The racing news continues to come thick and fast as we approach the 10th meeting of a new season.
As most of you will be aware, the Club has been granted approval to reverse the fixtures scheduled for Happy Valley and Sha Tin on October 27th and 30th. This wasn’t a decision we took lightly but it is a prudent one given all the circumstances and one which is designed to cause minimum inconvenience to both horsemen and racing fans.
It’s hard to know what to say about someone who would throw open paint cans on to a racetrack during a meeting. Suffice to say that we view incidents such as the one that caused a delay to race eight at the Valley on Wednesday night very seriously and security will be maintained at a vigilant level in order to preserve the safety of all our equine and human athletes as well as our racegoers.
I arrived back from Arc weekend in Paris in time to sample a lively atmosphere for our latest Oktoberfest night and it was great to see Keith Yeung join Matthew Chadwick, Derek Leung and Vincent Ho as the latest Hong Kong rider to reach 250 winners when Hardly Swears won the Nakayama Handicap.
Zac Purton’s treble confirmed that his battle for the jockeys’ championship with Joao Moreira is likely to be a recurring theme this season and Wednesday was also another very significant night for Conghua horses.
Conghua currently houses less than a quarter of Hong Kong’s total horse population and yet six of the nine winners on Wednesday night’s card had been trained there since their latest outing.
Those wins included Happy Dragon’s success in the featured Japan Racing Association Trophy and it is also very encouraging to see that proven G1 performers such as Time Warp and Seasons Bloom have been given a chance to refresh with lengthy spells at Conghua during the last few months.
The spotlight for this Saturday’s Sha Tin fixture switches to potential G1 performers and the meeting of several very exciting young sprinters for the Class 2 Wo Tik Handicap (Race 9) over 1000m should prove one of the more interesting races of the season.
The pace will be on from the outset with Voyage Warrior and Multimillion hooking up early to set a lively tempo. Aethero, Big Time Baby, Thanks Forever, Team Spirit and Saul’s Special will also be in close attendance.
Aethero backs up quickly after a troubled trip on National Day where his inexperience led to his demise but there is no doubting his immense talent. He should get a better trip here settling with cover behind the early leaders and is a solid place chance.
Voyage Warrior, like Aethero, has won three of four starts, and is a win and place chance making his first start of the new season. He is a short track specialist and has worked and trialled very well for his return. He was sensational first up in March and looks ready to run another big one here.
Thanks Forever ran the best race of his brief career when he soundly defeated Voyage Warrior in May with the benefit of a 13lb break in the weights. His morning trackwork has been reasonable but he may be a horse that runs well fresh.
He has drawn a good gate and will have every chance, this time at equal weights with Voyage Warrior. He is a place chance and, like Aethero and Voyage Warrior, is eligible for a $1 million High Achievement Bonus. Seven Heavens performs well over the course and distance, has a good gate and a light weight. He is also a place chance at big odds.
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