Some of our elite four-year-olds squared off against each other in the HKG1 Hong Kong Classic Mile at Sha Tin last Sunday. It was Beauty Only who drew first blood in the Four-Year-Old Series this season as the Italian import won the HK$8 million race in an impressive manner.
It was similar to Able Friend’s victory last year, in that Beauty Only had been stalking in midfield early in the race, started to make ground on the home turn and then thrust to the front down the home straight, for an emphatic win. This marked another success in the race for the Kwok family who won previously with Beauty Flash in 2010. The Kwok family has also won the Hong Kong Derby Trial, now staged as the Hong Kong Classic Cup, with Hello Pretty in 2006, so we shall see if Beauty Only can give them a second victory in that 1800m contest too, when he targets it next month.
It is a bit early to compare Beauty Only with previous Classic Mile winners like Able Friend and Gold-Fun at this stage, but right now the sky’s the limit. He has won the first leg of the Four-Year-Old Series and he has the potential to progress again when he steps up in trip. Let’s wait and see if this exciting young prospect can go on to emulate the success of our best previous Classic Mile winners.
Able Friend has of course been in the news this week. Not only is he due to step out again in the Stewards’ Cup this Sunday but also, as I believe some of you would have read, his achievements were recognised at the Longines World’s Best Racehorse Ceremony held in London last night. I made the journey from Hong Kong to the UK for a brief stop to attend the occasion. Although I stayed in London for only about 12 hours for IFHA’s meetings and the ceremony, it was very nice to be there, especially as Able Friend, as I expected after his win in the LONGINES Hong Kong Mile a month ago, was given a rating of 127 in the 2014 World’s Best Racehorse Rankings as announced by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities.
That international rating of 127 ranks the five-year-old as joint third in the 2014 Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings. It also makes him the highest-rated Hong Kong-based horse of all time. About a year ago we held the inaugural Longines World’s Best Racehorse Ceremony in Hong Kong. At that time I looked forward to seeing a Hong Kong-trained horse feature in the top three in the near future, but the achievement has come around even faster than I originally expected. I was privileged to be able to present the prize to Able Friend’s owner Mrs Li on this important occasion, which no doubt will be looked back on in the future as a notable landmark for Hong Kong racing.
I should also point out that the number of Hong Kong horses in this year’s Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings reached a new high of 23, eclipsing the past record of 21, which we achieved in 2011 and matched in 2013. It’s fantastic that our top horses are achieving these new benchmarks of excellence and this is a reflection of the efforts contributed by their connections. Particularly, it’s a special achievement for a racing jurisdiction with only about 1,200 horses to possess so many world-class gallopers. Our horses have shown their merits on home soil and in other major races around the world in recent times, as racing crowds in Dubai, Singapore and Los Angeles witnessed last year. These achievements are also an accolade for us at the Club as it shows that our long-term strategy of raising the quality of our racehorses continues to reap rewards. I hope this upward trajectory will continue, and so too the staunch support from our owners, horse connections, and local racing fans.
Some of these our big names will be in action at Sha Tin this Sunday in either the G1 Stewards’ Cup or HKG1 Kent & Curwen Centenary Sprint Cup. Before then, you may wish to enjoy our races at Happy Valley tonight, the finale evening of our Music Hits the Valley, themed around the music from the present day.
I’ll be rushing back from London for tonight’s race meeting. For the eight races on the card, the sixth race is the Craigengower Cricket Club Challenge Cup, a Class 2 at 1200m event, with three horses in the field eligible for the Club’s High Achievement Bonus, which provides a handsome reward to the Owner of any horse which is successful for the first time in either a Class 2 or Class 1 race before reaching the age of five. To date, eight horses have achieved the bonus in Class 2 this season, earning an additional HK$750,000 for their Class 2 win and one horse has taken out the HK$1 million award for winning in Class 1. Northern Hemisphere newcomers Kiram, Lotus Breeze and Always Win are eligible for this bonus tonight and throughout 2015.
The pace is expected to be good with Charity Joy, Go Baby Go, Sight Believer and Happy Yeah Yeah likely to press forward to establish a realistic tempo. Charity Joy and Go Baby Go are short course specialists and will be tested over the additional furlong in the Craigengower, whilst Sight Believer has finished second in four consecutive races over various courses and distances and has drawn the outside gate in the field of 12.
Speedygonzalez has an excellent record over the track and distance and should be well placed from his good draw to make a midfield run. His solid win on IJC night against lesser company over a shorter trip was in good time and he is a win and place chance for me to break through with a first-ever win in Class 2. Great Spirit was a victim of a slow pace when last seen over this course and distance in November but figures to benefit from the tempo this time and is a place chance. Despite being a short course specialist, Charity Joy is in the best form of his career and looks to be a place chance and Always Win is an interesting outsider as he makes his second start in Hong Kong over his preferred trip.
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