Mother’s Day is one of the most important occasions on the Hong Kong calendar and, for this reason, we are racing at Sha Tin on Saturday (11 May) to give our fans more time this Sunday (12 May) to celebrate Mother’s Day with their loved ones.
As we move through the final quarter of the Hong Kong racing season with our 71st meeting, Sha Tin will stage a 10-race meeting today to allow our fans the opportunity to enjoy the races before also celebrating Mother’s Day tomorrow.
The timing will also allow our participants – particularly trainers, jockeys, stable staff and the Club’s racing-related workforce – to enjoy Mother’s Day on a rare Sunday away from the track.
Tony Cruz has been synonymous with Hong Kong racing for more than five decades and his appetite for success shows no sign of waning with a Wednesday night (8 May) treble following CALIFORNIA SPANGLE’s recent Group 1-winning exploits.
His three-timer with ATOMIC BEAUTY, LOVERO and RIGHTEOUS ARION saw Tony move to fourth in the 2023/24 Hong Kong trainers’ championship with 43 wins behind Pierre Ng (58 wins), Francis Lui (53) and John Size (44).
As a six-time Hong Kong champion jockey, Tony also has two Hong Kong champion trainers’ titles to his credit and, reflecting on a glittering training career, his consistency has been exceptional.
At 67, Tony is in his 28th season as a trainer, having finished in the top five in 25 of those seasons, with 15 top-three finishes crowned by his championship victories in 1999/2000 and 2004/05. As well as his 43 wins so far this season, Tony also has the highest number of combined second and third placings with 105.
Apart from the incessantly competitive nature of his stable, Tony’s feat in reinvigorating CALIFORNIA SPANGLE as a sprinter and winning the G1 Al Quoz Sprint (1200m) in Dubai in March and the G1 Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup (1400m) has been the highlight of his 2023/24 campaign.
The son of renowned former amateur Hong Kong jockey Johnny Cruz, Tony’s association with the Hong Kong Jockey Club formally stretches back to 1972 when he was the among the first intake of apprentices to the Club’s Apprentice Jockeys’ School.
His achievements since are a credit to Tony and his family and his experience as a mentor to assistant trainers, staff and young jockeys is invaluable.
While Tony continues to flourish, it is exciting to monitor the development of another of his proteges, Angus Chung, who also was prominent midweek with a double and is having a tremendous season with 41 winners so far.
With Zac Purton leading the jockeys’ championship clearly with 100 wins from Karis Teetan (69) and Hugh Bowman (51), Angus has performed strongly this season to lead the race for the Tony Cruz Award from Vincent Ho (30) and Jerry Chau (27) as the best-performed home-grown talent.
At Sha Tin today, the Class 2 Hong Kong China Rugby Cup Handicap is carded as Race 7 and will be run over 1600m at 4.05pm with prizemoney of $3,120,000.
The pace in the race should be good with FLAMING RABBIT the likely leader from his middle draw and there are a number of other horses engaged who like to race on the speed.
HELENE FEELING should hold a forward position from an inside draw. MR ASCENDENCY will be in the leading division and OUTGATE and CHANCHENG GLORY will look to go forward from their outside gates. BOURBONAIRE and SWEET ENCOUNTER also like to race on the speed and have drawn well.
HELENE FEELING is having his first run since finishing ninth to MASSIVE SOVEREIGN in the BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) on 24 March. HELENE FEELING has spent an extended period at Conghua since and looked good in an easy trial there on 23 April. Runner-up to HELIOS EXPRESS in the Hong Kong Classic Mile, HELENE FEELING has drawn well in gate two for Zac Purton and is a win and place chance coming back to 1600m.
CHANCHENG GLORY also ran throughout the Four-Year-Old Classic Series, including a close second in the Hong Kong Classic Cup (1800m) to HELIOS EXPRESS when he was beaten in only the last few strides. He has also been to Conghua since running in the Derby. CHANCHENG GLORY likes to race on the speed and, if he can get into a good position early from his wide draw, he is a place chance for Vincent Ho.
FLAMING RABBIT returned to his best form when leading all the way to beat THE GOLDEN SCENERY over this course and distance on 31 March. He then extended to 1800m for the first time when he trailed the leader before taking the front on the home turn. He fought on gamely when headed at the 100m to finish third to C P BRAVE. FLAMING RABBIT comes back to the 1600m here and is a place chance for Lyle Hewitson.
MR ASCENDENCY won two races in a row with a Happy Valley win followed by success on the All Weather over 1650m before his last-start third to MOMENTS IN TIME and OUTGATE at Happy Valley on 10 April. MR ASCENDENCY is racing in good form and has been in Conghua since that run. He is a place chance for regular rider Harry Bentley.
This is a competitive race and THE GOLDEN SCENERY, THE BEST PEACH, OUTGATE and SWEET ENCOUNTER are all racing well and deserve consideration.
I returned to Hong Kong on Friday night from a short trip to Beijing to attend the signing ceremony to establish a co-operation with the Beijing Palace Museum, which includes the establishment of The Palace Museum Hong Kong Cultural Exchange Hub in Beijing, as well as a Memorandum to promote Chinese culture and values in Hong Kong, the Mainland and worldwide which will support talent development initiatives in the arts and cultural sectors.
This will digitalise part of the amazing content one can view in the Palace Museum and makes it more accessible on digital platforms.
The Memorandum of Co-operation – “Promotion of Chinese Culture and Arts Tech Talent Development in the Mainland and Hong Kong” – was signed by Club Chairman Michael Lee and Dr Wang Xudong, Member, Party Leadership Group of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Director of the Palace Museum.
The collaboration reflects the Club’s commitment to building an inclusive, creative and vibrant Hong Kong, where everyone’s life can be improved through the arts. Like all Club donations, it is made possible by the Club’s unique integrated business model through which racing and wagering generate tax contributions, charity support and employment opportunities for the community.
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