The World Thoroughbred Rankings for 2011 were announced by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities last night, and I'm thrilled to learn that we have a record 21 Hong Kong horses on the list, surpassing our previous best tally in 2010 by two.
Numerically we again sit in 6th in order behind major racing powers including the US, Great Britain, Australia, France and Japan, despite our much smaller equine population of only about 1,200 racehorses in training. When you consider that we only gained our first entrant in the rankings in 1998, this shows the immense progress Hong Kong has made on the global racing scene over these years. It's a great tribute to our Owners for their willingness to invest in top-class horses, and to the skills of our trainers in bringing them up to the standards of the world's best.
You won't be surprised to learn that topping the Hong Kong contingent is our reigning Horse of the Year Ambitious Dragon. He has been given a 122 rating for his dazzling winning performance in the National Day Cup in October, a mark that puts him on a par with globally-renowned horses such as prolific mare Snow Fairy, Dubai World Cup winner Victoire Pisa, Epsom Derby winner Pour Moi and US Eclipse Award candidate Cape Blanco.
Other local horses making the list include both young rising stars and some old warriors. California Memory has been rated 120 for his victory in the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Cup, while Sacred Kingdom has a rating of 121 – for the fifth consecutive year with ratings of over 120 – with his decent performances in the Bauhinia Sprint Trophy and Sha Tin Sprint Trophy. Two other CXHKIR winners, Able One and Lucky Nine, also make their mark with ratings of 119 and 118, as do top stayers Mighty High and Thumbs Up at 116. It's a wonderful result, but I'm sure we will not be complacent, and look forward to doing even better in 2012.
Those of you with longish memories might recall that the horse that started it all for Hong Kong in 1998 was called Johan Cruyff, after the famous Dutch footballer. By coincidence, Cruyff was in the news for another reason this week, as he is one of only three previous players to win the coveted Ballon d'Or three times, before Barcelona's Lionel Messi was named world's best footballer for the third year in succession on Monday. The other two, by the way, are Marco van Basten and Michel Platini.
On the football front, it's certainly been a week for some great names of the game to resurface. Last Sunday, to everyone's surprise, Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes made a remarkable return to the team, coming on as substitute in their pulsating 3-2 win over local arch-rivals Manchester City in the English FA Cup.
Having retired from the playing side at the end of last season, Scholes has apparently decided to come out of retirement for the rest of this season at the special request of United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, due to a current injury crisis in the first team. Having made more than 670 appearances for United since 1994, scoring over 150 goals in the process, he will definitely add valuable experience and creativity to the squad. I'm sure his return will be warmly welcomed by many United's fans in Hong Kong and worldwide.
No doubt equally happy at the moment are Arsenal supporters, as the club’s top scorer of all-time, Thierry Henry, signed a deal last week to return to the Gunners on a two-month loan. He made an instant impact by scoring the winning goal in their FA Cup tie against Leeds United on Monday. I believe Henry, who scored more than 220 goals in his previous eight years with Arsenal, and is still relatively young at 34, can add some valuable extra spark and firepower to the side, especially with some of their other key players away on duty at the Africa Cup of Nations in the coming month.
Talking of stepping back into history, some of our longer-standing racing fans may well remember the major races held at Happy Valley in past years, before Sha Tin took over the hosting of most of our pattern races. It's been more than nine years now since a Group race was last held at the Valley, but all that will change tonight as our city track will be hosting the HKG3 January Cup over a distance of 1800m. So do come and join us to see a bit of modern history being made.
Our Valley races have enjoyed increasing popularity among horse connections and racing fans in recent seasons, especially the Million Challenge series which is attracting more and more high quality, in-form horses to bid for the attractive bonus on offer. So we felt that the timing was now right for us to promote the January Cup to HKG3 status this season.
I’m delighted to see the race will be contested by a number of Group winners and top performers such as Champion Stayer Mighty High and 2009 Champions Mile winner Sight Winner. Also among the entries is veteran Noble Conqueror, who is the race’s defending champion and has won at least one race at Happy Valley in each of his six HK seasons. In fact, all his 10 wins have come at the Valley and no other horse currently in training has amassed more wins there. So I think tonight's race will be a very exciting affair.
The January Cup has attracted a very good field over the "fairest distance" from a barrier draw perspective in the Valley, with the 1800m distance giving every jockey plenty of time to find the right position for their rides after the jump. The pace is expected to be good with nearly half of the horses are capable of leading. Super Pistachio will have to work from Gate 9 to get across, but he can share the lead with Handsome Zulu or Sight Winner. Packing Ok, Familists and Military Move should be well placed close to the front.
One of the challenges of this race is that we have some very good horses who are working well but have never or rarely raced in Valley before, and they will face some serious Happy Valley specialists, especially Noble Conqueror who is the king of the Valley with 10 wins here, with three of them over 1800m. Noble Conqueror does not have his regular jockey Brett Prebble on board, but Zac Purton is in great form. The horse is working well recently, but the top weight of 133 pounds makes it not easy for him, but he still has a good place chance for me. Familists has a good Valley win over 1650m in his record. He’s working well and has no problem with the additional distance. He will be a decent win and place chance for me. Packing Ok is another Valley winner and could run a place. Jacobee is unproven in Happy Valley but he’s such a good and consistent horse. With his good trackwork, he is for me the best chance of the Valley newcomers and rare starters to win the race. Pure Champion is working very well and is an interesting contender even he was unplaced in his only effort over the track and distance.
The Cannon Handicap is a very competitive Class 2 over 1200m with an expected good pace, due to the fact that both Romantic City and Crown Witness can run fast sectionals early in the race. Jumbo Gold and Valley newcomer Paganini's Soul should be well placed. Crown Witness is always dangerous over this course and distance but I am of the view he is not working as well as before. Chater Mikado is in great form and should get a good run from Gate 1 and is a good win and place chance for me. Groovy is in great form and working well, too. He should be well placed and is for me the horse with the best chance in the field. Flying Smart as a light weight and Touch Go with Tye Angland on board are the other chances for me for a place.
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