Hong Kong’s challenges appear in many different shapes and forms and the circumstances of the past year obliges the Club to remain vigilant.
Unfortunately, for too much of the past year, COVID-19 has been a common theme – and a lingering test – for all of us.
But, with the cooperation of all Club staff, Licensees and participants, Hong Kong racing has managed to flourish while providing enjoyment – and employment – for a significant portion of the population.
Collectively, resilience has been one of the key traits and, for me, Christophe Soumillon’s flexibility and persistence in the face of daunting challenges posed by the pandemic have also been outstanding.
Where others might have dwelt on negativity after missing the LONGINES International Jockeys’ Championship and LONGINES Hong Kong International Races, Christophe remained steadfast in his commitment to his craft and was duly rewarded on Wednesday night with victory in the G3 January Cup on Savvy Nine.
Christophe worked hard to make the weight at 120lbs and his ride for Douglas Whyte on Savvy Nine at Happy Valley was very impressive in an alliance between two of the most consummate professionals in international racing.
The win was Douglas’ first Group success as a trainer after an outstanding career as a jockey and the victory also represented Christophe’s most important win in Hong Kong during his current stint.
After many epic battles on the track over the years between Douglas, the 13-time champion Hong Kong jockey, and Christophe, winner of 10 jockey titles in France, Savvy Nine’s victory might yet herald the start of a powerful liaison.
On Sunday at Sha Tin, at least, Christophe and Douglas will be in opposing quarters as focus switches to the upcoming Four-Year-Old Classic Series and the Class 2 Choi Hung Handicap, an exciting 1400-metre finale to a quality meeting.
Christophe rides Enrich Delight for Caspar Fownes, while Douglas will have the services of Chad Schofield on Russian Emperor in a race featuring eight highly-regarded four-year-olds in a 14-horse field.
This will be a key race leading into the Hong Kong Classic Mile, which will be run two weeks later on 24 January.
Many of the runners prefer to do their work from midfield or worse, which opens the door for Beauty Smile, Lucky Patch and newcomer Beauty Joy to establish the running. The pace will be moderate.
Beauty Joy (Alexis Badel) arrives from Perth, where he was perfect in four starts under the name of Talladega and his trackwork here has been excellent. It is not easy to win in Hong Kong first-up in this grade, but he should get a nice run on or near the pace and is a win and place chance.
Band Of Brothers (Zac Purton) is a track and distance specialist with four wins from eight opportunities and comes into the race in top form. He will be rolling along late and should make it interesting as a place chance.
Excellent Proposal (Joao Moreira) was last seen at Sha Tin winning over 1800m in early October and has since been freshened up for the Four-Year-Old Series. He has won three straight and has already stamped himself as a good one. Based on his good trackwork, he is a win and a place chance along with Enrich Delight (Christophe Soumillon), who was an impressive first-up winner over this course and distance.
The race also features fascinating newcomers Russian Emperor, a G3 winner at Ascot who finished seventh in the G1 Derby Stakes at Epsom in its last start, as well as Tsar, a promising son of Kingman who won its last two races in July when racing in Great Britain for trainer John Gosden.
With the depth in this race, it would be wise not to under-estimate Lucky Patch (Matthew Poon), Beauty Smile (Vincent Ho) and Tsar (Derek Leung).
The Club was pleased this week to re-open 16 Off-Course Betting Branches (OCBBs). In keeping with COVID-19 protocols, the decision to open 16 more OCBBs was to reduce the risk of over-crowding while meeting the needs of our customers. The Club will continue to monitor the situation and will make a further announcement regarding arrangements of OCBBs in February.
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