With only five meetings left in the 2023/24 season, an extraordinary chapter in Hong Kong horseracing is rapidly drawing to a close.
As we reflect on the outstanding equine and human achievements throughout this season, it is clear Hong Kong racing has again provided a feast of world-class performances – both domestically and globally – for its passionate followers.
The announcement this week of the final nominees for the Hong Kong Jockey Club Champion Awards serves as a welcome reminder of the fantastic accomplishments we have been privileged to witness across the previous 10 months.
With victories in 13 of the world’s top Group 1 races this season, Hong Kong horses have brought great pride and joy to the city and the 2023/24 feats of ROMANTIC WARRIOR, CALIFORNIA SPANGLE, GOLDEN SIXTY, INVINCIBLE SAGE, BEAUTY ETERNAL, VOYAGE BUBBLE, LUCKY SWEYNESSE and VICTOR THE WINNER are a reflection of the ambition and dedication of our owners, trainers and jockeys.
We are also fortunate to have several young horses pushing towards elite class, including GALAXY PATCH, MASSIVE SOVEREIGN, KA YING RISING and HELIOS EXPRESS, among many others, which lays the foundation for an exciting future.
Our horses, trainers and jockeys have excelled this season and, reflecting the competitive nature of Hong Kong racing itself, the relative credentials of some of the final nominees for the Champion Awards have already caused spirited debate.
As a member of the judging panel, I look forward to weighing the merits of the outstanding horses involved and I wish all connections the very best of luck ahead of the 12 July Champion Awards Ceremony with the announcement of the winners.
Our World Pool programme continues on Sunday (30 June) with Irish Derby Day from The Curragh. The first of the nine races for betting will be simulcast from 8.10pm, while the feature race is the G1 Irish Derby (2400m), which is carded as S1-6 and run at 11.05pm.
Champion trainer Aidan O’Brien has won this race 15 times, first with Desert King in 1997 and most recently with Auguste Rodin last year and he holds a strong hand again this year.
The pace should be good with EUPHORIC, who set the early pace at Epsom, the likely leader. KEEPER’S HEART and GROSVENOR SQUARE should settle close to the speed.
Favourite for the race is AMBIENTE FRIENDLY who was runner-up to CITY OF TROY in the Derby Stakes at Epsom. In that race, he raced a little keenly early, but stayed the trip strongly without ever threatening the winner, who was clearly superior to his rivals on the day. James Fanshawe has been pleased with the manner in which AMBIENTE FRIENDLY has come through the run at Epsom and he is my win and place selection for Robert Havlin.
Aidan’s runners are led by LOS ANGELES, a colt by Camelot who won this race in 2012. LOS ANGELES won his first three starts, including the Derby Trial at Leopardstown over 2000m on 12 May before finishing third to stablemate CITY OF TROY at Epsom. LOS ANGELES has more than three lengths to make up on AMBIENT FRIENDLY from that day but is a place chance for Ryan Moore, who won this race for the first time last year.
Another of Aidan’s runners with a place chance is GROSVENOR SQUARE, a colt by 2001 Irish Derby winner Galileo. He resumed in the Chester Vase on 8 May, finishing third as favourite. GROSVENOR SQUARE showed good ability as a two-year-old and can improve on his first up run and is a place chance.
SUNWAY comes into this race with his recent form in France where he contested the Prix du Jockey Club over 2100m at Chantilly on 2 June at his most recent start. SUNWAY was ridden from behind in that race and did not have a lot of room in the straight, finishing seventh to LOOK DE VEGA. He is a place chance for Oisin Murphy.
MATSURI is an interesting runner for Roger Varian stepping up dramatically in class after winning at Leicester by a big margin over 2000m at only his third start. The Varian stable is enjoying considerable success recently and MATSURI is a place chance at good odds to be ridden by James Doyle.
There will be a special blog on Monday (1 July) focusing on the Hong Kong Reunification Raceday at Sha Tin.
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