Analysis of Group races at Sha Tin 2023-24
JUNE
PREMIER CUP (Group Three) 1400m 23 June 2024
The final two group races of the Sha Tin season underlined the context of the season whole when trainer Pierre Ng prepared the winners of the Cup and Plate at Sha Tin on June 23.
Ng’s two winners had come from obscurity to march into group company and each enjoyed a well-earned win in their respective races. Similarly, their trainer had done the same in his second season with a licence.
By January 1, Ng led his fellow trainers by 16 wins and his horses were taking all before them. Francis Lui has whittled this margin back and it took a treble from Ng on Sunday to put himself back in front of the Leading Trainers award.
Mugen, who resumed after two moderate runs last season to win a 1200m Class 3 on November 11, took his record to four wins and four placings when winning the Premier Cup (1400m).
Settled last by jockey Karis Teetan, Mugen was the only one of the six runners capable of overhauling race favourite California Spangle, which had been expertly rated by his rider Brenton Avdulla.
In receipt of 20lbs from the favourite was the difference in the end but Teetan has to be commended for following instructions to the letter and waiting for a split between runners before making his run.
This has been Ng’s mantra with Mugen throughout the season and some of the five-year-old’s lesser runs have been when hooked wide to make his run.
Flying Ace, a model of consistency at 1200m, ran on stoutly for third after being slightly slow away.
PREMIER PLATE (Group Three) 1800m, 23 June 2024
If it was Mugen who looked like being the stable star in the early new year, this was soon put to bed when Galaxy Patch won his fourth race from five starts – all at 1200m – for Ng at Sha Tin on January 13.
Apart from an inexplicable miss on the all-weather track in October, Galaxy Patch’s finishing runs had signalled him as a horse on the way up.
Since then, due to a late call on switching distances to ready him for the Hong Kong Derby in March, Galaxy Patch has been so honest and consistent at every distance up to and including the 2000m of the Derby.
On Sunday, in a rematch with Chancheng Glory after a tight tussle in the Lion Rock Cup, Galaxy Patch proved his emergence with a narrow yet dominant win at 1800m.
Carrying a good horse’s weight of 129lbs, the four-year-old finished too fast for Beauty Joy and Happy Together with Chancheng Glory a length back fourth.
Jockey Vincent Ho had Galaxy Patch second last in the run and, though pulling, he was able to finish too solidly for all in what had turned into a sprint home. With all sections well outside standard time to the 400m mark, it was excusable that an on-pace runner would prevail but Galaxy Patch’s versatility came to the fore.
Atop the best 1200m horse in the race, Ho was able to be patient on his mount and use this brilliance. When he let Galaxy Path down it looked clear that another group win was his.
LION ROCK TROPHY (Group Three) 1600m, 2 June 2024
Galaxy Patch won his first group race when he finished too strongly for another four-year-old, Chancheng Glory in the Lion Rock Trophy (Group Three) at Sha Tin on June 2.
It was Galaxy Patch’s sixth win at his 12th start and, beginning his Hong Kong racing career last October, he has quickly established himself as a horse to follow in the new season.
Having raced once for an 1100m win at Morphettville, South Australia when known as Gulinga Spirit, Galaxy Patch has thrived on an unusual preparation to be competitive in all ranks.
His first three Hong Kong wins were at 1200m and trainer Pierre Ng was content to leave him in sprint company until a Group One second behind California Spangle at 1400m and the field for this year’s Hong Kong Derby lacking a foolproof favourite hastened a quick turn around.
Off this unusual regime, Galaxy Patch made his run from the rear in the Derby but found Massive Sovereign too good on the day by just a neck. Ironically, Massive Sovereign had not come into Derby calculations until the same day as Ng confirmed the change of route.
So the Lion Rock Trophy proved ample reward for a brave galloper whose versatility stands him in good stead to be a force in the major races of the coming season.
Chancheng Glory, was a three-year-old to European breeding time when he won at 1600m on the same day Galaxy Patch made his Hong Kong debut. This proved to be the first of five wins from eight attempts at the Sha Tin 1600m during the season.
Beauty Joy, conceding 13lb and 19lb respectively to the quinella, was honest in third place.
SHA TIN VASE (Group Three) 1200m, 2 June 2024
New blood can often be to the fore in Hong Kong sprinting ranks and the blood doesn’t come much richer than Ka Ying Rising, who took his record to five wins and two seconds from seven starts in the Sha Tin Vase at 1200m on June 2.
A New Zealand-bred three-year-old, Ka Ying Rising made his debut in December last year and has struck this fine winning record with the seconds – both less than a short head away – to the unbeaten Wunderbar.
Carrying the light impost of 115lbs, Ka Ying Rising was given the perfect run by Karis Teetan and proved far too good for Flying Ace and Howdeepisyourlove, both consistent players in similar company at recent efforts.
Trainer David Hayes was particularly pleased with Ka Ying Rising’s 1.08.0 race time, another indicator that this youngster has further wins in store as he rises in grade.
MAY
STANDARD CHARTERED & CHAMPIONS CHATER CUP (Group One) 2400m, 26 May 2024
Hong Kong racing has been well served by its equine champions in recent years and they have, for the most part, kept the region’s races from visiting internationals.
Though Golden Sixty, Romantic Warrior and the sprinter Lucky Sweynesse would never have had the 2400 metres of the Standard Chartered & Champions Chater Cup on their programmes, it is this trio who have done most to ward off the visitors. And what a visitor it was.
Rebel’s Romance came to Sha Tin on 26 May having won seven of his previous nine starts in most major racing jurisdictions except Japan and Australia.
Starting a $1.40 favourite, Rebel’s Romance was taken to the flanks of the pacemaker, Moments in Time, early in the race and thus took one of the only dangers from the race.
After having set a frantic pace in the Queen Mother Memorial Cup at the same distance on 5 May, this was probably the only danger on paper to Rebel’s Romance. If the leader was able to set a funereal pace and then sprint, perhaps the raider would be facing a battle to overcome the deficit?
