Nothing stands still for long on the Hong Kong racing scene and, hard on the heels of a memorable FWD Champions Day, a new face stole the headlines at Happy Valley on Wednesday.
It often takes time for new riders to adapt to the special demands of our challenging city track so congratulations to Aldo Domeyer for riding a double on the first day of his new short-term contract in Hong Kong.
The remaining 10 weeks of the season will provide Aldo and several other riders with the chance to enhance their reputations and it will be equally interesting to see how our Conghua trainers progress during the same period.
The first eight months with Conghua fully operational have flown by and the data being produced is highly informative.
Our first nine trainers based there have already produced a total of 72 winners – which is impressive in itself – and a closer look at the numbers reveals some significant trends.
John Size was predictably fast out of the blocks and remains top of the Conghua table with 17 winners at a healthy strike rate of almost 12 per cent.
Danny Shum and Dennis Yip have both used Conghua productively with eleven winners each but perhaps the most remarkable statistic involves John Moore.
John was the last of our nine designated trainers to record a winner from Conghua and that came almost halfway through the season on 2 February.
However, he has made up for lost time in no uncertain manner since to join Danny and Dennis on 11 Conghua winners.
John has averaged a winner a meeting for the last 11 Hong Kong fixtures.
Of course, Beauty Generation dominated news coverage for last Sunday’s Champions Mile Win, but Monica and Champion Supreme also scored on Champions Day and that means eight of John’s last 11 winners during his current purple patch have travelled down from Conghua.
As with any major new project, different people will adopt varying strategies to get the best from their resources.
Jimmy Ting sent his first batch of horses north this week to become our 10th Conghua trainer.
Frankie Lor, Ricky Yiu and Benno Yung will join him to complete our second-phase of Conghua handlers as the year progresses and there is now no doubt that Hong Kong racing has a priceless asset which will be of huge value to racing and equestrian sport for many years to come.
The Group 3 Queen Mother Memorial Cup Handicap is one of only three races run over 2400 metres each season and is often the custom, the pace will be slow. Tashidelek was cross entered in this race and the Class 3 at 2000 metres but the connections have opted for the Queen Mother despite the horse’s relatively low rating. He will dictate the pace with Ruthven and Insayshable in close attendance.
Only a few of this field are fully proven over 2400m plus but they include Helene Leadingstar, who won the G1 South Australian Derby over 2500m last year. Ruthven finished second in the same race in 2017 and won the G1 Queensland Derby over 2200m, while Helene Charisma won the G1 Grand Prix de Paris over 2400m as a three-year-old and Savvy Six finished third in the German Derby over the same trip at the same age.
Ho Ho Khan was fifth in the BMW Hong Kong Derby and returned to run another strong race in a Class 1 over 2000 metres. The four-year-old colt has never been further than ten furlongs but the slow pace and his consistent performances around two turns make him a win and place chance.
Insayshable must carry top weight and is weighted nine pounds higher than his nearest rival. He comes into the race in peak form and should find a good position from his outside gate. He is a place chance.
Savvy Six is in with a light weight and is a proven stayer. He will appreciate the distance and would benefit from a rain affected track. He is a place chance along with Helene Leadingstar.
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