Last Wednesday we saw two decent four-year-olds winning the last two races of the evening at Happy Valley. Romantic Touch, a two-year-old G1 winner back in Australia, who holds an entry for the BMW Hong Kong Derby in March, showed a devastating turn-of-foot to score a last to first victory, while Twin Delight looked sharp from the gate and charged away from the rest of the field to register an easy and impressive win.
Twin Delight’s win reminds me of Grand Delight, a top sprinter from about a decade ago that ran under the same ownership of Mr Peter Law. Grand Delight is in fact one of only three horses – the others being Mr Vitality and Silent Witness (twice) –to have ever won all three legs of what was then known as the Champion Sprint Series.
Since the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup over 1400m became the final leg of the series in the 2005/06 season, no horse has managed to emulate the feat of those three sprinting stars. The series has since changed to its current name – the Hong Kong Speed Series. The Series reflects the depth of talent we have in our sprinting ranks, and also among our milers, as the final leg, the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup provides an opportunity for sprinters and milers to come together and size each other up in a championship contest.
Taking Sunday’s Kent & Curwen Centenary Sprint Cup as an example of the quality we have, this top race over Sha Tin’s 1000m chute has become one of the major indicator races for the G1 Al Quoz Sprint in Dubai, over the same distance, in March. Both 2012 runner-up Joy And Fun and 2013 winner Eagle Regiment did well to finish 3rd in the Al Quoz in those respective years, while last year’s victor Amber Sky notched a famous win at Meydan two months after his Kent & Curwen Centenary Sprint Cup win.
Amber Sky and Eagle Regiment will be here again tomorrow to bid for another success in this race. Among the six other runners in the field, Peniaphobia did very well with his runner-up finish in last month’s G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint. It promises to be a cracking affair and let’s see who will become the king at the minimum distance this season.
Tomorrow we also have another top-class event on our card - the Stewards’ Cup, the first leg of our Triple Crown series. The race is one of four top races here in Hong Kong that have been newly promoted to international G1 level this season, and this mile contest will be the first to be held. Despite the absence of any overseas participants, the stellar field of runners matches the elevated status of the race as five of them are among the 23 Hong Kong-trained horses listed in the World’s Best Racehorse Rankings released earlier this week. Three of them, namely Able Friend, Gold-Fun and Blazing Speed, all have an international rating of 121 or above, with Able Friend rated 127, the highest rated Hong Kong horse in our history. Other contenders include former Hong Kong Mile victors Ambitious Dragon and Glorious Days, which make this year’s Stewards’ Cup, I would say, one of the best we have staged so far.
I think it’s safe to predict that most of the pre-race emphasis will be on Able Friend as the John Moore-trained five-year-old ranked the co-third best racehorse in the world last year after he stunned a top-class field in the G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Mile last month. Many are of the view that if he can replicate that performance he should easily claim this race tomorrow. I’ll be among those of you who will be at the track watching to see if he can wow us once again with another breathtaking win. If he does succeed, victory would bring his trainer John Moore his second ever win in this race and his first in 28 years. The last time John won was with Distinction, way back in 1987.
The Kent & Curwen Centenary Sprint Cup is not only a sporting highlight but has become a wonderful social gathering occasion with celebrities such as Michael Owen and Aaron Kwok, who are both racing fanatics, attending tomorrow.
The pace in the race should be good to fast with classy sprinters Bundle Of Joy and Amber Sky from the best barriers leading along the grandstand rails, which usually in the best part of the straight 1000m course. Peniaphobia can either compete with them or just sit behind them. Smart Volatility and Sterling City are likely to settle two or three lengths off the speed and have good finishing speed. Frederick Engels and likely Eagle Regiment will be coming from the back. Eagle Regiment is a distance specialist with seven wins over this trip. He tries to reach fitness and is the big question mark in this race, but it’s a big challenge for him to compete against other very talented younger sprinters.
Peniaphobia just turned four and this very talented sprinter is working very well. Even I prefer him over 1200m, he is still a win and place chance despite the unfavourable gate. Bundle Of Joy is working very well too and he is best over 1000m. Having drawn a good gate, he’s the horse I prefer most. Smart Volatility is another horse I like for a place, because Amber Sky, the distance specialist who would normally be the horse to beat, is not fully fit.
For the Stewards’ Cup, it’s now one of the highest-rated Mile races in the world. When we look at the five highest rated horses in this year’s edition, it could well demonstrate the world class talents we have in Hong Kong. With no pace rival, Beauty Flame should be able to have a soft lead again and set a slow pace which can produce unexpected results. Blazing Speed can share the lead or takes the box seat on the inside of Gold-Fun who is likely not going forward like in the LONGINES Hong Kong Mile, where he tried to beat Able Friend with a change of race tactic. All You Wish, Rewarding Hero and Ambitious Dragon should have far trips with the awkwardly drawn Able Friend and Glorious Days may be taken back. No runners should have to race too wide.
Able Friend seems to be very difficult to beat even with a slow pace, because he has the ability to run very fast last 400m sectionals. Gold-Fun is in my view even better over 1400m than 1600m, and should benefit from the slowly run race and being well positioned. He’s the biggest threat to Able Friend in this race. One should not underestimate Blazing Speed, Ambitious Dragon and Glorious Days and they are place chances too, but beating Able Friend seems to be difficult for them all. All You Wish was unlucky in his defeat last time as he had to cover extra ground. He could run a place here too.
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