Not to be. Jockey William Buick, riding for Godolphin and trainer Charlie Appleby, sat second and was able to control everything that happened in Sunday’s Group One. Rebel’s Romance romped in.
The stablemate quinella from the Queen Mother Memorial – La City Blanche and Five G Patch – chased the favourite home but reversed the order. Moments in Time was fourth.
Hong Kong Derby winner Massive Sovereign (6.50 second favourite) was never in it.
His last two runs have been sub-standard and it is hoped that he returns next season in the manner in which he won his first two starts in Hong Kong. He is a much better horse than his last two efforts have shown.
QUEEN MOTHER MEMORIAL CUP (Group Three) 2400 metres, 5 May 2024
Races at 2400 metres are fairly rare in Hong Kong and it takes a certain kind of skill to prepare horses for this one, especially coming near the end of a long season.
Master horseman Tony Cruz fits that bill perfectly and when his charges, La City Blanche and Five G Patch, filled the forecast quinella result in this year’s Queen Mother Memorial Cup at Sha Tin on 5 May, there were few surprised.
Perhaps surprised at the order of finish as La City Blanche was $22 and Five G Patch $3.90 favourite, but it was Cruz’s fourth win in the race in the past 20 years.
Only retired master trainer John Moore has a better record in the same period (five wins).
La City Blanche gave jockey Matthew Chadwick his third win in the race, having won in 2011 on Super Pistachio for Cruz and in 2020 on Chefano for Moore.
Chadwick is a name which doesn’t feature often on the list of major races won in Hong Kong and to win this race for a third time also underlines his skill at the longer distance.
He positioned La City Blanche midfield in the run and the very fast pace set by four-year-olds Moments in Time and Ka Ying Generation ensured a true stayer would win the event. It is here where Cruz came to the fore as his two runners fought out the finish after both being hard ridden to begin their chase approaching the turn.
La City Blanche won by a neck with Unbelievable less than two lengths away third. Despite the pace, Moments in Time held on for fourth, an indicator that he may be a presence in future Hong Kong distance racing.
APRIL
CHAIRMAN’S SPRINT PRIZE (Group One) 1200 metres, 24 April 2024
A fetlock injury sustained in the Sprint Cup prevented Lucky Sweynesse from defending his Chairman’s Sprint title, paving the way for those he had previously beaten to shine.
However, there was a “newcomer” to the sprint ranks. He wasn’t an international entry but a local who had raced with distinction up to 2000 metres during his illustrious career: California Spangle.
He had come back to 1400m to win the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup in March then added to his Group One wins in the Al Quoz Sprint (1200m) in Dubai.
Back in Hong Kong, California Spangle was sent out a $2.40 favourite but could not withstand the finishing run of Invincible Sage in the Chairman’s Sprint.
Invincible Sage was within a half-length of Lucky Sweynesse in the Sprint Cup and those not far behind him – Flying Ace (3rd) and Howdeepisyourlove (4th) – were a similar distance behind him when 4th and 5th respectively last Sunday.
Without detracting from Invincible Sage’s stellar performance, the form sheet underlined the mastery of Lucky Sweynesse in Hong Kong sprinting ranks and I have no doubt – with any luck in running – he would have won back-to-back versions of the Chairman’s Sprint.
However, they don’t pay out on “would haves” and Hugh Bowman gave Invincible Sage the perfect sit behind Victor the Winner and California Spangle before unleashing a strong finishing sprint.
Formerly known as Thronbone in Australia, Invincible Sage has won four and been placed six times in 12 Hong Kong starts and has been expertly handled through the classes by David Hall.
California Spangle ran an honest second and Mugen – being kept in future to 1200m races – ran on fast on a track assisting front-runners to be third.
Consistent rain had fallen on previous days and during the afternoon and this had affected the yielding track by this race. Invincible Sage ran nearly 12 lengths outside standard time for a Sha Tin Group One 1200m race.
CHAMPIONS MILE (Group One) 1600 metres, 24 April 2024
The Champions Mile was race seven on the card and calling the track yielding was probably being kind.
Golden Sixty was the $1.50 favourite and going for a fourth win in this race. But the rain had other ideas. The 26-time winner from 31 starts had every chance in the run but, when he was pulled three-deep on straightening by jockey Vincent Ho, the brilliant acceleration was absent.
This was exacerbated by the opportunistic front-running ride by Zac Purton on Beauty Eternal.
You don’t get to be unquestionably top jockey in Hong Kong without serious ability and this ride was one of Purton’s greatest coups. With the prospect of a dawdling pace and only one known leader – Voyage Bubble – in the Hong Kong (seven) and international (four) entries, Beauty Eternal was sent straight to the front from his outside barrier.
It was the first time he had led in a nine-win, six-times placed, 17-start career and Purton achieved his aim. Rating the horse to the 800m he then eased the tempo markedly from there until the 400m before setting off again.
Beauty Eternal is trained by John Size, who also prepared Electronic Unicorn (2003), Sight Winner (2009) and Contentment (2017) to win the same race. Size’s other runner, Red Lion, held on for second after racing in that position throughout and Voyage Bubble was third.
The first four at the corner maintained these positions to the line, again underlining Purton’s successful tactics.
QUEEN ELIZABETH II CUP (Group One) 2000 metres, 24 April 2024
Sha Tin racegoers had seen their champion succumb in race seven but they cheered hoarse when the “second-best horse” in Hong Kong won the QE II Cup for the third year in a row.
Once again Romantic Warrior prevailed by about a neck but in this race he didn’t get any of the favours afforded at his previous three starts, all resulting in Group One wins.
Jumping from gate 10, he was caught three-wide without cover into the first turn in what was a frantic lead pace set by Japanese visitor, North Bridge.
It took awhile for jockey James McDonald to gain cover and, no sooner had this been achieved, when another Japanese runner – the $5.40 third favourite Prognosis – sprinted around the field from last to get near the lead. Romantic Warrior was pulled out to tail him , then came into the straight on a very wide course.
