I’m sure every race fan out there will be of the same opinion as me when I say that last weekend’s racing was very eventful and incredibly exciting. Even though I was in France, I still made sure I was able to find the time to keep an eye on important races in the US and Hong Kong. One of those was the Santa Anita Sprint Championship and Rich Tapestry certainly made it worth my while to stay up late that night to watch it. Michael Chang’s horse made sure of a thrilling result for Hong Kong by defeating two Breeders’ Cup winners on his first start in the US. In doing so, he also created a new chapter in our racing history as the first Hong Kong horse to win in the US.
With Rich Tapestry succeeding without the application of Lasix, which was perceived as a disadvantage for the horse, his triumph emphasised the position that I and the Club hold to very firmly, that racing is about the natural ability of the horse and that horses can and do win without race-day medication. Rich Tapestry faced some world-class opponents and he was the only competitor racing without Lasix, yet he was able to outperform those rivals. I wish to applaud the owners and Michael’s team’s confidence as they all agreed that racing the horse without Lasix was the right thing to do. His victory is a great testimony to this belief. I firmly believe that it should be beneficial to the sport if all jurisdictions race in a drug free environment to provide a fair playing field for all runners. Such a move will bring even higher integrity to our sport.
Rich Tapestry will now be among the leading contenders of the Breeders’ Cup Sprint over the same course and distance on 1 November. As the Trainer said after the race, he’s expecting Rich Tapestry to improve a further 5-10 per cent. I do hope the horse will progress to the Breeders’ Cup in excellent condition. It will be fantastic if Rich Tapestry can succeed at the Breeders’ Cup as the event’s first ever Hong Kong competitor, and give Michael his second G1 victory just a few weeks after the first.
As I mentioned, I was actually in Paris at the weekend where I was privileged to witness one of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe’s truly historic moments. Those of you who watched the race will surely agree with me that Treve’s storming run, to become the first horse in 36 years to achieve back-to-back wins in this premier European staying distance contest, was a phenomenal performance. Until her victory on Sunday, she had seemed off-colour this season when compared to what she did last year. But she left the best and most spectacular performance of the year right to the last. It was a great training performance by Criquette Head-Maarek to bring the filly to a peak after back problems had hampered her in her races earlier in the year. With retirement now beckoning, this great filly will be missed by many racing fans around the world, and her breathtaking final performance is worthy of racing legend.
In Hong Kong, last season’s Champion Miler Gold-Fun made a wonderful start to his season by winning the Celebration Cup at Sha Tin. Despite being trapped without a clear run in the straight, he pounced late to win the contest quite brilliantly, and I think he would have won by a wider margin had he not met with traffic in the race. It’s also worth noting the decent performances of Designs On Rome, who made a strong late surge to snatch third over a distance well short of his best, as well as California Memory who ran on to finish a creditable two lengths seventh. I’m sure they will both come on a lot for the run and hopefully they will both improve for the effort as they head to our HKG2 event at the end of this month.
Before then we will back at Sha Tin tonight, as we have arranged a card with two turf and six all-weather track races. The final race of the night is the Hebe Hill Handicap featuring a full field of 12 within a tight rating band of 85 to 80. The topweights in the race will carry 123 pounds and the bottom will be at 118, which makes this a very interesting 1200m test on the dirt track. Silly Buddies is a win and place chance after showing a liking for the track and distance at the end of last season. He will need to come from the back and may need a bit of luck in the running, but he has been working in good order and runs well fresh.
Olivier Doleuze has been one of the more successful jockeys riding on this surface and he returns tonight off his Group 1 win on Rich Tapestry on American dirt to ride Turin Pearl in the finale. I expect that Turin Pearl will go forward from his good draw and gain a contending position just behind the early leaders and try to repeat his October success last season when he won first up on the dirt. Rumba King was impressive when winning his seasonal debut despite a wide, no cover trip and is a five-time winner over the track and distance. I expect improvement from Multivictory in his third run of the short season after facing tougher company in his most recent races. These three runners are all place chances.
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