Last Sunday we hosted the first of the three international racing events that are taking centre stage here over a two-week period – the Champions Mile and the Asian Racing Conference are still to come. That first event of course was the G1 Audemars Piguet QEII Cup at Sha Tin racecourse, which, I’m sure you will all agree, proved to be a real thriller with Designs On Rome and Military Attack fighting stride for stride down the home straight.
Designs On Rome got the better of his stablemate to prove that he really is the exciting talent many of us believed him to be. Having a four-year-old win the Derby and then back-up in the QEII Cup is certainly a major achievement – it has been shown that only very good horses can do this and Designs On Rome has joined a very select club alongside Vengeance Of Rain and Ambitious Dragon. The result was definitely very encouraging and I think it’s of great importance, given that we are not a breeding nation and we always need to have horses coming through the ranks to sustain the world-class level of racing in Hong Kong.
It’s also pleasing for us to see year in year out that good horses are coming in from overseas to participate in this race. With Vercingetorix and Epiphaneia both producing decent performances, top class runners filled the first four places and the race certainly lived up to its billing as one of the top 50 G1 races in the world.
I’d also like to mention here that I’m delighted by the continued support of the race’s sponsor Audemars Piguet, as well as the great news coverage the race received in local and overseas racing media. With the increasing globalisation of world racing, there exists keen competition to attract the top horses to the elite international races, and we must act to ensure the attractiveness of our international race events to the world’s top horsemen and their star horses. It’s very clear that we want the best horses in Hong Kong to compete at this race meeting against elite international opponents. We will definitely be looking into ways to maintain the race’s competiveness with other elite Group 1 races in other parts of the world.
Looking overseas, Europe’s first major G1 of the year, the Prix Ganay at Longchamp racecourse, also produced an exciting duel as the veteran French runner Cirrus des Aigles took on last year’s brilliant Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Treve. Cirrus des Aigles eclipsed Treve to win the race, and while he perhaps benefitted from race fitness, no one should underestimate the talents of this brilliant gelding who has taken on some of the sport’s greatest stars over the past four years, including the mighty Frankel. And while Treve lost her unbeaten record, it was good to see that she is likely going to be major force again as a four-year-old. I will be interested to see how the fillyprogresses and I’m sure we will have the chance to watch these two top horses in action in our overseas race simulcasts later in the season.
Back to our midweek focus at Happy Valley tonight, Fab Four will be the theme at the Beatlemania Hits the Valley party. Our performance guests, The Ben Semmens Band and Kel Segovia & Band, will roll out some of the timeless classics of The Beatles so do come and join us for this retro night at the Valley.
For the eight race on the card, the Warwick Handicap, a Class 2 event over 1200m, has been arranged as the last race tonight. It’s a very competitive race and with three proven leaders, the pace is expected to be fast. Bundle Of Love from gate 8, and Bundle Of Joy from gate 10 who are owned by Mr and Mrs Colin Lo are expected to fight for the lead, with Beauty Sparkle drawn in gate 1 will do his best to keep his position, making it a little bit difficult for the former two horses to cross to the fence. Exciting Dream who is in gate 4 and ridden by Douglas Whyte should be able to get a good position just behind midfield, and with a fast pace, he should be able to outperform the three leaders especially because he is working extremely well. Rainbow Fighter who is drawn in gate 2 and ridden by Tommy Berry should be well positioned just in front of Exciting Dream, and it's a candidate for win and place too. Happy Yeah Yeah will be similarly positioned and his trackwork has improved. He will be a place chance for me tonight. My Name Is Bond is the runner that shouldn’t be underestimated. He will come from the back and can clock a very fast last sectional in the race. He will at least be a place chance here.
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