So, finally, after 12 months of intense preparation, LONGINES Hong Kong International Raceday – the Turf World Championships – is here and the hour of reckoning has arrived for the 43 horses entered in the four G1s at Sha Tin on Sunday, 12 December.
Planning for the HKIR has challenged the Club as never before and I am immensely proud of the way our teams have worked so diligently and professionally to enable us to be in a position to showcase Hong Kong racing to the world with four elite contests worth a collective HK$100 million.
We are deeply grateful to have the trust of the HKSAR Government to hold HKIR and I also offer my sincere thanks to the overseas connections for sending their champion horses to Hong Kong and also the overseas jockeys who have committed to visit in trying circumstances.
There is no shortage of themes at Sha Tin on Sunday as Golden Sixty chases history on the same day champion Japanese filly Loves Only You and French master trainer Alain de Royer-Dupre bade farewell to international racing.
To be able to celebrate world-class racing at our showpiece racecourse this weekend is a privilege and I am proud of the arrangements the Club put in place to facilitate private international travel for visiting jockeys and stable staff, stringent hotel quarantine accommodation and domestic travel protocols, not to mention the health measures which were also in place at Happy Valley on Wednesday night for the LONGINES International Jockeys’ Championship.
We hosted seven overseas-based jockeys at the IJC and four of them – Hollie Doyle, Tom Marquand, James McDonald and Mickael Barzalona – made their mark with a win each. But, for the second year in a row, it was Zac Purton’s night as he equalled Douglas Whyte and Frankie Dettori’s record as a three-time IJC winner.
The LONGINES Hong Kong Vase is the first of the four Group 1 races on Sunday and will be run as Race 4 over 2400m and will likely be run at a good to slow pace. Reliable Team should lead under Derek Leung from Ebaiyra, who can be prominent for Christophe Soumillon. Pyledriver, with Martin Dwyer, should be next. Glory Vase with Joao Moreira is working very well and is my first choice for win and place. Pyledriver has settled in well and looks in great shape. He is my second choice with Mogul, who is ridden by Ryan Moore. Mogul was a little bit disappointing after last year’s win in the Vase but will find the good ground he prefers.
The LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint is Race 5 and a very open contest with the pace expected to be good to fast. Computer Patch for Damian Lane and Courier Wonder, with Joao Moreira, should set a strong tempo from Hot King Prawn, who has the advantage of an inside draw for Ryan Moore. Lucky Patch is working well and will be well positioned under Zac Purton and is a win and place chance.
The three Japanese sprinters look very strong. Pixie Knight with Yuichi Fukunaga as his jockey is a very promising three-year-old by Maurice who is a very successful stallion in Japan and Australia after winning three Group 1s in Hong Kong with the Hong Kong Mile and the Champions Mile as well as the Hong Kong Cup.
He is drawn in gate eight and likely be wide which will make it a tough assignment but still can run a place. Resistencia, who finished second to Pixie Knight in the G1 Sprinters Stakes and meets him four pounds better off than last time, will be ridden by Christophe Soumillion. Resistencia should be well positioned and I see her as a win and place chance, too.
Naboo Attack will come with Karis Teetan from the back of the field and see him as a place chance along with Sky Field under Blake Shinn.
The LONGINES Hong Kong Mile will likely be run at a slow place and lacks pace. Waikuku with Zac Purton could take up the lead from John Size stablemate Lucky Express and Antoine Hamelin. Salios for Damian Lane, Indy Champ with Yuichi Fukunaga and Excellent Proposal under Blake Shinn should be prominent.
Golden Sixty is an excellent shape and working very well and is the horse to beat.
Vincent Ho has to be very alert how this race unfolds because gate two in these circumstances can be tricky.
Waikuku is working very well, too, and is a place chance. Danon Kingly with Yuga Kawada is in great from and looks to be in great shape. He is the main danger but in my view the Sha Tin 1600m is on the short side of his best distance and, combined with a slow pace, it makes it more difficult for him but is still a place chance. An interesting outsider is Excellent Proposal, who ran a magnificent race last time out when baulked for a run early in the straight and then, at 350m, was checked before finished strongly.
The LONGINES Hong Kong Cup is the world’s richest 2000m race on turf and it has attracted an extraordinary field of world-class horses.
The pace will be good with Ka Ying Star under Matthew Chadwick and Lei Papale with Christophe Soumillon likely to take up the running ahead of Panfield for Karis Teetan and Hishi Iguazu, who could press forward from his outside gate of 12 for Joao Moreira.
Loves Only You with Yuga Kawada and Bolshoi Ballet and Ryan Moore can get nice runs in behind the speed.
Dubai Honour is the highest-rated horse (121) in the race and looks well. While there is no doubt about his class, the question is whether he can he show his best on the good to firm ground of Sha Tin. Tom Marquand as his jockey showed his ability on Wednesday during the IJC and I see him still as a place chance. The ground concern also applies to Irish 2000 Guineas winner Mac Swiney for Kevin Manning and his last run when finishing third behind Sealiway and Dubai Honour in the British Champions Stakes was good.
Loves Only You is an amazing race mare. She looks good despite her trip to US at the beginning of November which resulted in Breeders Cup Filly & Mare Turf success. These trips can take a lot of a horse but she is still my first choice with Kawada as her regular rider. Lei Papale is settling in better now and impressed in trackwork and I see her as a place chance having the same International Rating of 118 as Loves Only You.
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