It has taken something special to dislodge Zac Purton and Joao Moreira from the main headlines this week but some of our top trainers have managed to do just that.
Joao outscored Zac by 2-1 at Sha Tin last weekend to keep his title hopes alive but the main focus of Saturday’s card was a compelling battle for the trainers’ title between three men who have been part of the Jockey Club’s system for well over a hundred years combined.
Francis Lui moved within one of Ricky Yiu at the top of the table when Winston’s Lad scored in race two; Tony Cruz moved within three of the lead when Party Everyday won race five; Ricky struck back when Alcari popped up at 26-1 in the penultimate contest; and Francis reduced Ricky’s lead to just one again when Water Diviner landed a strong Class 2 finale at 43-1 under Jack Wong.
And so, with five meetings and a little under 50 races left this season, Ricky, Francis and Tony are on 62, 61 and 58 winners respectively with all to play for over the next two weeks.
Tony has made excellent use of facilities at Conghua, with 22 of his winners trained from there this season. Ricky has saddled 15 Conghua winners and is convinced that spending the last month there was key to Alcari’s Saturday success, while the fact that Francis has been able to sustain such a strong title bid without having a Conghua team pays tribute to his skill and consistency over the last ten months.
Douglas Whyte, David Hall and David Hayes will form the third phase of Conghua handlers this summer, taking the total number of trainers with a base there to 15. And, fresh from his mandatory 14-day quarantine period, David Hayes was one of the trainers looking on keenly at Sha Tin on Sunday morning as the second batch of this year’s Hong Kong International Sale horses went through their paces.
Transport challenges caused by coronavirus have made this an unusual year for HKIS horses but there were plenty of encouraging signs from horses who breezed in hot sunshine on Sunday – including the I Am Invincible gelding bought for A$1 million at the 2018 Easter Yearling Sale – and we look forward to following their progress after their date with the auctioneer in the Sha Tin parade ring on Friday night.
Meanwhile, it was disappointing but perhaps not surprising to hear that the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens – which had been re-scheduled for the weekend of October 16-18 – will not take place this year. Racing is in a more promising position in terms of welcoming the public back to the racecourse at the right time but, as with everything we do, the process will be risk assessed and phased in line with Government strategy.
The Class 2 Hong Kong Reunification Cup Handicap is Wednesday’s featured eighth race over 1800m with Hello Daddy stepping up in grade and distance to try and duplicate his last start success when he led throughout over 1600m. Hello Daddy will get some pace pressure from Butterfield in what should be an honestly-run race.
Righteous Doctrine has exceeded expectations with three wins from his last five starts, including a win under these conditions in May. He has shown versatility, winning on the all-weather track as well as the turf, and comes into the race in peak form. He will come from the back and is a win and place chance for Moreira, who has partnered him for two wins and was very unlucky on the only other time they linked up together.
Columbus County returns to Sha Tin where he has finished second on three occasions in his brief career and has good form over this trip. He is very consistent and is also a win and place chance with Purton riding, while Champion Supreme is in with a light weight as he steps up in grade and is a place chance along with Nicconi Express, whose fitness should be improved on his second run after a break.
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