I hope all of you have enjoyed some happy holiday time over the past few days. I certainly did, sharing some great moments with my family and friends. This time of year is often quiet for both racing and sporting fans, both in Hong Kong and or aboard. For us horsemen, perhaps our Executive Director of Racing Bill Nader will be paying special attention to a couple of G1 events to be held in California in the early hours of tomorrow, but with much of Europe concentrating on jumps racing at the moment, my foreign racing interest came in Japan last weekend.
I remember at this time three years ago I was spending my Christmas holidays in Japan and visited Nakayama Racecourse on Boxing Day, to see the eventual Dubai World Cup winner Victoire Pisa winning the G1 Arima Kinen. The race this year was held last Sunday, and was won by Orfevre, the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe runner-up for the past two years.
I have watched the race replay online and I must say it was a majestic win by the horse in his final start. It was a great swansong for him as he simply breezed past and mowed down his opponents around the home turn, winning this year-end G1 by eight lengths. It was an emphatic performance and a perfect ending to his career, perhaps only matched by the one delivered by Lord Kanaloa in the LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint at Sha Tin earlier this month.
Some 60,000 Japanese race fans stayed until well after racing to give their local hero Orfevre a great send off as he retires to stud and I’m sure the connections of Treve would have enjoyed this performance too! As I’m sure you remember, Treve beat Orfevre by five lengths in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe back in October, in the process confirming herself as the joint winner of the LONGINES World’s Best Racehorse. It was great to see Criquette Head-Maarek, Treve’s trainer, here to accept the award at our Gala Dinner during HKIR week, and it would be no surprise to see the filly at or near the top of the rankings again in 2014.
With Lord Kanaloa, Orfervre and the German-trained King George winner Novellist now all commencing their career as stallions in Japan in the spring, it will be fascinating to watch how their offspring progress in the years to come.
Tonight there is Boxing Day racing and English Premier League football action on offer. For the Premier League I think it’s one of the most exciting and interesting seasons for many years, as the top seven teams in the league are separated by just six points. The Christmas and New Year fixtures will be very important for all of the teams, and with Liverpool and Arsenal leading the way at the moment, that could have changed significantly come the New Year.
Apart from focusing on football, don’t forget we also have some spectacular racing action at Happy Valley. Making tonight’s race meeting even more special is the fact that it will be the first time ever that the Club has staged night racing on the Boxing Day. I’m sure this will make the atmosphere even stronger and more enjoyable so make sure you join us on this special occasion.
Among the eight races on the card, I will be paying close attention to the Happy Valley Trophy as 12 classy sprinters feature in this Class 1 1200m contest. There is a bunch of horses who are regularly raced close behind the pace, which should provide enough pressure on leaders like California Bounty and Bullish Friend to ensure the race tempo to be good at least. London China Town and Windicator Star are at risk to being trapped wide with Fionn’s Treasure and Best Eleven well placed behind the leaders. Golden Harvest should find a good position in midfield, while Imperial Rome, as well as Straight Gold and Happy Era will have to come from the back which should not be an issue with the good pace.
Golden Harvest is in great form, working well and from his good draw he will not be easy to beat. Straight Gold has shown in his last start that he is back to form and his track work is very good. The extra 200m should help him and he’s my second pick. Bullish friend is the choice of Matthew Chadwick and with his proven form he is a place chance here, as is Imperial Rome who is coming back to form with an encouraging run last time when bumped but still running on well for a third place.
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