To be renowned for world-class horseracing is the aim of every jurisdiction in the world and Friday night’s Hong Kong Champion Awards served as another reminder of how fortunate Hong Kong is with its abundance of elite horses, jockeys and trainers.
With four horses – Golden Sixty, Lucky Sweynesse, Romantic Warrior and California Spangle – inside the top 10 of the LONGINES World’s Best Racehorse rankings, Hong Kong has genuine stars across a range of distances, while the emergence of Beauty Eternal and Howdeepisyourlove – among many other young talents – bodes well for the future.
Golden Sixty’s effort to win Hong Kong Horse of the Year for a record third time as well as Champion Miler was incredible, while the victories of Lucky Sweynesse (Champion Sprinter and Champion Four-Year-Old), Romantic Warrior (Champion Middle Distance Horse) and Russian Emperor (Champion Stayer) in their respective categories were richly deserved.
Howdeepisyourlove was acclaimed as Hong Kong Champion Griffin, while Beauty Eternal won the Most Improved Horse on what was a celebration of Hong Kong’s finest as we also feted John Size (Champion trainer), Zac Purton (Champion jockey) and Vincent Ho (Tony Cruz Award for leading homegrown jockey).
The quality of our jockey ranks is clear with Zac, Vincent, Hugh Bowman, Karis Teetan and Lyle Hewitson leading the way, while the trainer cohort is headed by the incomparable John Size, who celebrates a record 12th championship this weekend, as well as Francis Lui, Frankie Lor, Tony Cruz and Caspar Fownes.
John’s capacity to develop horses with patience and expertise is remarkable and we are grateful for the influence he has exerted throughout his career in Hong Kong. One has only to look at the success of John’s former assistant trainer Frankie Lor, who won the championship last season, to understand how important he has been to the continued success of our racing.
Complementing both the jockeys and trainers’ rosters is a mix of gifted, emerging figures including Pierre Ng, Jamie Richards and Luke Ferraris, while next season we welcome Cody Mo and Mark Newnham as additions to the training ranks.
The Champion Awards function was a magnificent success and I would like to congratulate not only all the winners but also the other finalists. I look forward to following the progress of the champions and finalists into next season and beyond.
And so, after a magnificent season of world-class horseracing, we prepare to celebrate the season finale at Sha Tin on Sunday when the feature race is the Hong Kong Racehorse Owners Association Trophy Handicap, which is carded as Race 8 at 7.35pm for Class 1 horses over 1600m and carries prizemoney of HK$3.8 million.
Given that it is likely the Strong Wind Signal, No. 3, will be hoisted tomorrow and with the forecast of rain showers, it is recommended that our customers monitor track conditions and assess the form of horses which may excel on rain-affected ground.
The pace in the race will be good set by Flaming Rabbit going forward from gate eight. Circuit Stellar will settle on speed and True Legend from his rails drawn will also be close to the pace.
Tuchel is likely to settle just behind the leading trio, one off the fence for Zac Purton. John Size has done a wonderful job with Tuchel this season having finished in the top four in all nine starts, including the three legs of the Four-Year-Old Classic Series.
He was rewarded with his first Group 3 victory when settling behind the speed and sprinting quickly in the straight to beat The Best Peach in the Premier Plate (1800m) on 25 June. Tuchel is my win and place selection and I look forward to seeing what he can achieve at the highest level next season.
Flaming Rabbit is another emerging talent who was narrowly beaten into second place at successive runs before scoring a well-deserved victory over 1400m on 3 July. Flaming Rabbit steps back to the 1600m and should get an uncontested lead. He is a place chance for Lyle Hewitson.
The race sets up nicely for Circuit Stellar, who has Hugh Bowman aboard for the first time and has an ideal drawn in gate three. At his last two starts at Group 3 level Circuit Stellar has been second to star four-year-old Beauty Eternal and he should get a perfect run on the speed and is a place chance.
Encountered has won four races at Happy Valley this season and could hardly have been more impressive in sitting three-wide and sweeping to the front and sprinting away to beat The Irishman and Winning Dragon by a big margin on 14 June.
Encountered is a place chance, as is Hava Nageela, who has been impressive posting three wins in a row on the All Weather, after finishing runner-up to Ching over 1600m at his last run on the turf back in March.
Several horses in the race have form on rain-affected going, including Red Lion, who has won on a yielding track, Tuchel and Circuit Stellar have been placed on soft ground, while Hava Nageela has won on a yielding track in Ireland.
This is an excellent race with Spirited Express and The Irishman also coming to the race in good form.
The last race of the season is the Joy And Fun Handicap carded as Race 11 at 9.20pm. In a year when John Size and Zac Purton have confirmed their greatness in racing, they combine with Golden Express. He was beaten as favourite last start but is an emerging talent and has worked well leading into this race. Golden Express has shown he can handle softer going and is my win and place selection.
Packing Treadmill, Flying Ace, Power Koepp and Atomic Force also have form on softer ground.
This is a very competitive race to finish a wonderful season of racing, with last start winners Beauty Charge, Adios and Youthful Deal, along with the consistent Rock Ya Heart all having place chances.
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