International racing has lost one of its greatest and most influential figures with the sad passing of Prince Khalid Abdullah.
As a measure of his towering influence, Prince Khalid’s famous green, pink and white colours were carried to victory in 118 G1 races around the world, most notably by champions such as the unbeaten Frankel and Enable, who twice won the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
Prince Khalid enjoyed G1 success in Hong Kong, too, where Flintshire won the LONGINES Hong Kong Vase in 2014, evidence of the phenomenal reach of his Juddmonte Farm operation.
For me, Prince Khalid was an amazing owner-breeder. His influence on the global racing community was massive through his studs in UK (Newmarket) and the US (Kentucky) and his high-class racehorses.
The Club expresses its deepest condolences to Prince Khalid’s family. He will be sadly missed.
Returning to Hong Kong, and much like the excitement ahead of the Chinese New Year, the anticipation surrounding the Four-Year-old Classic Series continues to build.
While Not Usual Talent last Sunday ambushed several of the horses building towards the Hong Kong Classic Mile on 24 January and, beyond that, to the Hong Kong Classic Cup and the BMW Hong Kong Derby, a keen focus remains on the emerging stars.
Lucky Patch (Francis Lui) and Enrich Delight (Caspar Fownes) filled the placings, while there was much to like about the performance of Beauty Joy (David Hayes). Enrich Delight ran extremely well after overcoming a minor setback and he will doubtlessly improve from Sunday’s run and the step-up to 1600m will definitely be in his favour.
The overall picture will become clearer still on Sunday week with another opportunity to assess Excellent Proposal, Russian Emperor, Tsar and Beauty Smile. Excellent Proposal was disappointing on face value, but I would not give up on him for the BMW Hong Kong Derby.
When Sky Darci, Torbillon Diamond, Lucky Express and Happy Healthy and others are added, all the ingredients required for a series which, flanked by the return of Golden Sixty for the G1 Stewards’ Cup (1600m) and the running of the G1 Centenary Sprint Cup, will captivate racing enthusiasts over the next 11 weeks.
The Club is indeed fortunate to have such an array of rising talents, hopefully some of whom can emulate – in some small way – the feats of our current standard-bearer, Golden Sixty.
On the subject of Not Usual Talent, it was gratifying to see Tony Piccone’s efforts rewarded with a superb ride for Benno Yung in another example of the value of taking opportunities when presented.
Tuesday morning trials at Sha Tin gave form analysts the chance to run the rule over a host of familiar gallopers and none would have missed the performances of Southern Legend, Rise High and Golden Sixty as the trio bears down on the Stewards’ Cup.
It shapes, for me, as one of the most intriguing races of the New Year period.
At Happy Valley on Wednesday night, the first section of Class 3 Begonia Handicap over 1200 metres is the final race on the programme and a race where you can build a case for a number of horses. Flying Bonus and Scores Of Fun will go forward to set a good pace with Happy Alumni and Capital Star in close attendance from their inside draws.
The Runner will be positioned midfield and comes off a good effort last month over this course and distance. He will get every opportunity and is a win and place chance in his current form.
Happy Alumni and Capital Star have both been preparing for their return at Conghua. Both have had long breaks with Australian import Capital Star making his first ever start in Hong Kong without the benefit of a trial at Happy Valley. This is a genuine concern but he does have the inside draw for Caspar Fownes and Joao Moreira. Happy Alumni has been working well and will be much closer to the pace than he has been in his past runs. I make both horses place chances.
Scores Of Fun is also a place chance. He will be in the mix from the start and is very consistent in this grade.
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