I hope you all enjoyed last night’s simulcast of the Met Day card from South Africa.
Today at Sha Tin we will feature a Group 1 double-header, the Stewards’ Cup and Centenary Sprint Cup, which also starts our Triple Crown and Hong Kong Speed Series this season. Our three HKIR winners last month – Mr Stunning, Beauty Generation and Time Warp, as well as several other past champions, will take part in these races. Besides our HKIR winners returning to the races, these two events also feature several of our rising stars in their first try and the Group 1 level in Hong Kong, of course, on level weights.
The Centenary Sprint Cup is the first leg of the Hong Kong Speed Series and is now a Group 1 over 1200m with a prize money of HK$10 million. The pace is expected to be good to slow which should help horses who are close to the speed with Peniaphobia, the two-time winner with an international rating of still 119, looking an obvious leader. Mr Stunning and Not Listenin’tome should be in the second flight with Lucky Bubbles behind. Blizzard and Beat The Clock will likely settle off the pace with D B Pin possibly wide.
The field of eight starters assembled are not only some of the current highest-rated horses in Hong Kong, but some of the highest-rated sprinters in the world according to the just published LONGINES World’s Best Racehorse Rankings.
Mr Stunning is rated 121 and the highest-rated horse in Hong Kong and he is working very well. He should be well-placed and with his ability to run a very strong last 400m sectional time of even 21.95s, he is my first choice in this competitive race.
Lucky Bubbles is rated 119 and is one of the most unlucky horses in Hong Kong and had no clear run, or his runs blocked in his last starts. He is working very well and running for the first time with blinkers. Combined with a start from gate five and the small field, it should put him in a good position to challenge. He can run very fast sectionals too, with a 21.97 second final 400m on his record and has last year’s Longines World’s Best Jockey Hugh Bowman on board, and is my second choice.
D B Pin is rated 119 too and is working very well too. His jockey Olivier Doleuze has to be careful not be kept wide. The likely good to slow pace would not be best for him and even though he ran Mr Stunning to a neck when second in the LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint, I see him more as a place chance.
The same applies to Blizzard who is rated 115 and despite the fact he is working well too, with him coming from the back, is more a place chance at best with his best sectional time for the last 400m being 22.30 seconds.
The unknown quality and maybe upcoming sprint star could be the 4-year-old Beat The Clock, who is ridden by Moreira. He is not listed in the world rankings and come back from a good effort when second over 1400m to Fifty Fifty in a Group 3 run under handicap conditions, and was empty over the last 100m which prompted trainer John Size to come back in distance. His best sectional of 21.59s in a Class 2 was impressive, but the overall time was not that of a Group 1, but I still believe we have not seen the best of him and see him as a place chance.
The Stewards Cup is always one of the sporting highlights of the season when our best older horses meet each other over the mile distance after the LONGINES Hong Kong International Races. The first three of last year’s LONGINES Hong Kong Mile and the first two of the LONGINES Hong Kong Cup compete against each other in this race, which is already a fantastic contest in its own right, but add in 2016 Hong Kong Mile winner Beauty Only and upcoming horses like Seasons Bloom and Fifty Fifty makes it even more exciting.
The pace is expected to be good to slow which will make it more difficult for some of the horses who will come from the back. , Beauty Generation, Time Warp and Giant Treasure will likely roll forward, with Fifty Fifty and Horse Of Fortune behind them. Seasons Bloom and Western Express should settle midfield with Helene Paragon and Beauty Only farther back.
I would not be surprised that Time Warp will take the lead and set fast enough sectionals to avoid allowing Beauty Generation to dictate a slow early pace. If so, the chances for Helene Paragon, especially, will be enhanced. Helene Paragon is working very well, as are Beauty Generation, Seasons Bloom, Beauty Only, Fifty Fifty and Time Warp.
While the race is wide open, my first choice is Helene Paragon, who is rated 119 in the World’s Best Racehorse Rankings, and who ran very well in the HKIR despite having a slight setback before the race. His last race in a Group 3 under Handicap conditions was excellent and he can run very fast last sectionals, shown when he dashed home in 22.18 seconds.
Beauty Only will be ridden this time by Neil Callan as Zac Purton stayed with Time Warp. He is rated 119 and is, in my view, coming back to his best. I see him as place chance like, similar to Beauty Generation with a rating of 118, ridden by Derek Leung, who likely will not be permitted to dictate the pace like when winning the Hong Kong Mile after a great ride.
Time Warp is also rated 119 and comes back in distance, which is not ideal, but he is still at least a place chance for me especially because he is not easy to be run down when given the chance to lead, plus being able to accelerate in the last 400 to an impressive 22.08 seconds.
Seasons Bloom is rated 115 in the world rankings and was one of the favourites for the Hong Kong Mile, and was a shade disappointing but was found to have a substantial amount of blood in the trachea after the race. He is ridden by Moreira and being beaten only 2 1/2 lengths despite this issue, gives me confidence to put him in front of other good horses like Werther who will need longer, or Western Express and Fifty Fifty.
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