Despite giving two efforts, Romantic Warrior finished too strongly for Prognosis with the 100 to 1 shot North Bridge – who was entitled to run last after running his first 1200m in 1.12.15 – third.
As they crossed the line McDonald pointed his left index finger at Romantic Warrior and shook his head in disbelief several times. It was an acknowledgement of the cheering crowd and his opinion as to where all the credit lay. To the wonder horse he had ridden.
It was Romantic Warrior’s seventh Group One win of his 14 wins from 17 starts.
His $HK142,756,084 prize collection is great reward for owner Peter Lau Pak Fai, who had been told by trainer Danny Shum when the unraced and un-named gelding was being sold at the Hong Kong International Sale: “You MUST buy this horse.”
Shum has been a master with Romantic Warrior and will travel the horse to Japan for his next quest at greatness.
SPRINT CUP (Group Two) 1200 metres, 7 April 2024
This season, Lucky Sweynesse hasn’t been quite the same dominant sprinter as he was this time last year but he has still managed to win three and run two seconds from seven starts in this campaign.
After a complete “forgot I was even there” run in the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup at 1400m at Sha Tin on 10 March, the five-year-old returned to the winner’s circle under Hugh Bowman on 7 April.
Again unfavoured by the barrier draw, Lucky Sweynesse was eased to third last in the early stages but, contrary to some of his runs this season, he was soon travelling well.
When Bowman took him four wide at the 400m, Lucky Sweynesse was in front of the only other two runners at less than $10 in the market and the race winner was beyond doubt.
He drew clear of a brave Invincible Sage ($12) and the second horses’s stablemate Flying Ace ($10) to win comfortably.
While not in the same form as last season, Lucky Sweynesse also did it hard in the same race last year, before overhauling Wellington to win by a length.
He then went to the Group One Chairman’s Sprint Prize where he waltzed in.
Who would dare question that he will do it again? His 1200m career record is 21 starts for 14 wins and five minor placings. It’s a hard CV to question?
CHAIRMAN’S TROPHY (Group Two) 1600 metres, 7 April 2024
On 19 June 2022, Beauty Joy announced himself as one of the most promising horses in Hong Kong when he won the Premier Cup at 1400 metres.
Stewards’ report: When questioned, Z Purton stated that BEAUTY JOY began only fairly and then became unbalanced on jumping as a result of being bumped by SILVER EXPRESS. He said this resulted in BEAUTY JOY losing ground and having to race at the rear of the field in the early stages. He said BEAUTY JOY was not fluent in its action in the early stages and despite being ridden along was reluctant to improve its position to join onto the main body of the field. He said he continued to ride the horse along after the 1300 Metres, however, BEAUTY JOY, which was racing on its wrong lead leg, would not improve its position. He added that prior to the first turn BEAUTY JOY commenced to travel more comfortably and passing the 800 Metres commenced to travel better. He said he continued to ride BEAUTY JOY along and after shifting the horse to the outside of runners in the early part of the Straight BEAUTY JOY then finished the race off strongly. He said he was unable to explain BEAUTY JOY’s racing manners in the early stages of today’s race other than the horse has at times been difficult to manage in its races.
Checked soon after the start, Beauty Joy was tailed off and looked a hopeless $2 favourite. Jockey Zac Purton refused to panic and allowed his mount to settle. In the home straight, Beauty Joy swamped his rivals and won in emphatic fashion.
That was the last time he appeared in the winners’ circle. Twenty starts of hard pulling, bad luck and consistent at times form was not enough.
Then on 7 April 2024, Brenton Avdulla hopped on board. Fresh from winning the Dubai Al Quoz Sprint (Group One) on California Spangle for trainer Tony Cruz, Avdulla had Beauty Joy travelling well in the Chairman’s Trophy, Group Two, at Sha Tin.
Beauty Joy finished too strongly for $2.10 favourite Beauty Eternal. He was back in form.
It was Cruz’s 1500th winner as a trainer, a brilliant performance from the man who had previously been perhaps the finest home-grown jockey Hong Kong racing has ever produced.
Beauty Eternal’s stablemate, Red Lion, sat three-wide throughout and finished third.
MARCH
THE FOUR-YEAR-OLD SERIES
HONG KONG CLASSIC MILE 1600 metres, 2 February 2024
There was only one stand-out four-year old leading into the classic series and Helios Express didn’t let anyone down with a dominant performance to beat Helene Feeling and Star Mac at 1600 metres on February 2.
Starting at $1.30, Helios Express was always in the box seat and won easily for jockey Hugh Bowman and trainer John Size.
The son of Toronado took his record to five wins and two minor placings from seven Hong Kong starts but despite the ease of the win not all were convinced he had a mortgage on the next two legs.
HONG KONG CLASSIC CUP 1800 metres, 3 March 2024
There had been some hard luck stories in the “mile” and like many others in the race, Helios Express was on trial at 1800 metres but he prevailed again on March 3.
Drawn well again, Bowman was able to give the $1.60 a perfect ride but things looked a bit dicey in running when the favourite began to pull against his rider.
Bowman was able to extricate from a pocket in the straight to run down bold front-runner Chancheng Glory with Ensued, another Size runner, third.
The winning jockey sounded strong warnings about Helios Express pulling hard in running and reading between the lines the Derby wasn’t going to be anything like the first two legs for this talented galloper.
Chancheng Glory refused to give in when challenged and was only beaten a short head; Ensued had been caught wide all the way and kept coming; and Star Mac and Chill Chibi made up many lengths in the home straight.
Then, an hour after the cup, further mystery was thrown into the upcoming Derby when the relatively unheralded Massive Sovereign made his Hong Kong debut.
Racing first up at the 2000m, Massive Sovereign made a wide run from the 500m and accelerated to the front to record an easy win. It was an impressive Derby trial.
