Resilience in the face of adversity is one of Hong Kong’s enduring hallmarks and it has been inspiring to observe how our city coped – and united – in the face of Super Typhoon Ragasa this week.
The adaptability of the Hong Kong community has long been one of its strongest traits and I am grateful that, despite significant property damage caused by this devastating storm in some areas of the city, we did not suffer in the same way other cities and regions did.
Fortunately, despite the extreme conditions, our staff, horses, racecourses and facilities emerged unscathed, and we can now look forward to resuming Hong Kong’s world-class racing after the cancellation of last Wednesday’s (24 September) Happy Valley meeting because of the safety and welfare issues posed by Ragasa.
With less than three months to go before our premier international flagship meeting, there is already a distinct sense of anticipation building ahead of LONGINES Hong Kong International Races (LONGINES HKIR) at Sha Tin on 14 December.
With Ka Ying Rising safely settled in Sydney ahead of next month’s The Everest ahead of his return for the HK$28 million LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint (1200m), this morning’s Happy Valley trials saw the return of our global champion ROMANTIC WARRIOR.
Sidelined since May after fetlock surgery, ROMANTIC WARRIOR cruised over 1700m in a conservative hit-out for Danny Shum and Hugh Bowman to finish fourth and, subject to continued progress, will resume in the G2 BOCHK Jockey Club Cup (2000m) at Sha Tin on 23 November.
Beyond that, ROMANTIC WARRIOR will be set for LONGINES HKIR before a possible attempt on the G1 Saudi Cup (1800, dirt) in Riyadh in February.
The LONGINES HKIR theme continues at Nakayama Racecourse in Japan on Sunday (28 September) with the G1 Sprinters Stakes, which is carded as S1-1 and will be run over 1200m at 2.40pm.
LUCKY SWEYNESSE (Derek Leung) will carry Hong Kong, China’s hopes of a third win in the race after SILENT WITNESS (2005) and ULTRA FANTASY (2010) and will vie for a fifth Group 1 against some very good Japanese sprinters, including several who have competed at LONGINES HKIR – and could return in December.
SATONO REVE (Joao Moreira) has performed consistently at the highest level with Group 1 second placings behind KA YING RISING at Sha Tin and LAZZAT at Royal Ascot this year and is a win and place chance from gate seven.
LUCKY SWEYNESSE has drawn awkwardly in gate 10 and Derek will need to be wary of being caught wide, but he ran well for second to KA YING RISING last start and is a place chance.
LUGAL (Yuga Kawada) won this race last year but has struggled since to show his best and has drawn barrier 15. At his best he can contend but is a place chance along with MAMA COCHA (Mirai Iwata), NAMURA CLAIR (Christophe Lemaire), and TOSHIN MACAU (Takeshi Yokoyama).
At Sha Tin on Sunday, there is also a strong LONGINES HKIR flavour with the running of the G3 Celebration Cup, which is the first Group race of the Hong Kong season and attracted a stellar field, including a number of last year’s outstanding four-year-old generation, notably MY WISH and RUBYLOT, as well as PACKING HERMOD, DIVANO, PRAY FOR MIR, LIGHT YEARS CHARM, JOHANNES BRAHMS and MARKWIN.
The G3 Celebration Cup is carded as Race 8 and will be run over 1400m at 4.35pm with prizemoney of HK$4.2 million.
The pace should be good with COPARTNER PRANCE (Keagan de Melo) and VICTOR THE WINNER (Jerry Chau) going forward. MY WISH (Luke Ferraris) will settle close to the lead with PRAY FOR MIR (Matthew Chadwick) and PACKING HERMOD (Brenton Avdulla).
MY WISH had an outstanding four-year-old season, winning the Hong Kong Classic Mile and finishing second in the Hong Kong Classic Cup and BMW Hong Kong Derby, where he was narrowly beaten by CAP FERRAT, coming from the widest draw and recording exceptional closing sectionals. Last start, MY WISH finished fourth behind RED LION in the G1 FWD Champions Mile.
MY WISH has won both his trials and should get a perfect run from gate four and he is my win and place selection.
LIGHT YEARS CHARM (Zac Purton) won four times over this distance last season, including his last three in a row. LIGHT YEARS CHARM looked good winning his trial on 16 September and, from barrier two, is a place chance.
PACKING HERMOD based on his recent trackwork and an excellent trial leading into this race is also a place chance, while RUBYLOT (Hugh Bowman) has drawn gate 14 and might need further to show his very best form but he can also run well.
Several other horses can also contend, including COPARTNER PRANCE, HAPPY TOGETHER (Alexis Badel), PATCH OF THETA (Vincent Ho), SUNLIGHT POWER (James Orman), DIVANO (Angus Chung), PRAY FOR MIR and MARKWIN (Harry Bentley).
On Sunday night, our World Pool operation focuses on the G1 Preis Von Europa, which is carded as S2-1 and will be run over 2400m at 10pm at Cologne Racecourse, Germany.
The ground is currently Good to Soft and tactics will play a key role in the small field.
SIBAYAN (Mickael Barzalona) is a progressive stayer who has won his last two starts at Group 2 level and is a win and place chance for Francis Graffard.
TIFFANY (Luke Morris) is a talented mare who has been kept in training in search of a Group 1 victory and gets her opportunity here after returning from injury and is the hardest to beat.
Andrasch Starke has won this race four times and rides three-year-old PATH OF SOLDIER for Peter Schiergen, who is also represented by EGINA (Leon Wolff). Both are place chances, while ALLENO (Robert Havlin), COLUMBUS (Augustus Madamet) and THINK GIANT (Thore Hammer Hansen) should be considered.
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