Sunday’s BMW Champions Mile brought down the curtain on our spring internationals, and there was a great ending for the home team as local runners extended their dominance in this premier mile event, filling the first five places.
I think trainer John Moore must have been the happiest man at Sha Tin that day as, adding to his success with Dominant in the Queen Mother Memorial Cup earlier in the day, defending champion Xtension brought him a hat-trick in the Champions Mile, which also happened to be his fourth victory in the past six renewals of this race. Xtension’s win was the icing on the cake but I’m sure Moore also feels incredibly proud with two-time Champions Mile winner Able One who put up another fantastic performance at age nine to finish this year’s race in fifth.
It’s surely no easy task for a horse to win an international G1 having only recently returned to home turf after a tiring trip to Dubai. Given the physical exertion and limited recovery time, Xtension was most likely not in peak condition going into the race, but he produced a performance that surprised many of us, quickening decisively and then showing his big heart to hold off the late lunge of Glorious Days in the race’s final strides. It was a remarkable run and again cemented the BMW Champions Mile’s credentials on an international level.
I feel that the race being a week later than last year made quite the difference for Xtension as it gave him five weeks to recover from his long flight and tough race in the Dubai Duty Free.
Now his trainer and owner Mr Steven Lo are considering his future race plan. In the immediate aftermath of Sunday’s victory, there was talk of Xtension heading to the Lion City to contest the SIA Cup, and possibly even Royal Ascot in England. I said at the time that, in my personal opinion, with the horse just returning back from Dubai and the Kranji race coming just two weeks after his Sha Tin effort, the schedule seemed to be a bit demanding for this prolific runner, especially when you factor in that the SIA Cup is run over 2000m. I stated that the Yasuda Kinen in Japan in early-June will probably be a more suitable option, considering that it will give the horse more time to recover and that the mile distance will be perfect for Xtension. Anyway, I believe the Owner will give an extra thought on his horse’s future race plan, and I hope that this talented and thoroughly professional horse can continue to perform to the peak of his powers when and wherever he competes overseas.
It was also pleasing to see another big performance by one of racing’s young emerging talents. Following Italian jockey Umberto Rispoli aboard Rulership in the APQEII Cup last week, we had New Zealand sensation James McDonald winning aboard Xtension this time. These talented jockeys rising to prominence and delivering great performances in top races, is certainly a good thing for international racing development and it is pleasing that Hong Kong is providing a global platform for these rising stars to secure high profile successes.
Similarly, in maintaining the high quality of races and horses, we are always looking to inject more new blood and quality horses into local racing. At the Happy Valley barrier trial last Saturday, the performance of one of the batch winners, Calling With Love, caught my attention and not only for the reason that he is owned by artist Aaron Kwok. The horse dropped out of contention early after a sluggish start, but after some encouragement from jockey Brett Prebble when entering the straight, he got up to win in the closing strides. This was his third barrier trial since arriving in Hong Kong and it’s great to see the horse showing good balance and responding positively to win his first barrier trial at Happy Valley. The performance showed that he has coped with the Valley track quite well and I hope to see him making his debut in local races very soon.
At the Valley tonight, not only will we be hosting the second week of the Le Valley Français themed meeting, but also the annual Le French May Trophy contest. It will be the 4th year that the Club has hosted this special French feature event, which marks the unique cultural cooperation between France and Hong Kong.
For those arts lovers, you may also be aware that the race coincides with the ongoing Le French May Arts Festival in Hong Kong – a celebration of French culture that takes place annually in Hong Kong, starting from last month. With the festival now in its 20th year, the Club is honoured to be its major partner by sponsoring four key programmes this year, with the highlight being the Picasso Exhibition, which showcases 48 oil paintings and seven sculptures from this late renowned Spanish artist. The exhibition will commence on Saturday week at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum at Sha Tin. So please don’t miss this opportunity to see the coveted works of one of the last century’s most influential artists before the exhibition ending in late-July.
Apart from the Le French May Trophy race, the France Galop Cup is another feature event on the card. So it’s short odds that I’m going to meet many French guests and friends at the Valley tonight. Apart from discussing tonight’s races, no doubt they will be able to share with me their thoughts about their new president, Francois Hollande! I hope they all will enjoy a great time here at the Valley. And I hope you too will each make the most of an exciting race night and absorb the Gallic atmosphere with the various French attractions and food treats available this evening.
For the eight races on the card, the Le French May Trophy is run as a very competitive Class 3 race over 1000m, and the pace is expected to be fast which would help some closers like Merry Anniversary and Jun Dao. Hawthorne from Gate 12, Lucky Red from Gate 4 and Gold Edition from Gate 3 will go forward, with Gold Edition likely to take the box seat. Hawthorne is at his favourite distance and shown in his last start finishing second that he is back in form. But with the wide gate, he is a place chance at best. Gold Edition is a promising 3-year-old and even being up in class, with the good draw he is a win and place chance. My top pick in this race is Merry Anniversary who is working well. Coming from midfield, he should benefit from the strong pace to finish strongly. Amedeo is coming back to form and moved well in the trial which gives him at least a chance for a place.
The France Galop Cup is the best quality race of the day, being a Class 2 over 1000m. The expected good to fast pace and the cutaway combined with the small field should give all horses a fair chance. The leaders should be Romantic City from Gate 3, Oriental Prosper from Gate 9 and Good Boy Boy who has to push forward to overcome Gate 10. Good Boy Boy is working very well and despite the high draw, he’s a course and distance specialist and I think he will have a nice win and place chance in this race. His main danger is Charles The Great who with Douglas Whyte on board will come with a late dash to try winning the race. El Zonda from Gate 1 will be in midfield and is another possible winner, too. Oriental Prosper, being an upcoming 4-year-old who is improving, will be another candidate for a podium place.
Comment
