National Day Raceday at Sha Tin on Wednesday (1 October) is one of the most significant days on the Hong Kong racing calendar as we gather to celebrate the 76th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China with an impressive array of cultural and artistic performances as well as world-class racing.
The G3 National Day Cup Handicap (1000m) is the sporting highlight at Sha Tin with eight quality sprinters vying for glory, while our customers can attend the races today free of charge in the public enclosures at both Sha Tin and Happy Valley and immerse themselves in the lively atmosphere of the various off-track activities to celebrate National Day.
With the gates to open at 11am, the opening ceremony at Sha Tin starts at 11.45am featuring the Chengdu dance group HOMIES, who will perform a street dance which incorporates the traditional Chinese face-changing art, offering a fantastic visual experience. Renowned national tenor Zhang Yingxi returns to lead the singing of the national anthem.
Further enhancing this auspicious day are the appearances of Ramon Lo and Ryan Lau, from the TV singing show “Midlife, Sing & Shine!”, and Yumi Chung and Windy Zhan from “Stars Academy”, who will perform beloved classics onstage underneath Mezza One at Sha Tin.
Guests will be able to savour culinary delights and shop for commemorative goods, while there will be an estimated HK$12 million up for grabs as part of the National Day celebrations with the Club offering a total of HK$7 million in jackpots from the reserve pools.
The G3 National Day Cup Handicap is carded as Race 7 at 4.05pm and is run over the straight 1000m course and carries prizemoney of HK$4.2 million.
The pace will be good with BABY CRYSTAL (Ellis Wong) expected to lead from BEAUTY WAVES (Zac Purton), MAGIC CONTROL (Vincent Ho) and BOTTOMUPTOGETHER (Matthew Poon). WUNDERBAR (Hugh Bowman) should settle behind the speed with RAGING BLIZZARD (Brenton Avdulla) and FAST NETWORK (Alexis Badel) in the last pair.
BEAUTY WAVES won this race last year and ended last season in scintillating form, setting a new track record at Happy Valley over 1200m. He resumed behind KA YING RISING on 7 September, jumping awkwardly and then over-racing when beaten into seventh place. Zac has won three times on BEAUTY WAVES and goes back aboard today and BEAUTY WAVES is a winning chance.
WUNDERBAR remains the only horse to have beaten KA YING RISING in a race, having done it twice early in his career. He finished last season with a fighting second to BEAUTY WAVES over this course and distance on 28 June and he meets BEAUTY WAVES considerably better at the weights today. WUNDERBAR has had two trials leading to his reappearance. WUNDERBAR is also a win and place chance.
BOTTOMUPTOGETHER has good early speed and an excellent record down the straight course. He went forward from a middle gate when resuming over 1200m on 7 September and held on well to finish fifth to KA YING RISING, beaten four lengths, when he tried to match strides with the world’s best sprinter in the first half of the straight. BOTTOMUPTOGETHER is a place chance.
FAST NETWORK comes back in trip but will run well and MAGIC CONTROL was runner-up in the race last year and has run six times over the straight course for three wins and three minor placings and can improve on his first up run behind KA YING RISING.
Brett Crawford taken adopted a conversative approach to his first season as a trainer in Hong Kong and he was rewarded for his skill and expertise with a double with SPEEDY SMARTIE and NINJA DERBY – his only two runners for the meeting – at Sha Tin last Sunday (28 September).
Brett has had only seven starters so far for two wins, two seconds and a third and it is apparent he is very selective with his targeting of races. At 54, Brett enjoyed sustained success in South Africa, and it was wonderful to see him achieve breakthrough success at Sha Tin and I wish him continued success into the future.
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