As I’m sure you have heard, Kei Chiong retired from race riding earlier this week. I completely understand and respect her decision, one which surely took a great deal of courage to make. Kei earned 102 wins over her career, 44 in New Zealand during her overseas stint before returning to Hong Kong and landing 58, including her exciting four-timer in April 2016. Her tremendous run over the final months of the 2015/16 season earned her the first Tony Cruz Award and she was named by our racing fans as Hong Kong’s Most Popular Jockey. I wish her all the best in her future endeavours and hope she will consider a career in the Club.
Earlier this week we revealed the first entries for both the HK$10 million Hong Kong Classic Mile, run on 21 January, and the big finale to the Four-Year-Old Classic Series – the HK$18 million BMW Hong Kong Derby on 18 March. At this stage, Nothingilikemore is a likely early favourite for the race but will stretch to a mile for the first time whereas Tony Cruz’s entrant Exultant would be stepping back in trip following his impressive 2000m win. Eight of the 15 entrants are already rated 90 or higher with several others looking progressive leading into the HK$10 million event next week. It seems a very strong group of younger horses assembled for this season’s Classic Series and I look forward to the final field being confirmed next week.
Karis Teetan, currently sitting third in the jockeys’ premiership, is off to a quick start in 2018. Having won the Chinese Club Challenge Cup on New Year’s Day, he just needed to wait six more days to add another pattern race success to his CV, this time with an impressive 4-year-old, Premiere, in the G3 Bauhinia Sprint Trophy at Sha Tin last Sunday.
Premiere is another exciting youngster coming through the ranks and was also our Champion Griffin last year. While he will be kept to sprints quite obviously and is not entered for the 4YO Classic Series, he is now four-for-four this season over the minimum distance of 1000m. It will be interesting to see how he fares going forward.
On paper it appears to be a bit of a long shot for Karis to make it three in a row with his mount General Sherman in the G3 January Cup at Happy Valley tonight. But in this race, the only pattern event held at Happy Valley in our racing season, a solid field has been attracted which includes classy stayer Eagle Way and promising four-year-old The Golden Age, who is very likely to target for the upcoming Four-Year-Old Classic Series.
The Golden Age led throughout over course and distance and won a trial at Happy Valley as well. He will likely go forward setting a good-to-slow pace with Harbour Master and Packing Dragon potentially chasing. Citron Spirit could track them with Marvel Hero and Pikachu behind. Eagle Way is likely to settle well back in the field with Dinozzo, Doyeni and General Sherman.
The Golden Age is one of our upcoming 4-year-olds and is working well with a recent trial win in Happy Valley. He is a dual winner at the Valley and has settled in well, and his overseas form shows further potential having been successful in a Group 3 over 1400m in France as a 2-year-old. He is my first choice with Marvel Hero, who is working well too and is the choice of Moreira and being trained by the King of the Valley Caspar Fownes.
Dinozzo has to come from the back of the field but should run better than in his last start when he improved from well back after being unbalanced at the start, but was one paced at the later stages of the race. Packing Dragon is a Happy Valley specialist and the 1800m is his best distance. I would see him as a win and place chance too. Romantic Touch is, in my view, an interesting outsider but our new Club Jockey, the 2016 French Champion Pierre-Charles Boudot, has to be careful not be trapped wide.
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