Chinese New Year Raceday always occupies a very special place in the Hong Kong racing calendar, with a huge holiday crowd heading to Sha Tin.
The Year of the Dog gives way to the Year of the Pig this week and, as Thursday’s card also marks the exact halfway point in our racing season, it seems an appropriate time both to reflect and look forward.
The formal opening of Conghua Racecourse took place in the week before the new season started and is now proving a huge asset to our sport, while Beauty Generation’s rise to the top of the global mile division in recent months has showcased our racing in a fantastic way all over the world.
We witnessed a historic day when Hong Kong horses won all four LONGINES HKIR contests in December and another memorable milestone is now imminent when Douglas Whyte retires after three amazing decades in the saddle at Sha Tin this Sunday.
Most of these developments would have been hard to predict just a few months ago and that unpredictability serves as a very useful reminder when we consider the current BMW Hong Kong Derby picture.
Frankie Lor seems to hold the aces so far with Furore and Dark Dream but we still have almost six weeks to go before the big race and there is still plenty of time for others to work their way into the mix.
For example, John Moore seems hopeful that Solar Patch can enhance his chance of a seventh Derby success by running well in Thursday’s Chinese New Year Cup. Time is moving on but, as we saw with Ping Hai Star this time last year, it is certainly possible for a Derby horse to arrive late at the party.
And, for me, that uncertainty is one of the real beauties of our great sport. Who knows what the next five months and 44 meetings of this season will bring, but history tells us there will be many unexpected thrills and surprises along the way.
I look forward to seeing many of you at Sha Tin over the next few days and, in the meantime, all that remains is to wish all our friends, colleagues and customers a peaceful family holiday and every success and good fortune for the year to come.
The eighth race is the Class 1 Chinese New Year Cup over 1400m with a compact field of six.
Regency Bo Bo will be the clear leader with California Whip in close pursuit of what is likely to be a good pace. Morethanlucky should be perfectly placed in a box seat position.
Solar Patch makes his first start of the season after overcoming a couple of setbacks but may need this run to come back to his best.
He will be ridden quietly but may still settle about midfield after a recent barrier trial where he was right on the pace.
Jolly Banner, the longshot winner of the G3 Bauhinia Sprint Trophy last month, and What Else But You will probably come from the back.
Morethanlucky finished a good second behind Conte in the G3 Chinese Club Challenge Cup in his last start, where he had to do some work early to cross from his outside draw and then fought on bravely.
He has been working well and is a win and place chance along with What Else But You, who will be dangerous if kept closer to the pace in this smaller field.
Solar Patch showed a lot of promise last season. He has great potential and I would make him a place chance carrying a light weight.
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