HONG KONG DERBY 2000 metres, 24 March 2024
The best-laid plans in sport can sometimes mean nothing. Occasionally fortune smiles on those who feel they have been passed over.
Champion jockey Zac Purton thought so when Ryan Moore was preferred as Ensued’s Derby rider and then he lost the Helios Express ride when Bowman won the Classic Mile while Purton was unavailable.
Feeling he had been left on a limb, Purton did his homework and discovered Massive Sovereign doing all the right things for veteran trainer Dennis Yip.
The two teamed up for a win at the Derby track and distance on Classic Cup day and it soon became apparent that here was the genuine article.
When Helios Express, Massive Sovereign and Ensued all drew wide in the Derby, it was reasoned the impact would be felt least by Yip’s horse.
Purton eased Massive Sovereign across heels to sit third last in the run and bided his time while Kay Ying Generation ($40) set a fast pace in front.
Another bit of “new blood” in the race, Galaxy Patch – whose form up to 1400 metres had been superb and was racing in the Derby as a change of course by trainer Pierre Ng – was back with Massive Sovereign.
Helios Express had also been eased across the back of the field by Bowman but was able to improve a few lengths along the rail in the early stages. However, he was getting nothing like the passage he had received in the first two legs.
Jockey Andrea Atzeni went for home on Ka Ying Generation and there was a huge gap to most of the fancied horses in the betting.
Though the leader kept up a solid gallop the class emerged as Massive Sovereign and Galaxy Patch overhauled him on the line. The margins were a neck by a neck and the time of 1.59.85 was in Romantic Warrior territory.
The Derby is always a great form race to follow but one suspects the first three place getters are more than just horses to follow, they are horses headed for much bigger things.
MARCH
QUEEN’S SILVER JUBILEE CUP (Group One) 1400 metres, 10 March 2024
California Spangle belied the worst form of his illustrious racing record when he led throughout to win the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup (Group One) at Sha Tin on March 10.
It was the second Group One of the six-year-old’s career which has netted 12 wins and eight minor placings from 24 starts, with the four misses the last four references on Sunday’s form page.
Since winning first up at 1600 metres in October, California Spangle finished 4th, 13th, 7th and 4th and looked a shadow of the horse Hong Kong racing fans know and love.
However, Brenton Avdulla got the best out of the gelding as he always looked like holding the challengers to win by a length from Galaxy Patch and Red Lion, two of the worst-handicapped horses in the set-weight feature.
That doesn’t mean California Spangle beat nothing as Beauty Eternal and Lucky Sweynesse were the next two home after finishing on from well back at the home turn.
Lucky Sweynesse ($2.20) and Beauty Eternal ($2.90) settled further back than many thought and their riders seemed conscious of out positioning the other. Meanwhile the bird had flown.
California Spangle’s first Group One win came in the Hong Kong Golden Mile on International Day in 2022. In that race he held off undisputed champion, Golden Sixty.
Galaxy Patch, rated on 99 and conceding 33 points to the winner, ran on strongly at his first try at 1400m. How he is penalised for the Group One placing will be interesting to note but the four-year-old in his first preparation showed he is more than capable in any company.
FEBRUARY
HONG KONG GOLD CUP (Group One) 2000 metres, 25 February 2024
In golf they say it is not “How?” but “How many?” Romantic Warrior is adding to his illustrious career record in just such a manner, only in his case it is not by “how” he wins his races but by “how far”.
In a combined total of two necks and a head, Romantic Warrior has won three of the most prestigious races of his illustrious career – the Cox Plate in Australia (October), the Hong Kong Cup (December) and the Hong Kong Gold Cup (February) – at his past three starts.
At each triumph he has received a brilliant ride from jockey James McDonald and cynics may say without the super New Zealand-born, Australian-based hoop aboard he may not have won any of these three races.
But you wouldn’t say that around McDonald, trainer Danny Shum or the horse’s legion of fans. Romantic Warrior may take offence too?
The six-year-old by Acclamation has won 13 times from 18 starts and the five losses include two close seconds to undisputed champion Golden Sixty and solidly-based excuses at his other three.
McDonald, a master horseman who genuinely loves the horse, has ridden Romantic Warrior seven times for six wins and the defeat was in Australia’s Turnbull Stakes last October, when even the man taking tickets at the gate knew something had gone wrong with the horse’s preparation.
It was to Shum’s credit how he resurrected Romantic Warrior from that poor run to win the Cox Plate and even more kudos was due when he brought the gelding home for his December HK Cup win, balancing quarantine conditions with keeping the horse fit.
On Sunday, there were no such problems but Romantic Warrior had to pull out every inch of his greatness to hold off Voyage Bubble by a neck with more than three lengths to Nimble Nimbus heading the rest.
Voyage Bubble, given a superb tactical ride by Zac Purton, was just found wanting when it mattered. The five-year-old has emerged as a genuine 1600-2000m star and it was a treat for all who viewed the race to see two former Hong Kong Derby winners slug it out to the post.
CENTENARY VASE (Group Three) 1800 metres, 4 February 2024
The Group Three 1800m handicap has produced a mixture of top weight and lightweight results in the past 20 years and it was those at the bottom of the handicap who featured in 2024.
Five of the first six horses to cross the line were allotted 115lbs with Nimble Nimbus, an honest-performing six-year-old from Ricky Yiu’s stable, prevailing by a head from Five G Patch.
Only the brave Straight Arron with 135lbs could match it with the lightweights, finishing third, less than one length from the winner.
Jockey Andrea Atzeni settled Nimble Nimbus in a forward position but got onto heels at the 1200m mark and drifted back to worse than midfield. However, while several favoured runners who had better runs in transit were being badly held up in the straight, Atzeni made his move between the pack to gain the lead and hold off the strong-finishing Five G Patch.
Nimble Nimbus has either won or finished within three lengths of the winner at 23 of his 24 starts prior to the Centenary Vase and victory was just reward for his honesty. The Vase win was his sixth in Hong Kong from 27 starts.
