I hope you all enjoyed a pleasant Christmas holiday.
As I mentioned last week, I greatly enjoyed being in Tokyo for the presentation of the Longines IFHA International Award of Merit to Yutaka Take and the legendary jockey celebrated his 75th G1 victory with a third win in the Arima Kinen, guiding Kitasan Black to a front-running masterpiece. The victory was well-deserved after having been so close in the last two years and was the seventh G1 success for Kitasan Black, who is now due to retire to commence stallion duty.
I must take a moment to highlight the adoration shown by the Japanese racing fans towards their racing heroes, as the emotion that was shown for Kitasan Black and Yutaka Take last week was sensational. The Arima Kinen itself has the highest turnover of any race in the world, with this year’s number coming in at ¥44.1 billion, or HK$3 billion, representing 70% of the day’s total turnover. It is also one of the strongest in our overall simulcast programme.
Last Saturday at Sha Tin saw two potential stars in the making with Hot King Prawn adding to his unbeaten string and Derby aspirant Exultant winning well despite failing to settle in the run and still doing much wrong. At Happy Valley tonight we will host the last local race meeting in 2017. Among the eight races on the card the highlight is the Class 2 Chai Wan Kok Handicap, which goes as Race 8. In this 1650m event, the pace is projected to be good to slow.
California Whip found the pace a bit uncomfortable last time and should enjoy stepping up to 1650m. Beauty Prince is likely to chase with Thunder Stomp nearby. Marvel Tribe and Insayshable should be in midpack with Lucky Girl and Marvel Hero behind them. Singapore Sling will be near the back with Hang’s Decision and Dr Listening.
Marvel Hero and California Whip are working very well and are one of the main chances. Marvel Hero ran well in his last race but lacked room between the 200m to the 100m and was unlucky. California Whip should not have an issue with the 1650m he tackles for the first time.
Lucky Girl is always a place chance but I prefer Thunder Stomp who kept on in his last race and with Rispoli on board, he is a win and place chance too.
Insayshable and Singapore Sling are interesting 3 and 4-year-olds, respectively, and have shown some potential, but I believe they will need another run to reach full racing fitness.
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