Common to both horseracing and life itself, change is the only constant in this amazing city.
That Hong Kong continues to shine in the face of the pandemic is of no surprise to those familiar with the community’s inspiring can-do spirit. As the end of the 2020/21 racing season approaches, it is clear our city’s famed resilience continues to stand us all in good stead.
And it is equally apparent change is afoot. In the space of seven days, from last Sunday’s meeting to next weekend’s Sha Tin fixture, we are witnessing a changing of the guard.
The emergence of fabulous young talents such as the unbeaten Courier Wonder, who is entered for G3 Sha Tin Vase on Sunday, dovetails neatly with the presence in the G1 Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup of Exultant and Time Warp on the same program.
Seven days after Fantastic Treasure eclipsed Golden Sixty’s Class 2 1400m record, Hong Kong’s reigning Horse of the Year Exultant (7yo) and stablemate Time Warp (8yo) figure once more in G1 competition.
They have been marvellous warriors for Tony Cruz with eight G1s between them (Exultant with five, Time Warp with three) and it is remarkable to think Exultant still shares seventh place in the LONGINES World’s Best Racehorse Rankings – a mark he occupies alongside Golden Sixty and seven other younger horses.
At five, Golden Sixty is obviously Hong Kong’s best-performed horse this season with four G1 victories since December for Francis Lui and Vincent Ho – who is jointly ranked No 1 in the LONGINES World’s Best Jockey standings with James McDonald.
As Exultant and Time Warp edge towards the end of decorated careers, it is heartening to watch a broadening band of exciting young horses form behind Golden Sixty.
Apart from Courier Wonder and Fantastic Treasure, who are undefeated after four and five starts respectively, there is a real sense of anticipation building around several other three-year-olds including Carroll Street, Master Eight, Fantastic Way, Killer Bee, Ka Ying Spirit and Winner Method.
As a measure of just how outstanding Courier Wonder and Fantastic Treasure have been in their short careers, they have both shot up the handicaps to marks of 100 and 94, respectively, and both have earned HK$1,000,000 High Achievement Bonuses for winning a Class 2 race or higher with a rating of 80 or higher before turning five.
This season alone, we have seen 10 PPGs (Privately Purchased Griffins) and 13 PPs (Privately Purchased horses) collect the bonus.
Chairman’s Sprint Prize winner Wellington and BMW Hong Kong Derby victor Sky Darci are also in a group of 23 horses to earn the bonus and are still only lightly-raced four-year-olds with rich scope for further success at the elite level.
At Happy Valley on Wednesday night, the Lam Tsuen River Handicap is the last of three consecutive Class 3 races to wrap up the Happy Valley meeting and will be run over 1800 metres. The pace will be only moderate with World Famous (Vincent Ho), Dynamic Eagle (Antoine Hamelin) and Fast Pace (Matthew Chadwick) expected to push forward. None of the three is likely to go too hard in the early stages.
Dynamic Eagle and Bundle Of Delight (Derek Leung) join last-start winners Cheerful Days (Alexis Badel) and Superbella (Joao Moreira) as horses that share a common trait, having recently advanced from Class 4. Superbella is the one which stands out as he won by nearly five lengths last month at the course and distance. Prior to that, he had failed to finish in the top three in each of his 11 starts in Hong Kong. He came here from Great Britain two years ago on a rating of 74, having won two of three races, including one over this distance. He dropped in rating to 52 and starts tonight off a 62 rating after his sensational win last time out. He is a win and place chance coming from midfield.
Golden Spectrum (Zac Purton) has a good record over the course and distance and won off this same mark last season at Happy Valley. He could not see out the 2200 metres in his last start but drops back in trip to his preferred distance. He will get every chance from midfield and is a place chance.
Xiang Bai Qi has drawn the outside gate, which will make things a bit tricky for jockey Karis Teetan. The horse is in sensational form and is a place chance along with Entrusted (Harry Bentley) and Fast Pace, who was placed over the course and distance in March.
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