These are exciting times in Hong Kong horse racing. Not only have we witnessed a great champion reasserting his dominance over the past two months with Golden Sixty’s two wonderful Group 1 wins, but we have also seen the emergence of a potential new star in Beauty Eternal.
The cheers that rang out over Sha Tin on Sunday illustrated once more just how much Golden Sixty means to Hong Kong but, for me, Vincent Ho is also deserving of the highest praise for the way he has overcome challenges, become stronger and is riding in outstanding form with 50 wins for the season.
The G1 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup was touted as a match race between Golden Sixty and Romantic Warrior and, for the second time this year, we were privileged to watch two world-class horses fight out the finish.
While we are one of the smallest jurisdictions in the world in terms of racehorse population with 1,240 horses – which is just 0.8% of the world’s racehorse population – Hong Kong is fortunate to have two of the world’s highest-rated active gallopers.
Regarding Golden Sixty, one has to give full credit to Francis Lui for the way he has handled the horse. There are concerns over Golden Sixty’s suitability to travel because of the nervous energy he expends and Francis has shown tremendous skill in managing to win this year with Golden Sixty at 1600m and then again at 2000m against Romantic Warrior, who already proven to be outstanding at the distance.
One has to feel a little sorry for Danny Shum and Karis Teetan with Romantic Warrior, but there is no doubt Golden Sixty is racing as well as ever and it will be interesting to see where Francis heads now with his champion, who is on course to collect a HK$10 million Triple Crown Bonus if Golden Sixty wins the G1 Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup (2400m) on 28 May.
The BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) picture is slightly clearer with Super Sunny Sing’s Hong Kong Classic Cup(1800m) win last weekend, but there are still a lot of questions and some people might say the leading chance for the Derby at the moment is Beauty Eternal, who won over 1600m against Class 2 horses in 1m 33.40s – almost a second inside standard – last Sunday.
Good horses drive and motivate jockeys – not money – and Zac Purton believes Beauty Eternal is one of the most exciting horses he has ridden. Zac is obviously well placed to make some judgements and time will tell just how good he is.
With the Hong Kong Government’s decision to remove the requirement to wear masks indoors and outdoors as of today, we take another important step towards normality and it is clear we are fully on the way of recovery and I look forward to seeing more of our fans back at the track as the season progresses.
The atmosphere created by a crowd of more than 17,000 at Sha Tin made for an exciting day on an afternoon where the greatest Hong Kong horse of the current generation proved once more what a champion he is.
At Happy Valley tonight, the Nam Shan Handicap for Class 3 horses is run over 1200m as race nine at 10.50pm with prizemoney of $1,725,000.
The pace in the race should be good with Majestic Knight setting the tempo from gate nine and California Cible taking a position on speed from his middle draw. Armour Eagle has drawn widest but led at his last start and will probably go forward and race handy.
Howdeepisyourlove will also be on speed from his inside draw. He was ridden back in the field from the widest gate before running home strongly down the middle of the track to finish third to Here Comes Ted on 1 February. Karis Teetan will have him much closer from gate two and he is a win and place chance.
Majestic Knight raced on pace before coming off the leader’s back to take the lead in the straight when gunned down by Here Come’s Ted at his last start in the same race Howdeepisyourlove ran in. If Majestic Knight can cross to lead from gate nine under Silvestre de Sousa, I make him a place chance.
Lucky Archangel ran well at his last start behind Beauty Eternal over this trip at Sha Tin on 21 January when racing at the back of the field and finishing well into sixth, beaten three lengths. His form at Happy Valley this season has been consistent and he is a place chance for Antoine Hamelin.
Both Armor Eagle and California Cible will race in the leading division and have place claims, as does last start winner Here Comes Ted in an intriguing race with lots of winning chances to finish a good card of racing on Happy Wednesday.
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