JANUARY
CENTENARY SPRINT CUP (Group One) 1200 metres 28 January 2024
If you could cast your mind back to the first meeting of this year’s season, there was a Class 1 at 1200 metres where Victor the Winner was able to walk his rivals and upset the $1.20 favourite Lucky Sweynesse in the process.
Few remembered Sunday as the five-year-old started at $38 and was allowed to get away with very slow early sections before winning the Centenary Sprint Cup (1200 metres) in easy fashion. Lucky Sweynesse ($1.30) was a luckless sixth.
Jockey Derek Leung, riding Victor the Winner for the first time, took advantage of no other speed in the event and crossed from barrier 10 to lead. Leung then dictated the pace to his liking with only other long shots Whizz Kid and Sight Success in the next positions.
Meanwhile Lucky Sweynesse was further back in the field than usual and stuck in a traffic jam as the pace slowed. He really only competed in the final 100 metres but the rest had gone.
To underline the forget I ran-nature of his performance, the two he beat in December’s Hong Kong Sprint at 1200 metres – Lucky With You and Wellington – filled the placings behind Victor the Winner.
Trainer Danny Shum had won the Centenary Sprint Cup previously but it was a long time ago (2006 and 2007) with Scintillation.
The trainer has handled Victor the Winner for seven wins from his 14 starts and will be hoping jockeys and punters forget how well he goes when dawdling at his own pace in future 1200m races?
STEWARDS’ CUP (Group One) 1600 metres, 21 January 2024
There was no Golden Sixty, there was no Romantic Warrior and California Spangle was a shadow of his former self when eight runners assembled for this year’s Stewards’ Cup.
In 2023, Hong Kong’s greatest-ever horse Golden Sixty started second favourite behind Romantic Warrior and showed the best acceleration of the three main protagonists to win the Stewards’ Cup. Romantic Warrior and California Spangle were brave in second and third but no match for the champion at a mile.
This year, the result was even more definite when the $1.90 favourite Voyage Bubble easily accounted for second favourite Beauty Eternal with Beauty Joy third.
Golden Sixty was absent due to injury; Romantic Warrior is being kept at 2000 metres and beyond; and California Spangle faded to fourth after a comfortable lead.
The winner, Voyage Bubble, was finally the public’s horse.
So long a high-achieving performer in top races, he had been at long odds at his two wins in the 2023 four-year-old series and $31 when second to Golden Sixty in the Hong Kong Mile (1600m) in December.
His Derby win of March 2023 provided more questions than answers as he sat wide in a funereal pace to win narrowly. While the wide run was full of merit, there were plenty of other runners with excuses and Voyage Warrior probably didn’t get the accolade he deserved?
In the Stewards’ Cup, there was no doubting his supremacy. Jockey James McDonald had the five-year-old beautifully placed throughout and Voyage Bubble won with conviction.
It was trainer Ricky Yiu’s first win in the prestigious January Group One.
McDonald continued his hit-and run captures of Hong Kong group races, much like the Sydney-based rider’s success in Melbourne spring carnivals in Australia.
BAUHINIA SPRINT (Group Three) 1000 metres, 7 January 2024
It took 20 years and a totally different profile horse for veteran horseman Tony Cruz to train another Bauhinia Sprint winner but Whizz Kid proved too good for eight others at Sha Tin on 7 January.
Cruz, one of Hong Kong racing’s greatest home-grown products as a jockey then trainer, last won the Group Three January sprint with Silent Witness in 2005.
For good measure, Silent Witness – ridden on both occasions by Felix Coetzee – had also won the event in 2004.
While modern-day racegoers laud the exploits of Golden Sixty and Beauty Generation in not-too-distant seasons, once there was a legend called Silent Witness.
The son of El Moxie won his first 17 starts in Hong Kong and was the darling of his era.
Brilliantly placed by Cruz, the gelding won all his races under 130lbs or less and tasted defeat for the first time when tried at 1600m in The Champions Mile in May 2005. Beaten a short head, it was to no slouch as Bullish Luck prevailed in the photo finish.
There was no photo finish required for Whizz Kid who sat outside race leader Victor the Winner and drew away to win Sunday’s rendition of the 1000m scamper.
Invincible Sage, attempting four straight this season, was the only runner to make significant ground on the winner.
Whizz Kid was ridden by Harry Bentley, riding at his second meeting since a lengthy suspension for interference.
Noted more for his Happy Valley wins, Whizz Kid last won at Sha Tin at the corresponding early January meeting in 2002, winning a Class 4 under Jo Moreira.
The five-year-old has been very consistent despite winning only five races from his 25 starts. In 23 of these efforts, Whizz Kid has won or finished less than three lengths from the winner.
Bettors wanted nothing to do with him on Sunday and he started at $25, providing another big race blowout which has been the norm in Group races this season.
CHINESE CLUB CHALLENGE CUP (Group Three) 1400 metres, 1 January, 2024
The first group race of the New Year reverted to type when Taj Dragon demolished a small but tidy field in the Chinese Club Challenge Cup over 1400 metres at Sha Tin on 1 January.
Since 2004, 14 of the races 20 winners have carried less than 123lbs but was the race history beginning to change after Healthy Happy (132lbs, 2022) and Lucky Sweynesse (135lbs, 2023) had won the last two renditions?
Not so, according to Taj Dragon when Andrea Atzeni let him go in a wide trajectory rounding Sha Tin’s home turn and collared the leaders to record an easy win.
Taj Dragon was weighted at the minimum of 116lbs and only California Spangle (top weight with 135lbs) carried more than 123lbs.
However, that was considered little burden by punters who were keen to back the 11-times winner and he started favourite.
Despite being crunched by Healthy Happy at the 200m mark, California Spangle was weakening from the contest at this stage. His last two runs easily rank as the worst of his illustrious 22-start career.
Red Lion, another runner well in the betting as $3.40 second favourite, was even more harshly interfered with in this incident and dropped out to a conspicuous last.
