We had a double dose of exciting G1 action at Sha Tin on Sunday and it was interesting that the two winning jockeys were both notching a first G1 victory in Hong Kong. The first of the duo off the mark was Joao Moreira, who really is a sensational rider and has started his Hong Kong career with a bang – despite not starting to ride here until 20 October and being suspended for several meetings, he already lies second in the jockeys’ standings after a treble on Sunday. The most significant of those three wins enabled Joao to open his local G1 account on Able Friend in the Hong Kong Classic Mile.
This looks like being a match made in heaven as Able Friend appears to be at least as impressive as his rider judged on this success. The horse had all but sealed victory at the 300m with an effortless surge to the lead and it all looked rather easy for him. He has a good chance of coping with the extended distance in the Classic Cup and the 2000m of the Derby may prove to be within his scope too, as his sire Shamardal was a French Derby winner over 2100m, while his dam also finished in the money in the Australian Oaks over a mile and a half. It almost goes without saying that if he keeps up his progress he is the one to beat in the remaining legs of the Four-year-old Series.
Able Friend was a real highlight on Sunday but there was sadness in the background. My thoughts are with the horse’s trainer John Moore. John’s wife Cheryl passed away last week after a long illness. I hope Able Friend and the huge potential he possesses will give John at least some comfort at this time of loss. I heard him after the race say that this striking red chestnut horse has a new nickname: he is now known in the stable as “Big Red”.
John in fact may have felt a bit unlucky not to have notched a G1 double on Sunday as his stable’s Dan Excel was edged out at the wire by the Mirco Demuro-ridden, Tony Cruz-trained Blazing Speed in the Stewards’ Cup. That gave Mirco his first G1 success in Hong Kong. Many of you, I’m sure, are very familiar with this Italian rider as he has done exceptionally well in Japan and elsewhere in recent years, with major wins including the Japan Cup, the Tenno Sho, and the Dubai World Cup on the Japanese horse Victoire Pisa.
It’s great to see these newcomers doing so well in Hong Kong and their presence shows the depth of riding talent we have in our current jockeys’ line-up. The jockeys’ room is about to become even more competitive too as we announced on Monday that star Australian jockeys Tommy Berry and Hugh Bowman will come here in April to ride until the end of the season. I’m sure racing fans will be interested to see how they perform here.
It was heartening to see the positive response to the re-launch of the Quartet pool on Sunday, reflecting the interest in such a pool among racing fans. As I have mentioned previously, it also marked a milestone for us, as the first use of the incredibly powerful and innovative Longitude technology in horse racing. The most obvious sign of this innovation in the Quartet pool is the real-time opportunity for customers to check the odds for any combination of horses in that bet, hence, providing customers with more information in selecting their bets. And in the longer term, we hope to use it in many more ways – but I’ll talk more about that in the future.
Hopefully this positive start will continue in the two races nominated for the Quartet pool tonight. Also, this evening’s meeting will be the last night races before we enter the Year of the Horse next week. For the eight races on the card, I will be paying particular attention to the Hong Kong Club Challenge Cup, which in my view is the sporting highlight of tonight. This Class 2 race over 1650m has attracted Pleasure Gains and Bullish Boy, currently sitting the first and second place in the 1O1O Million Challenge standings. Both horses will try to consolidate their lead and advantage before the final day of the Challenge on 5 March, for the HK$650,000 bonus for the series’ winner. With no obvious rival, Bullish Boy should have no problem to take the lead again, with the C+3 Course tonight providing him an extra advantage. Fat Choy Hong Kong, Packing Ok, Perfect Cheers and Mighty High may compete for good spots which will result in a good to slow pace, with Chater Dream and Classic Jewellery well placed behind the pace. Pleasure Gains and Albiceleste will be further back which is a handicap if the pace is more on the slow side.
I think that four horses, namely Bullish Boy, Classic Jewellery, Albiceleste and Pleasure Gains, have each worked very well recently and held proven record in Happy Valley. Among them, Bullish Boy from Gate 3 will be my first choice. As an outsider Chater Dream from Gate 1 is a place chance, but he will find it difficult to beat the above four horses to win the race.
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