By the time you read this blog, we’ve just announced, at Happy Valley Racecourse today, the list of runners selected for the Audemars Piguet Queen Elizabeth II Cup and the Champions Mile on 25 April. Dozens of top local and overseas runners will contest for the great honour of victory and the HK$26 million prize money on offer in these two international Group One events. All of you can check later today from our website to see whether your favourite home runners and overseas contenders are nominated for our springtime international meet.
Every year we will have some familiar faces participating in our international meetings. This year is no exception as two world famous trainers Luca Cumani from Britain and Mike de Kock from South Africa, will again prepare a few high calibre runners to Hong Kong and take part in these two events.
I believe many racing fans will know much about Luca Cumani, as the Italian is a famous trainer in England and renowned for his success in overseas ventures. Japan Cup winners Falbrav and Alkaased, Breeders’ Cup Mile winner Barathea, and APQEII Cup winner Presvis, are only a few of the top runners who have earned him a great reputation in world racing. Apart from horse training, he’s equally successful in nurturing riding talent, as famous jockeys like British champion Frankie Dettori, and Dubai Duty Free winning jockey Royston Ffrench, were both under his mentorship when they were young.
As for Mike de Kock, he has enjoyed some very successful times in Dubai and Asian racing, as his globetrotters like Irridescence, Eagle Mountain and Archipenko brought him fame and pride in recent years. With Luca having decided to enter Presvis, and Mike sending Lizard’s Desire and Imbongi for the APQEII Cup and Champions Mile respectively, it’s great to see these two world-class trainers giving their recognition and support to this international race meeting in Hong Kong.
With racing industry increasingly globalised, the international vision and high competence and skills of these trainers has undoubtedly helped to motivate the exchange among different racing jurisdictions. These trainers and their globetrotters, in the meantime, serve as the sport’s ambassadors in the drive to global racing development.
This has also been the case in Hong Kong, as over the past decade, our local trainers and Owners have been increasingly willing to send their horses to compete in major overseas races. From Ivan Allan to Tony Cruz, David Oughton, David Ferraris, and Ricky Yiu, the overseas successes obtained by these trainers all help lift the standard of Hong Kong racing, and our international status in the world. I’m delightful to see this advancement, and to see our top runners joining the ranks of top performers internationally.
While I’m very eager to watch all these horses competing in these two international Group Ones on our Sha Tin turf, before then, though, we still have four local race meetings ahead of the big day on 25 April, including our eight races on the programme at Happy Valley tonight. Among the runners on tonight’s card, I will be watching how Team Work performs in the Hong Kong Football Club Centenary Challenge Cup. This Me Tsui-trained runner produced some decent performances at the Valley this season. Despite he had a disappointing run when stepped up to the mile distance in his last start, he will be returning to 1200m and starting the race from Gate 1 tonight. I think he will be the horse to beat. Another well-drawn runner Par Excellence, and the improving Mr Vigorous, are two other interesting runners in this race.
In the Fa Hui Handicap, I expect there will have a good to slow pace, and I think this will benefit the ever-consistent Moon Chaser, who will be starting the race from Gate 2 tonight. He should be a leading contender in the field. Among other runners, Supernova still ran a close fourth when he started from Gate 12 last time. I hope he will perform even better with the improved draw this evening. The John Moore-trained Master Gunner had fair performances in his last two appearances on Sha Tin’s all-weather track. He’s obviously a better horse at the Valley and I believe he will also be in the finish in this event.
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