Taj Dragon, despite being massively disadvantaged by the handicap conditions when compared with his pre-race rating, was still solidly supported late in betting and continued the stellar run of tyro trainer Pierre Ng in his second season with a licence.
Ng has trained 40 winners from 228 starters – a 17.5% winning strike rate – and leads the trainers’ premiership by 16 wins.
More than half his 228 runners (122) have finished in the first five horses in all races in what has been an astonishing season start.
Taj Dragon has now raced nine times at 1400m at Sha Tin for five wins and two seconds.
Healthy Happy, whose rider Alexei Badel was suspended for causing the interference to California Spangle and Red Lion, ran second in the race for the second consecutive year, after his 2002 cup win.
Beauty Joy did well to run third despite once again putting on his hard-pulling antics early and mid-race.
DECEMBER
INTERNATIONAL DAY
HONG KONG VASE (Group One) 2400 metres, 10 December 2023
Veteran French horseman Andre Fabre pulled off a massive betting plunge when Junko won the Hong Kong Vase (Group One) over 2400 metres on 10 December 2023.
With less than five minutes remaining until the off, Junko was sitting on the fourth line of betting at about $12 and was many points longer than the three more fancied, Lebensstil, Warm Heart and Zeffiro. With HK$27m in the win pool and all eight runners set in the gates, Junko came into $5.5 and supporters would have been disappointed when he was slow out of the machine.
None of this mattered in the home straight as Junko, under a searching three-wide run from the 850m by Maxime Guyon, swamped his opposition to win by a length from Zeffiro (Japan) with Warm Heart (Ireland) third.
Fabre, who turned 78 the day before the race, had previously won the vase with Flintshire in 2014 and Borgia (1999).
The scratching of West Wind Blows on race morning robbed the event of its likely front runner and the first half of the race was run at a farcical pace for a Group One. The first 1200 metres was ambled in 17 seconds outside standard time for the class and distance at Sha Tin.
HONG KONG SPRINT (Group One) 1200 metres, 10 December 2023
Lucky Sweynesse won the race that eluded his all-conquering performances in the previous season when he sprinted clear of all comers to win the Hong Kong Sprint (Group One) over 1200 metres on 10 December 2023.
Jockey Zac Purton gave the short-priced favourite a cosy run in behind the leaders but all was not well approaching the 300 metre marker when he could not gain clear running. With what looked like a difficult task ahead, Purton switched the five-year-old outside Victor the Winner and once he saw clear air, Lucky Sweynesse produced the kind of brilliance so often expected of him.
Purton could have been excused for feeling a sense of deja vu as he shouldered much of the blame for Lucky Sweynesse’s sixth in the previous rendition of the race.
That unplaced run sat between an otherwise seven straight wins and was the only time the gelding has finished further back than third in 21 starts (15 wins).
Trainer Manfred Man must take great credit for bringing Lucky Sweynesse to his peak after he lost a few fans in his lead-up races. Though winning one and running two seconds, Lucky Sweynesse did not appear to be as dominant to the eye as in his previous season.
Lucky With You, at level weights but conceding 34 ratings points to the winner, ran his best race to finish ahead of perennial achiever and last year’s winner Wellington.
Wellington must be heartily sick of Lucky Sweynesse? The seven-year-old tries his heart out every run but is usually found about one length inferior every time.
HONG KONG MILE (Group One) 1600 metres, 10 December 2023
Either you had to witness it to believe it or you couldn’t understand the fuss because he has done it so often but Golden Sixty helped lift the roof off the Sha Tin grandstand on Sunday 10 December 2023.
Drawn the outside of 14 and racing first-up the eight-year-old stormed to the lead soon after entering the straight before easily winning the Hong Kong Mile (Group One) over 1600 metres.
It was Golden Sixty’s 26th win at his 30th start and his tenth Group One success, putting him in rare air with some of the greats of world racing history.
Trainer Francis Lui deserves a medal for courage in completely changing the horse’s preparation profile and racing him first-up against international all comers in Hong Kong’s biggest mile race.
Though never beaten first up in his life, Golden Sixty has always had a lead-up race – which he usually wins – in top-shelf local company before fronting up to his major assignment.
Not so this year but it made little difference. In fact, it was probably the champion’s most impressive performance in the calendar year, though he has twice defeated another quality animal, Romantic Warrior, in that time.
In 2022, Golden Sixty ran a neck second to California Spangle in the Mile after being outpaced when the sprint went on at the 600 metre mark. Unable to overhaul the quality winner, denied him the third leg of what would have been four successive wins in the international feature.
Jockey Vincent Ho knew what he had beneath him on Sunday and also on 31 March 2019 when Golden Sixty won at his debut. The local rider has never been off the gelding’s back in every run since.
Derby winner Voyage Bubble showed he is always effective on the big stage with a well-beaten but game second and Japanese visitor Namur filled third.
HONG KONG CUP (Group One) 2000 metres, 10 December 2023
Trainer Francis Lui’s courage lasted as a great story for less than 40 minutes when the Danny Shum-trained Romantic Warrior won his second successive Hong Kong Cup (Group One) over 2000 metres.
Piloted by James McDonald whose centimetre perfect ride was necessary in a very tight finish, Romantic Warrior won by a short head from Ireland-trained Luxembourg with Hishi Iguazu of Japan a further neck back third.
Before winning last year’s race by nearly five lengths, Romantic Warrior had been given a winning pipe opener in a local Group Two at 2000 metres.
This year Shum raised the bar much more than one notch by travelling his star to Australia for the Cox Plate (2050 metres), the nation’s premier weight-for-age race.
The preparation didn’t go according to plan but Shum and his staff – with McDonald giving progress reports – returned the horse to something like his best. With another outstanding McDonald ride, Romantic Warrior won the race in a close photo from the fast-finishing Mr Brightside.
