In London this week, the quality of Hong Kong racing shone on the global stage when four of our elite horses featured in the top 15 of the LONGINES World’s Best Racehorse Rankings (WBRR) and today (Sunday, 28 January) we have the privilege of watching the world’s top-rated sprinter, LUCKY SWEYNESSE, in action at Sha Tin.
With GOLDEN SIXTY (126), LUCKY SWEYNESSE (125), CALIFORNIA SPANGLE (123) and ROMANTIC WARRIOR (123) figuring so prominently – along with ten other Hong Kong horses with ratings of 115 or higher – and all 12 of Hong Kong’s Group 1 races listed in the World’s Top 100 Group 1 Races, Hong Kong can take pride in these achievements.
I would like to congratulate the connections of the Hong Kong’s horses who made the WBRR’s top tier and, more broadly, I thank all Hong Kong owners for their ongoing support in their efforts to secure the best available horses to race here.
As proud as we are of the WBRR accomplishments, I look forward to the emergence of other talented horses during the Four-Year-Old Classic Series, which starts on 4 February with the HK$13 million Hong Kong Classic Mile (1600m).
The Four-Year-Old Classic Series, which also includes the HK$13 million Hong Kong Classic Cup (1800m) on 3 March, offers HK$52 million in prizemoney and we have five horses who are nominated for the HK$26 million BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) on 24 March running at Sha Tin today – ME TIME (Race 4), GOLDEN ARTIE and STAR MAC (Race 9) and AORAKI SUMMIT and GREEN N WHITE (Race 10).
Along with many others in this year’s Classic generation, I will monitor their progress with interest.
The feature race at Sha Tin on Sunday is the G1 Centenary Sprint Cup over 1200m, which is carded as Race 8 at 4.40pm with prizemoney of HK$13 million. It is also the first leg of the Hong Kong Speed Series, which was swept last year by LUCKY SWEYNESSE, who took this race and, in doing so, posted his first win at Group 1 level. A year later, and LUCKY SWEYNESSE has just been crowned as the Champion Sprinter in the World for 2023 with a mark of 125.
The speed in the race will be good with VICTOR THE WINNER going forward from gate ten to find the lead. WHIZZ KID has also drawn wide but will settle in the leading division, with PACKING TREADMILL on the leader’s back for Jamie Kah from gate two and SIGHT SUCCESS also on speed from his draw.
LUCKY SWEYNESSE finished 2023 as he began it, winning a Group One when he burst through at the 200m mark to take the LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint in dominant fashion from LUCKY WITH YOU and WELLINGTON. LUCKY SWEYNESSE trialled well recently in preparation for his return to competition here and from gate five, Zac Purton will have him in a commanding position, one off the fence. He is my win selection.
WELLINGTON settled near the back of the field, coming widest in the straight to run into third place behind LUCKY SWEYNESSE. WELLINGTON looked to just peak on his run in the closing stages. Since then, he has spent time at Conghua and has trialled impressively since returning. WELLINGTON was runner-up in this race last year and another big performance is not far away. He is a place chance with Hugh Bowman aboard.
LUCKY WITH YOU ran well above expectations last start on 10 December when he sat midfield, one off the fence and closed late to be second, beaten less than a length by LUCKY SWEYNESSE at huge odds. Andrea Atzeni has formed a good partnership with LUCKY WITH YOU and if he can reproduce a similar run here is a place chance.
It is hard to line-up the chances in this race of TAJ DRAGON who closed hard in the straight to score a dominant win in the Chinese Club Challenge Cup Handicap on 1 January over 1400m. TAJ DRAGON switches back to 1200m for the first time in ten starts and moves from handicap conditions to set weights against world-class sprinters. Karis Teetan takes the ride for the first time, with regular rider Andrea Atzeni committed to LUCKY WITH YOU. TAJ DRAGON is an exciting talent and, given the brilliance of his last win, is a place chance.
There are many other runners with place claims, including VICTOR THE WINNER who ran well in the LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint and is capable of much better than his last start disappointment in the Bauhinia Sprint Trophy.
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