There was no shortage of headlines over the latest racing weekend, with Joao Moreira continuing his fine form with a Saturday five timer at Sha Tin highlighted by a very exciting young horse indeed.
Joao has been on a hot streak, riding 13 winners from just 36 rides during four October meetings, and the fact that he is now operating as a Club rider after his spell under retainer for John Size is clearly increasing his options.
The scene is set for another fascinating duel for the jockeys’ championship with Zac Purton and the fact that both riders currently figure in the top five of the current LONGINES World’s Best Jockey Rankings is testament to their skill in climbing to the top in a system where they are tested by fellow world-class riders day in day out.
With Zac committed to Voyage Warrior, Joao took the reins aboard Aethero at Sha Tin and John Moore’s powerful three-year-old looked highly impressive.
Some very good horses have tried and failed to beat Sacred Kingdom’s 1000m track record of 54.70s over the last 12 years but Aethero finally did so and left a striking impression in doing so.
There was a real buzz around the racecourse as Hong Kong’s newest young star left a strong Class 2 field trailing in the final furlong which increased when the big screens showed he had stopped the clock in a time just a hundredth of a second faster than Sacred Kingdom’s record.
News and video of what a good youngster has achieved tends to travel swiftly nowadays and it has been very encouraging to see how Aethero’s performance has been picked up and discussed around the world since Saturday.
It’s clear he will have quite a following when he moves up in class against proven G1 performers like Beat The Clock and Mr Stunning in the Jockey Club Sprint on 17 November and if can shine again there then the dream of a three-year-old finally winning the LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint for the first time in December will come one step closer.
Of course, the standard that all our budding stars aspire to is set by Aethero’s stablemate Beauty Generation, who will be back in action as he tries to win the G2 Oriental Watch Sha Tin Trophy for the third year running on Sunday.
Our dual Horse of the Year faces a fascinating challenge against high-class rivals on what looks a very strong card but first we have the third of our four Oktoberfest-themed nights at Happy Valley.
The Class 3 American Club Challenge Cup Handicap over 1800m is the fifth race of the night with Crown Avenue, Giant Turtle and Heavenly Thought pushing forward to establish an honest pace. Jockey Blake Shinn will need to make an early decision on the widely drawn Marzouq to join the early leaders or go back.
Crown Avenue is perfect in two starts this season over this distance at Sha Tin but has done so with the benefit of a slow pace against Class 4 opposition. He has never made an impression in Class 3 but enters this race in top form and is a place chance.
Xiang Bai Qi ran the best race of his Hong Kong career over course and distance in his final start last season and is now second-up after a good effort last month. He will get an ideal trip from better than midfield and is a win and place chance with Moreira aboard for the first time as he seeks his first victory since arriving from Italy in 2016.
Defining Moment must go back from his wide draw but will be closing the race off well along with Tashidelek. Both are place chances.
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