman and Silvestre de Sousa are more senior than Zac and it’s no coincidence that both have done extremely well this campaign and I am also pleased both Hugh and Silvestre have committed to the end of this season.
Vincent, who has 490 career wins in Hong Kong and is having another great season, continues an impressive drive to become only the second home-grown jockey behind Tony Cruz (946 wins) to ride 500 winners or more in Hong Kong, which is an incredible achievement.
We are also fortunate to have a band of talented young riders, including Lyle Hewitson, Luke Ferraris, Angus Chung and Jerry Chau, who are not only extremely competitive but in the enviable position of learning from senior peers.
The international nature of Hong Kong racing is one of the factors that makes it so unique and we have privileged to have so many gifted trainers and jockeys from both Hong Kong and around the world pitting their skills against each other on a regular basis.
At Sha Tin on Sunday, the first of the feature races is the G3 Centenary Vase run under handicap conditions over 1800m for prizemoney of HK$3,900,000 and carded as Race 7 at 4:05pm.
The race should be run at a good speed with Money Catcher likely to set the pace, with Looking Great on his back from the inside gate and Ka Ying Star and Senor Toba likely to be in the forward group.
Money Catcher is chasing his third victory at G3 level this season, having won the Sa Sa Ladies’ Purse Handicap on 6 November and the January Cup Handicap over this distance at Happy Valley on 11 January and he is my win and place selection.
Running Glory’s trackwork has been very good and, returning to 1800m combined with the small field will help him to come from the back with a strong finish at the end under Vagner Borges. I make him my second choice for a win and a place.
Glorious Dragon returned to racing after a long break from injury behind Money Catcher in the January Cup, beaten four lengths when having his first run for Pierre Ng. Glorious Dragon was runner-up to the great champion Exultant in this race in 2020 and turned the tables to beat Exultant under handicap conditions in 2021. It will be interesting to see how much improvement he can make here with the benefit of his first up run.
The Centenary Sprint Cup is a G1 race over 1200m run at weight-for-age and is carded as Race 8 at 4:40pm, with prizemoney of HK$12 million. Just one week after the battle of the big three won by Golden Sixty, racing fans have another great contest to enjoy with Hong Kong’s sprint kings coming together in the first leg of the Hong Kong Speed Series.
The 2022 G1 Centenary Sprint Cup, won by Stronger, returned a LONGINES rating of 116 to be among the top 10 sprint races in the world and with the presence this year of Wellington and Lucky Sweynesse, it is again likely to rate strongly.
In a race full of world class sprinters, there isn’t a tearaway leader, but the pace will still be strong from the outset with Master Eight likely to drive forward from gate seven to try and lead, with Sight Success holding a forward position from his inside draw and Courier Wonder ridden closer than at his last few runs from gate four. Lucky Sweynesse also has the natural gate speed to take up a forward position.
When we talk of sprint kings, Wellington is the horse his rivals have to dethrone. He took his record to 12 wins from 19 starts when settling in the back half of the field under Ryan Moore and cruising into the race on straightening, coming away for a brilliant win in the G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint on 11 December from Sight Success and Sky Field. Of his rivals on Sunday, only Master Eight did not contest that race. Alex Badel is reunited with Wellington, after missing the LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint with injury and I make Wellington my win and place selection.
Lucky Sweynesse had no luck at all in the straight behind Wellington on 11 December, finishing sixth when beaten two and half lengths. He quickly made amends for that defeat with a comfortable victory under top weight in the G3 Chinese Club Challenge Cup over 1400m on 1 January. Lucky Sweynesse has drawn the outside gate, but Zac Purton should be able to find a forward position one off the fence and Lucky Sweynesse is a rising star with the ability to really test Wellington and I make him a win and place chance, too.
Sight Success sat outside the leader before finding the front before the home turn and fought on bravely to beat all but Wellington in the G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint. He backed that up with a narrow but impressive win in the G3 Bauhinia Sprint Trophy under 133lb when he drew the grandstand rail. His rider Vagner Borges will be striving for a first G1 victory in Hong Kong. Sight Success has had some time at Conghua since his last start win and is a place chance.
The back-markers in the field are Sky Field and Duke Wai. Sky Field continues to race consistently at the very highest level. Trainer Caspar Fownes sent him to Conghua following his dead-heat third to Sight Success in the G3 Bauhinia Trophy Sprint under top weight and he is a place chance with Hugh Bowman aboard.
Duke Wai may not have the cache of his main rivals but is in career-best form and had no luck at all in the final 200m when attacking the line when he finally got clear air for a close dead-heat third behind to Sight Success down the straight 1000m on 8 January.
This year’s G1 Centenary Sprint Cup is a brilliant contest and will, for the second successive week, draw the attention of racing fans around the globe to watch world class racing in Hong Kong.
Comment