That event was on 28 October and in the ensuing six weeks, Romantic Warrior was travelled back to home and spent time in quarantine, to be readied for Sha Tin’s most important 2000 metre race.
Before the race, Shum issued a word of caution. Romantic Warrior was not 100 per cent. He was content with the five-year-old’s condition but uncertain of what to expect, given his flight and quarantine time.
When McDonald urged Romantic Warrior to a clear lead in the straight these words seemed unconfident as he looked set to win easily. However in the last 50 metres, horses he had beaten off and others coming began to make big inroads into the lead. McDonald pushed the head down on the line to record a famous win.
Shum’s courage and that of owner Peter Lau Pak Fai, has given a road map for future Hong Kong stars to venture to Australia and match the quality of Sha Tin racing against that of Flemington and Randwick.
NOVEMBER
JOCKEY CLUB SPRINT (Group Two) 1200 metres, 19 November 2023
Lucky Sweynesse overcame the short-priced favourite jinx in this season’s group races when he showed all his true grit to beat Victor the Winner in the Jockey Club Sprint (Group Two) over 1200 metres on 19 November 2023.
Starting $1.30 favourite and carrying 128lbs in the set weights feature, it took every centimetre of the Sha Tin straight to overhaul the leader but overhaul he did.
While not as convincing as his previous season’s sprint dominance, Lucky Sweynesse overcame genuine excuses at his first two runs this campaign to win his 14th race from 20 starts.
It was the five-year-old’s second win in the feature race, having won the same race last year (under 123lbs) by a similar margin from Lucky Patch.
From this first win in Group company, Lucky Sweynesse then ran unplaced in the Group One Hong Kong Sprint (a race in which jockey Zac Purton conceded his fault in the defeat) before winning his next six runs, including three at Group One.
While to the eye Lucky Sweynesse has not been as convincing this preparation, the fact he narrowly won today’s race in a similar result to 2022, may augur well for his next run.
JOCKEY CLUB MILE (Group Two) 1600 metres, 19 November 2023
Breaking the jinx of odds-on flops was short-lived when Beauty Eternal won the Jockey Club Mile (Group Three) over 1600 metres, with $1.70 favourite California Spangle fourth in the five-horse field.
Punters were spared some despair as the winner was strong in the betting at $2.50, though he had to survive a late rally from Beauty Joy ($11) to win by a short head.
Beauty Eternal cruised into the race looking as though he would win easily but Beauty Joy also made the most of the kamikaze early speed to make his late rally.
The first 1200 metres of the race was run in 1.10.17, almost 1 second faster than standard for Sha Tin 1600m group races.
California Spangle worked hard to cross Healthy Happy and Voyage Bubble and the three made a duel of the race until the home turn with each of their three riders seemingly changing their mind about tactics at various stages leading to the turn.
This left Beauty Eternal perfectly poised behind them and jockey Zac Purton did not let any one down.
Beauty Eternal has now won eight times (with four minor placings) in 12 starts since making his debut for trainer John Size in October 2022.
It was Size’s 1503rd winner in Hong Kong after reaching a milestone number earlier in the afternoon with Raging Blizzard. He followed this with Helios Express and Ensued before Beauty Eternal rounded out four winners on the programme for the master horseman.
Beauty Eternal, a five-year-old by Starspangledbanner, is raced by Patrick Kwok Ho Chuen, who looks twice blessed with a champion miler. He also raced the venerable Beauty Generation, an 18-times winner from 34 starts and more than $HK106m in stake money.
JOCKEY CLUB CUP (Group Two) 2000 metres, 19 November 2023
Straight Arron vindicated the pre-race confidence of his trainer with a comfortable win from Sword Point and Money Catcher in the Jockey Club Cup (2000 metres).
As the horses were milling behind the barrier, trainer Caspar Fownes was being interviewed and asked how he rated his horse’s chance after three reasonably modest runs in this campaign.
“I’ll be disappointed if he doesn’t win,” was the confident retort and jockey Vincent Ho did his part with a perfect ride.
Ho, who had been serving a suspension while Straight Arron raced at shorter distances at his previous two runs, scored his third win from five rides on the Fastnet Rock five-year-old.
In complete contrast to the “Mile” run earlier, the early pace was pedestrian with the first 800 metres run at nearly two seconds (about 12 lengths) outside of standard. When this tempo picked up noticeably in the next 800m of the event, Ho was able to improve Straight Arron’s position to be within striking distance before the turn.
Despite his sound win, it would be difficult to see any participants of this race featuring on the podium at the Hong Kong International Races on 10 December.
SA SA LADIES PURSE (Group Three) 1800 metres, 5 November 2023
Jockey Derek Leung and trainer Manfred Mann combined to win the feature race with the very consistent Encountered, when the Irish-bred four-year-old won the Sa Sa Ladies Purse (Group Three) over 1800 metres at Sha Tin on 5 November, 2023.
Encountered’s win was his fourth from six starts since unsuccessfully contesting the last two legs of the four-year-old series last February and March.
He had also run a last-start second behind California Spangle and beating home Beauty Eternal in the Group Two Sha Tin Trophy (1600m) in October.
Encountered’s fellow place getters that day sit very high in Hong Kong’s list of best gallopers so the form looked good enough for a slight step back to Group Three.
However, punters ignored the consistency and the previous smart company shared on the form sheet by allowing Encountered to drift to $12.
After Leung gave him the perfect run in behind the leaders, Encountered won comfortably from Champion Dragon ($11) and La City Blanche ($8).
Much of the reason for the long price of the winner was the appearance of Super Sunny Sing, which started the $1.80 favourite.
In February, when Encountered was being thrown in the deep end against the best four-year-olds in Hong Kong, the gelding had finished more than eight lengths behind Super Sunny Sing at equal weights in the Hong Kong Classic Cup at the same track and distance as the Sa Sa Ladies Purse.
In Sunday’s race, Super Sunny Sing seemed perfectly handicapped receiving 10lbs from Encountered and these two form references made his chances look irresistible.
