All Owners want to see their horses performing well on track, and better still, watch them win and celebrate the victory in the winners' circle. It becomes even more special if they are fortunate enough to own a multiple winning racehorse, or a performer in pattern races. But I think many of you would agree with me that it takes an extra bit of luck to become a winning Owner in the Hong Kong Derby.
Although we are one of the few places in the world where the Derby is contested by four-year-old horses rather than three-year-olds, as in most other racing jurisdictions, this doesn't make it any easier for Owners to win this prestigious race. As Hong Kong does not have its own thoroughbred industry, all our racehorses have to be imported from overseas. Even if an Owner purchases a horse with strong credentials, it can take time for the horse to fully settle into the Hong Kong climate and environment.
Other influencing factors are whether a young horse can stay for the Derby distance, its health condition, how the trainer prepares it and, of course, the jockey's performance on the day. So it takes not only a good horse, but also a bit of good timing, good teamwork and luck for an Owner to have the thrill of claiming a Derby winner.
The history of this premier race tends to back that up, as only one Owner in the past three decades has managed to land the Derby more than once, namely Larry Yung who took the honours with Oriental Express in 1997 and Olympic Express in 2002. However, one person who has put his personal stamp on the Hong Kong Derby over the years is Tony Cruz, as he has won this event six times to date in his glittering career – four times as a jockey and two as a trainer, while legendary trainer Brian Kan also prevailed to win the Derby for five times.
Earlier this week we announced the list of 42 four-year-old horses who have been entered for this year's Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Derby in March. Though it may be too soon yet to predict which runners have the best chance to win this HK$16 million race, eight Derby entrants will be participating in three separate races at Sha Tin tomorrow and you can get a glimpse of their credentials and performances.
Anyway, I shall look forward to seeing more Derby hopefuls in the first leg of the four-year-old classic series, the Group 1 Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Classic Mile, in a fortnight's time, followed by the Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Derby Trial next month.
Before watching how these four-year-old elites to perform at top level, 10 prolific sprinters will contest for the feature race tomorrow – the Chow Tai Fook Bauhinia Sprint. I'll be watching how Wine Win runs in this Group 3 event. The seven-year-old improved further this term following his late winning double at the end of last season and scored one win and one second in two starts over the 1000m straight event. Although Wine Win began awkwardly last time, he still finished second and was just beaten a neck by Blaze King. Therefore if the horse starts smoothly tomorrow, I will not be surprised if he can win his first pattern race. Besids, Blaze King and Craig’s Dragon could stage strong challenges to Wine Win as both are consistent sprinters who have a good record over the straight course.
In the meantime, I'll be looking forward to seeing the performances of the three Derby entries – Brave Kid, Mr Celerity and Jun Dao, in the last event of tomorrow's meeting. The unbeaten Brave Kid won impressively last time in spite of stepping up to 1400M for the first time and being pushed wide at the top of the straight. As there are not many front runners, the tempo of this race would likely be slower than good. Therefore Brave Kid should stay closer to the speed from Gate 1 and deliver his good turn of foot when coming to the home straight. Mr Celerity, Jun Dao and Jumbo Gold are also up-and-improving types and should not be overlooked.
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