With only 20 days until the HK$13 million Hong Kong Classic Mile (1600m) at Sha Tin on 31 January, excitement and anticipation are steadily building ahead of the 2025 Four-Year-Old Classic Series.
The series, which also features the HK$13 million Hong Kong Classic Cup (1800m) and the HK$26 million BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m), offers a combined HK$52 million in prizemoney and, from a sporting perspective, is generating plenty of discussion among participants and in the media.
Sunday’s (12 January) meeting will offer more insight into the credentials of several Four-Year-Old Classic Series aspirants including MICKLEY, JOHANNES BRAHMS, PACKING HERMOD, FAST NETWORK, RUBYLOT and MARKWIN, among others.
The structure of the series provides opportunities for horses to perform at three different distances and history shows what an invaluable foundation the series provides for the Classic Generation to succeed as older horses – as sprinters, milers and stayers.
In recent seasons, the towering Group 1 accomplishments of GOLDEN SIXTY, ROMANTIC WARRIOR, VOYAGE BUBBLE and CALIFORNIA SPANGLE have underscored the importance of the series not only as a competitive entity but also as a springboard to future greatness.
I thank the owners who have invested significantly in securing the best available equine talent to race in Hong Kong and I wish them all the best with their endeavours.
Sustained excellence is one of Hong Kong racing’s hallmarks and with five winners from his past 10 starters, Danny Shum has started 2025 in wonderful fashion.
A perfectionist, Danny learnt his craft from Ivan Allan, one of the finest trainers in Hong Kong racing history, and the benefits of that grounding were again evidenced over the past week with the victories of SUPER LEGENDS at Sha Tin last Sunday (5 January) and JUDY’S GREAT, HAPPY SOUL, HELENE FEELING and ETERNAL FORTUNE at Happy Valley on Wednesday (8 January).
Danny’s quartet at Happy Valley propelled him to the top of a fiercely contested trainers’ championship with 27 wins, one clear of Pierre Ng (26) followed by Mark Newnham (24), David Hayes (23), Francis Lui (21), Caspar Fownes (20), Frankie Lor (19), Cody Mo (19), Ricky Yiu (18), John Size (18) and Tony Cruz (17).
At Sha Tin on Sunday, the feature race is the Class 2 The Racing Club Cup Handicap, which is carded as Race 7 at 4.05pm and run over 1400m for prizemoney of HK$2.84 million.
It has drawn together an outstanding field with five last-start winners and emerging four-year-olds PACKING HERMOD, DIVANO, RUBYLOT, GLORY ELITE and JOHANNES BRAHMS who are using the race as a platform for a tilt at the Hong Kong Classic Mile.
The pace will be good with TOURBILLON PRINCE leading for Alexis Badel from gate four. DIVANO should be able to hold the position behind the leader from gate one with GLORY ELITE (Derek Leung) settling in the leading group and OUTGATE (Angus Chung) going forward from barrier 10.
PACKING HERMOD has impressed winning four of his five starts and proved too strong for RUBYLOT over this course and distance on 8 December. Lyle Hewitson goes back aboard and, although he has a challenging draw from gate 11 to contend with, PACKING HERMID is a win and place chance.
YOUNG CHAMPION finished last season with consecutive wins but has failed to win at four starts so far this season. He was only fairly away at his most recent run and settled near the tail before being held up for a clear run in the straight, eventually making good ground late to be fifth to PACKING HERMOD on 8 December. YOUNG CHAMPION has been to Conghua since and trialled well there on 3 January. Zac Purton rides for the first time and, from an ideal draw in gate three, YOUNG CHAMPION is also a win and place chance.
JOHANNES BRAHMS shaped well at his first two runs in Hong Kong before scoring impressively from BEAUTY CRESCENT over this trip on 22 December when he was held up for a run in the first half of the straight. Andrea Atzeni takes the ride for the first time and JOHANNES BRAHMS is a place chance.
Last-start winners DANCING CODE (Ellis Wong), DIVANO (Alexis Pouchin) and TOURBILLON PRINCE all have claims, while RUBYLOT (Brenton Avdulla), SUNLIGHT POWER (Jerry Chau) and SING DRAGON (Matthew Chadwick) are all racing well and are capable of figuring in the finish.
Two other races on Sunday will provide valuable form references for the Four-Year-Old Classic Series including the Class 3 Pak Shek Au Handicap (1600m), which is restricted to four-year-olds only and is carded as Race 9 at 5.10pm.
The race features MICKLEY, FAST NETWORK, TOP GUN, STEPS AHEAD, MARKWIN, KING MILES, SILVERY BREEZE and SKY HEART. MICKLEY is a win and place chance for Hugh Bowman and John Size.
The Class 3 Pak Tin Handicap is carded as Race 10 and is run over 1600m at 5.45pm. Five four-year-olds – LO RIDER, LUPO SOLITARIO, PACKING TURBINE, TEST FOR LOVE and STELLAR SWIFT – take on older horses and could advance hopes of earning starts in the Four-Year-Old Classic Series with a win which would also earn a PP Bonus of HK$1.5 million.
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