The emergence of rising stars is always exciting and the performance of BUNDLE AWARD at Sha Tin on Sunday (9 March) was not only important from a BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) perspective ahead of the formal field selection announcement, but also is a sign that our incentives to entice Hong Kong owners to invest in high quality PP horses shows a very good result as well as helping to increase the horse ownership interest with the number of owners growing by 8 percent since last season.
By winning at his first attempt in Class 2, BUNDLE AWARD earned a ratings lift to 86 and becomes the 33rd four-year-old to move into the 80-plus bracket in the handicap, along with MARKWIN (81) who was also impressive in finishing second to BUNDLE AWARD.
Our current four-year-old generation is headed by the remarkable KA YING RISING, who has soared to a mark of 132 to sit behind only ROMANTIC WARRIOR (134), and includes a host of likely future quality sprinters, milers and stayers with MAGIC CONTROL (108), RUBYLOT (100), WUNDERBAR (98) and GORGEOUS WIN (97) all prominent.
The growth in the number of horses in Class 3 and above in Hong Kong is especially heartening and can be attributed to significant enhancements in the Club’s incentive structure, notably the decision in April 2023 to boost PP Bonuses for Class 2 and Class 3 horses from HK$1 million to HK$1.5 million.
This enhancement has had a significant impact on the quality of Hong Kong’s horse population with an increase in the number of Class 3 horses and above and while we are not yet where we aim to be, we are making good progress not only in relation to horses, and there has also been impressive growth with the number of owners.
In March 2024, Hong Kong had a declining population of 1,219 horses in training, including 435 horses in Class 3 or higher. Since then, the horse population has grown to 1,346 with 462 of those horses in Class 3 or higher.
BUNDLE AWARD earned a PP Bonus of HK$1.5 million for his first Hong Kong win as a 68-rated horse in January and, with two wins and a third from only five starts, he has boosted his prizemoney earnings to HK$4.5 million – and now is pushing for selection in the HK$26 million BMW Hong Kong Derby.
We recognise the increasing competition faced by owners to source high-class PP horses to race in Hong Kong and it is why the Club acted decisively to further enhance the value proposition for owners investing in the best available talent to race in Hong Kong.
There has been a perceptible shift in the buying habits of owners, including a trend away from traditional sources such as yearling sales to Breeze Up sales and the acquisition of proven horses who had already raced overseas.
A comprehensive review was undertaken of Hong Kong’s prizemoney and incentive structure in 2023 and we are now seeing the fruits of that work. Apart from the HK$1.5 million PP (Privately Purchased horses) Bonus, the Club also offers HK$1 million bonuses for PPG (Privately Purchased Griffins) and ISG (Hong Kong International Sale) horses.
Collectively, these attractive incentives are designed to help continuously improve the quality of Hong Kong’s horse population and recent indicators are extremely healthy.
As we have seen repeatedly in recent years, the career paths of horses who contest the HK$52 million Four-Year-Old Classic Series are spread across three distance categories with outstanding sprinters such as CALIFORNIA SPANGLE and, more recently, HELIOS EXPRESS being able to win the Hong Kong Classic Cup (1800m) before successfully reverting to sprinting.
The field selection for the BMW Hong Kong Derby will be announced this Friday (14 March) and I look forward to the selection panel’s decisions.
John Size has a long and successful connection with the BMW Hong Kong Derby with three winners – Fay Fay (2012), Luger (2015) and Ping Hai Sta (2018) – as well as three seconds and two thirds and his effort to have BUNDLE AWARD in peak form approaching the 2025 BMW Hong Kong Derby will surprise no one.
Ben Thompson is a hard-working lightweight jockey and it was good to see his diligence rewarded with the opportunity on BUNDLE AWARD and he duly produced a perfect ride on Sunday.
MARKWIN also shapes as a quality miler or middle-distance horse for Cody Mo and his run under Harry Bentley was also full of merit. Since being sold to the Happy Life Syndicate at the 2024 Hong Kong International Sale for HK$2.2 million, MARKWIN has raced nine times so far in his first season two wins, three seconds and two thirds for prizemoney of HK$4.4 million to be in contention for the BMW Hong Kong Derby.
At Happy Valley tonight (Wednesday, 12 March), we celebrate St Patrick’s Day with as part of our Neon Nights Theme. The Beer Garden will reverberate to the sound of Celtic beats and traditional Irish dancing, while Irish-themed food and beverages, including Guiness and Magners Green Cider, will be available.
The St Patrick’s Day celebrations will extend to 19 March as we pay homage to Hong Kong’s colourful Irish community.
The feature race at Happy Valley on Wednesday night is the Class 3 Ap Lei Chau Handicap, which is carded as Race 9 and will be run over 1800m at 10.50pm for prizemoney of HK$2,050,000.
The pace will be good to slow with ALLCASH (Antoine Hamelin) settling close to the front from gate two and BEAUTY ALLIANCE (Alexis Badel) pushing forward from barrier nine. HAMERON (Richard Kingscote) and SIMPLY MAVERICK (Declan McDonogh) are likely to be prominent.
FALLON (Ben Thompson) produced his usual strong finishing burst to beat CHARITY GAIN and STAR MAC on 19 February and has drawn barrier 12 here but that should not be an issue with his racing style. Fallon is again a win and place chance but needs a genuinely-run race.
CHARITY GAIN (Luke Ferraris) has been in good form this season finishing in the top three in six of seven starts and ran well again last time when running on strongly to beat all but FALLON over this course and distance. Like FALLON, CHARITY GAIN needs a fast pace to be most effective and may not get the required hectic speed here, but is a place chance.
STAR MAC (Brenton Avdulla) finished third to FALLON and CHARITY GAIN and was also an impressive winner over AESTHETICISM at this course and distance the start before on 22 January. He is another place chance.
TALENTS AMBITIONS (Andrea Atzeni) and BEAUTY ALLIANCE are both four-year-olds with entries in the BMW Hong Kong Derby ahead of the field selection announcement on Friday. BEAUTY ALLIANCE won impressively in Class 4 last start, beating MISSION STRIKE here on 5 March, while TALENTS AMBITION finished ninth in the Hong Kong Classic Mile (1600m) before disappointing slightly when seventh to ENTHRALLED over 2000m on 2 March. Both have ability and can run well.
This is a deep race and features last start winners HAMERON and NORTHERN BEAST (Matthew Poon), who both have claims, along with ROMANTIC LAOS (Jerry Chau), who was runner up to SOLEIL FIGHTER last start.
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