I’m sure racing fans here in Hong Kong are as captivated as I am by the hot competition in this season’s trainers’ premiership. Local hopeful Dennis Yip made a strong charge to the top in recent weeks, sending out 13 winners in the past seven race meetings. His run to the top bucks the trend of recent times and he’s now leading last season’s champion John Size by four winners, at 58-54, with Tony Cruz closely following in third with 52 wins on the board.
It has been 12 years since a local Chinese trainer was crowned champion in Hong Kong; that was Brian Kan back in the 2000/01 season. With so many world-class trainers plying their trade in Hong Kong, it’s certainly not easy to rank among the top tier in the trainers’ premiership table, and that goes for both local and expat trainers. But I think Dennis has done exceptionally well this season as many of his stable runners have been consistent in delivering good performances and a few have even landed multiple wins.
I had my attention taken by a few reports about Dennis earlier in the week and I was pleased to learn that despite his determination to try to win the title, he still considers his priority as being the continued progress and wellbeing of the horses under his care. This is an important point. Although trainers aim to maximise the potential of their horse to get the best possible results for their supporting owners, often the most successful trainers understand the importance in this process of nurturing their stable horses; taking care of their well-being with a view to their long term development. Dennis emphasized that he too takes great care in balancing the development of his stable horses, which I think can benefit those horses in terms of durability.
Despite Dennis now setting the pace, I believe John and Tony, as well as one or two others will not give up without a fight. The battle will definitely be getting more intense now that we are edging close to the end of the season.
Dennis will have eight runners in the 10 races at Sha Tin today, including up-and-coming types such as Gurus Dream and Good Good View, while John has entered nine horses, among them Little Men and Hypersonic. I’ll be watching with interest to see if they can add to their winning tallies.
The ATV Cup is the highlight of the day and is run a Class 1 over 1600m. After the withdrawal of Silver Grecian this morning we have only nine horses participating in this race, but it should still be an interesting race. Leading City is expected to set the pace as usual probably with Penglai Xianzi and Hot Shot. Gurus Dream should be well positioned in midfield with Zaidan, Majestic Falcon, Free Judgement being positioned behind midfield. Strong finishers Let Me Handle It and Destined For Glory will have to come from the back of the field. Gurus Dream is in great form and even he steps up in distance it should not be an issue. Even a possible yielding going it should not bother him as he had his maiden win in New Zealand on soft going. He is the favourite but I would not underestimated Let Me Handle It who is coming back to form as well as Destined For Glory who is working very well and the step up in distance to 1600m will suit him.
Races at Sha Tin will be our sporting focus today, but tomorrow the spotlight will go to Singapore and the Singapore Airlines International Cup day at Kranji Racecourse. This year three Hong Kong representatives will take part in this international event, with Military Attack and Dan Excel contesting the SIA Cup, while frequent flier Lucky Nine will run in the KrisFlyer International Sprint. It’s pleasing to hear that they all have settled in to the new environment over the past few days and are back to their racing weights after the journey. And it’s especially good to see that all three horses drew low gates, which is often so important in Singapore.
It’s obvious that they will be facing some tough battles as it appears to me that overall the participating horses in this year’s Singapore internationals are the strongest in years, possibly ever. The John Moore-trained duo in particular face top opposition from such as the likes of multiple G1 winners Hunter’s Light and Meandre, as well as, from my home country Germany, Pastorius who was victorious in France in the G1 Prix Ganay three weeks ago. Having said that, my loudest cheers from the Kranji grandstand will be for the Hong Kong trio and I hope they all can deliver their top game in their respective events.
For the races itself, Lucky Nine has the perfect draw in the KrisFlyer International Sprint and I would be very optimistic if he had no issues with blood in his trachea. But he is still more a place chance for me. Bel Sprinter is in terrific form but the draw is a disadvantage but he cannot be left out at least for a place. Local Hero Super Easy seems to be back to his best and not having to travel makes him the horse to beat. As the dark horse I see Balmont Mast who is improving all the time.
The SIA Cup has attracted a very good field and I am optimistic that Military Attack can win the race. He has strong opposition in Pastorius but one should not underestimate the home team with Ready To Strike and Better Life.
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