The Audemars Piguet QEII Cup is just a week away. It is an exciting time, but as we all look forward to this year’s race, I’m sure many racing fans will feel a bit sad that a past winner of this race, two-time Horse of the Year Ambitious Dragon, was retired earlier this week.
It is four years ago now that the Dragon, fresh from winning the Hong Kong Derby on his previous start, mesmerised racing fans at Sha Tin as he showed his devastating turn-of-foot to defeat a talented field of international opposition in the APQEII Cup, that also being his third consecutive top-class success.
At that time I thought that this young horse would shape up to be one of the most exciting horses we had seen in Hong Kong for a long time. He did not disappoint me as he went on to land four more top-class wins after that successful season. The two Horse of the Year titles he won in those two seasons also helped cemented his status as one of the greatest racehorses to have graced the turf in Hong Kong. I believe many would be of the view that the horse would have reached even higher peaks if he was not struck by the tendon injury that forced him to be sidelines for more than 18 months.
Ambitious Dragon is one of the greatest horses we have seen here and he thrived along with the ever-rising international status of Hong Kong racing in recent years. I’m sure the Dragon will be sorely missed by many local racing fans. You can join us and say goodbye to him in his farewell ceremony to be held during the APQEII Cup day on Sunday week.
Although it is a loss that the old warrior will no longer thrill us with his brilliance on the track, and I wish him a thoroughly deserved retirement, which in another sense, serves as an opportunity for our younger talents to come up, not just to fill the void but also try to emulate, or even exceed the Dragon’s massive achievements.
The importance of youth development is as vital in the community at large as it is in horseracing. This Sunday we will be hosting our annual Community Day, which offers us the chance to gather with our community partners and to thank them for their staunch support. Youth development will be the theme of this year’s Community Day. During this occasion we will also announce the further details of the HK$500 million, five-year career and life planning adventure project that we first unveiled earlier in January.
This project aims to help Hong Kong’s youth navigate the path to adulthood effectively by providing them with tools and guidance to discover their abilities, and make informed choices about their career and life goals. The project is set to benefit over 200,000 local youths, whether they are studying at schools or have opted out.
More than 200 guests including the SAR’s Chief Secretary for Administration Carrie Lam and many other community leaders, representatives from academia, as well as NGO partners will attended tomorrow’s raceday. I look forward to getting together with them and hope they will enjoy the day at Sha Tin tomorrow.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club Community Trophy (Handicap) assembles a high quality group of stayers over 2200 metres and is featured as race five. Mr Gnocchi has finished second in each of his last three races and his consistency makes him a win and place chance in this Cup race. He should be placed a bit worse than midfield in the run, ridden quietly, and then finish strongly through the straight.
Savvy Nature, a recent import from Australia, is one which will appreciate the trip and is now finding his form. He narrowly won a Class 2 at Happy Valley last month when ridden closer to the pace and a repeat of that performance puts him right in the mix. Wayfoong Express and Dynamism, both disappointments in their last starts, can bounce back here and both are place chances.
Before then, I have just arrived in Macau, as I will attend the second leg of the annual Interport event, the Macau Hong Kong Trophy race at Taipa racecourse this afternoon. Just as last year we have five Hong Kong runners in this Macau G1 race this year, including last year’s Hong Kong Macau Trophy winner Super Lifeline. It will also be the first Macau race for Douglas Whyte in many years, as he will partner Tony Cruz-trained Multivictory to contest this race. I’m hopeful that they will bring a third consecutive win for the Hong Kong team in this event, following the successes of Noble Alpha in 2013 and My Name Is Bond last year.
The Hong Kong travelling team appears to be quite strong this year with Multivictory and Gurus Dream coming into the race in top form. Gurus Dream is an each way chance as he is well suited at the distance and just missed with his strong finish in the Hong Kong leg of the Interport Series last month. He has a better draw today and may break through with his first win of the season.
Multivictory enters the race in cracking form and is a solid chance. He has a nice cruising speed and should be handy in the run just behind the Macau leaders. Great Spirit is a place chance as he may like the track whilst King Creole, a horse that is slow early, will be running on late for Macau as a possible place chance.
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