It’s Ching Ming Festival today, and, following the local tradition, many people will spend the day grave worshipping – remembering and paying tribute to their loved ones who have passed away.
There’s no such festival in Australia but at the Golden Slipper Stakes Day in Sydney today, horsemen and race fans are paying their own special tributes to Nathan Berry. The Australian racing community was hit hard by the sad news on Thursday that the young jockey had passed away after succumbing to Norse Syndrome, a rare brain condition. Having just started a contract to ride in Singapore at the beginning of March, Nathan collapsed during a Kranji trackwork session about a fortnight ago and received intensive care treatment in a local hospital. Nathan was transferred back to Sydney from Singapore on Thursday, but his condition deteriorated after his arrival in hospital there and he lost his battle against the acute illness later in the day.
As I’m sure you all know, Nathan’s twin brother is Tommy Berry, who has made a great impression on Hong Kong racing during his visits in the past year. But Nathan was also a welcome visitor to our city and some of you may recall that he rode at a Sha Tin raceday in June last year. He managed to ride two placed finishers and impressed everyone with his demeanour, but the big talking point of that meeting was the fact that the twin brothers were competing against each other in the same races. I have to say that Nathan’s death is a sad loss to the sport as he was a talented rider, and by all accounts he was a fine young man with a great work ethic. But more so, this is an incalculable loss for his family and here I wish to extend my condolences to his wife Whitney, Tommy and the Berry family and friends.
Golden Slipper day was certainly a poignant occasion and the big race was remarkable, with fillies filling the first seven places! But while Australia is hosting the most prestigious event for their two-year-olds today, the racing focus in Britain will be at another extreme as the greatest jumps race in the world, the Grand National, will take place at Aintree racecourse. That historic race over just short of four and a half miles, which is worth one million pounds for the first time, is never short of excitement.
Speaking of which, there should be no shortage of excitement during our race meeting at Sha Tin tomorrow as the programme includes the HKG2 Chairman’s Trophy and also the HKG3 Bauhinia Sprint Trophy.Another trophy race of the day is the Beijing Clubhouse Anniversary Cup, marking the sixth anniversary of our popular clubhouse in the national capital and an extension of the Club’s brand and our premier membership services to China.
If I can find some times between races, I will try to watch a race in Japan, as last year’s Japanese St Leger winner Epiphaenia will feature in a G2 event in Hanshin. His trainer Katsuhiko Sumii shipped Rulership to Hong Kong two years ago and the horse won him the Audemars Piguet QE II Cup. It’s possible that Sumii will bring Epiphaenia to Hong Kong this year and so I’m keen to see how he performs in this race.
Returning to the two pattern races at Sha Tin today, the Bauhinia Sprint Trophy is a Group 3 race under Handicap conditions for horses with a rating of 90+ over the minimum distance of 1000m. The pace should be good and in Divine Ten this race has a young upcoming star, who is jumping up from Class 2 to a Group level. Divine Ten is working very well and has tremendous speed at the beginning of the race and very good finishing speed too. As an improving horse going through the grades he is the one to beat, especially as he should be able to get to the favoured outside rail from his gate. Straight Gold is working well too and for me is his main rival. Go Baby Go is a distance specialist - although he seems to have lost his form a little lately you can never rule him out over this distance. Best Eleven is coming back to form and could run into a place, along with Golden Harvest, who is a newcomer over the straight 1000m course.
The Chairman's Trophy is a Group 2 over 1600m with only five starters but includes one of the best milers in Asia in the shape of Able Friend. The pace is expected to be slow, with Helene Spirit leading, and it is likely to be a sit-and-sprint affair which should suit Able Friend who has a tremendous ability to accelerate. Destined For Glory has a good turn of foot too and is, in my opinion, Able Friend's main rival.
Comment
