Beauty Flame produced a bit of a shock in our Jockey Club Races day last Saturday as the reigning Hong Kong Horse of the Year Able Friend had to settle for third in the G2 BOCHK Wealth Management Jockey Club Mile.
It was an unexpected result and there were many oohs and aahs among the racing crowd after the race. Looking at the race from hindsight, I think Able Friend had a very hard first up race last time in the Premier Bowl. Despite his defeat on this occasion, he still produced a quick last sectional of 21.87 seconds, which in my view was very good given how the race panned out that day. I believe that he should improve from this run and return to his best next time when he defends his crown in the LONGINES Hong Kong Mile.
Military Attack turned the tables against Blazing Speed to win this year’s LONGINES Jockey Club Cup. And for the BOCHK Wealth Management Jockey Club Sprint, I think it was a very good win by Gold-Fun, and Christophe Soumillon gave a perfect ride on him. He appears to be the one that will carry our main hope in the Hong Kong Sprint next month.
Saturday was a day of mixed emotions, however, as Red Cadeaux lost his battle following an injury sustained in the Melbourne Cup. This horse, owned by our Club’s former Chairman Ronald Arculli, was truly a warrior and very popular among many racing fans around the world, especially those in Australia. He will be dearly remembered for his many top performances, including his win in the Hong Kong Vase. Our former Chairman Arculli will have a runner in Forever Red in our races at Happy Valley tonight and I hope it can deliver with a good performance.
By the way, today we announce the full list of selected runners for our four G1 races in the Hong Kong International Races. It is a stellar lineup of overseas raiders coming to take on our local stars on 13 December.
Tonight’s races at Happy Valley will also take certain decisive impact to our international week, as it will the cut-off date to confirm which three other local-based jockeys will take up the remaining starting berths and join Joao Moreira for our LONGINES International Jockeys’ Championships on 9 December. So you may wish to pay extra attention on the performances of the few jockeys in the race, including Douglas Whyte, Brett Prebble, Zac Purton and Derek Leung, this evening.
For the eight races on tonight’s card, the 6th race is The St. Andrew’s Challenge Quaich, a Cup race that dates back nearly 100 years to 1919. A quaich is a Scottish drinking cup, traditionally filled with whisky and presented by the Chieftain to his piper, as a just reward for performing well. The piper must drink the whiskey in one go and then kiss the upturned Quaich to demonstrate that it has been emptied.
We will not require the winning owner, trainer or jockey to live up to that “piper” tradition tonight but there are plenty of good performers in this Class 3 event over 1650 metres. The pace should be honest with horses such as Bullish Smart, Grand Harbour, Best Hope, Yourthewonforme and Short Squeeze all in the early mix from their good gates. Bullish Smart is the most likely of these five pace setters to still be around at the finish. He turned in a solid effort over this class and distance in his run last month and is proven at Happy Valley.
Ruby Coast is a horse of interest after showing some improvement in his last start, the first time at a mile in his 19-race career. He will make his run from the back and should get the pace to suit. My top selection is Photon Willie, a horse that will go back as usual, from his wide draw before doing his best work in the closing sections of the race. He is in top form now and will need his very best tonight as he must carry 133 pounds. Strong Foundation is a place chance but has to avoid being trapped wide in the early stages.
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