However, being cast three-wide from his outside draw and being at the back of the field in the muddling tempo of the event, were enough reasons for Super Sunny Sing to not show his often devastating finishing burst. He finished sixth, 3.5 lengths in arrears but should not lose any admirers on his display.
For Leung and Man it was their first Sa Sa Ladies Purse win.
Man, trainer of the accomplished sprinter Lucky Sweynesse, has done a sterling job with Encountered, taking him from a July 2022 win on a 63 rating to a peak rating of 114 after Sunday’s win.
OCTOBER
THE PREMIER BOWL (Group Three) 1200 metres, 22 October 2023
For the second week in a row, an odds-on favourite succumbed in a Group race when Sight Success won the Premier Bowl (Group Three) over 1200 metres on 22 October, 2023.
In an exciting finish, Sight Success ($24) beat the $1.40 chance Lucky Sweynesse by a short head. Duke Wai ($27) was a length away third.
California Spangle had upset $1.80 favourite Beauty Eternal in the G2 on 15 October and favourite backers limped back to the totalisator windows again a week later.
The scratching of Stoltz, another $20-plus runner, at the barrier, reduced the field to five and threw pre-race tactical discussions into the irrelevant zone.
Stoltz, a noted 1000m speed influence, was expected to put pressure on leader and clear second favourite, Victor the Winner ($2.60), allowing Lucky Sweynesse a sit in fourth position.
Small fields often produce upset results and a superb tactical manoeuvre by jockey Brenton Avdulla paved the way to his narrow success on the winner.
Rather than sit third on the rails, Avdulla angled away from the fence from barrier one early in the event, forcing Lucky Sweynesse to work just that little bit more in moving into second position outside the leader.
Shouldering 135lbs, Lucky Sweynesse put paid to Victor the Winner as they straightened but Sight Success finished strongly to collar him at the winning post.
It was Avdulla’s second win of the season and he explained post-race that he was 0 for 50 when last in Hong Kong (late in the previous season) so was aware how hard it is to break through in the competitive jockey ranks.
In 2022-23, Avdulla finished with three winners but also rode a very broad statistical discrepancy of 44 seconds, thirds and fourths. It was an indication that he would make it in Hong Kong because many of his rides were in the less-wanted sector of the market.
Sight Success is trained by John Size and it was also his second win for the season. Conversely to Avdulla, Size has little yet to prove in Hong Kong and has won the trainers’ premiership 12 times.
THE SHA TIN TROPHY (Group Two) 1600 metres, 15 October 2023
Hong Kong’s third-best racehorse, California Spangle, belied pre-race fitness concerns when he led throughout to comfortably win the Sha Tin Trophy (Group 2) over 1600 metres on 15 October, 2023.
The “soft” tip for California Spangle – in my opinion only shaded by Golden Sixty and Romantic Warrior as the best-performed gallopers in Hong Kong – saw him start at the lucrative price of $4.40.
It was only the second time in a 19-start career that California Spangle had raced at a longer price than $3.20.
The five-year-old Starspangledbanner gelding led throughout under Hugh Bowman to beat Encountered by half a length with $1.80 favourite Beauty Eternal a further half length back.
Before the race, media speculation about the winner’s gross weight and a barrier trial which had disappointed some form pundits, came before trainer Tony Cruz’s less-than effusive assessment of his stable star’s progress. Cruz believed California Spangle would definitely derive benefit from his first-up run.
However, this was all less vital when Bowman was allowed to run his first 1200m in three lengths outside of standard and then sprint home.
California Spangle won the same race in 2022 and has never finished further back than third at 19 starts. It was Cruz’s fourth win in the race since 2003 with California Spangle’s double adding to Thumbs Up (2010) and California Memory (2011).
Encountered returned to form at his pet distance range. His last seven starts at 1600 and 1650m have yielded five wins and two seconds.
Beauty Eternal would have lost no fans with an honest third. He also has not finished further back than third in 11 starts (seven wins) since making his debut at Sha Tin on 9 October last year.
THE NATIONAL DAY CUP (Group Three) 1000 metres, 1 October 2023
Specialists are fairly common in horse racing and 1000 metre specialists stand out somewhat more than others.
Hong Kong has had some wonderful short-course sprinters but some have quietly gone about their business without attracting too much fanfare.
So when Stoltz won the National Day Cup (Group Three) over 1000 metres at Sha Tin on 1 October, 2023, it was just reward for building a specialists’ profile.
Ridden by Zac Purton, Stoltz prevailed narrowly from Adios to win his first group race and punters did not miss him, sending him out as the $1.90 favourite.
It was Stoltz’s sixth win from 10 starts at the distance in Hong Kong. He has also run three seconds, all beaten by less than a neck. Purton has been on Stoltz at all of his wins from only eight rides on the gelding.
Study the six-year-old’s short-course form in Australia before arriving in Francis Lui’s yard and it is in a similar vein. Three starts, two wins and a second, beaten 0.19 lengths.
It adds to a 1000m record of 13 starts for eight wins, four seconds and one unplaced (when he pulled up lame). That’s a great statistic to have on any curriculum vitae.
The National Day Cup win was Stoltz’s first win when racing first up. He settled at the quarters of race leader, Kurpany, before holding out Adios, which had trailed the favourite throughout.
It was Purton’s second National Day Cup, having won on Super Wealthy last year.
SEPTEMBER
THE CELEBRATION CUP (Group Three), 1400 metres, 27 September 2023
Bettors missed the statistical advantage held by Healthy Happy before he led throughout to win The Celebration Cup (Group 3) at Sha Tin on 27 September, 2023.
Healthy Happy, a seven-year-old, had raced first up in three campaigns – winning two and being second to acknowledged champion Lucky Sweynesse at the other.
A noted front-runner, Healthy Happy was the accepted leader against his five rivals. Jockey Alexi Badel was able to rate him in front to the point where those behind him had little chance to overtake him in the run to the line – the first 600 metres equal to eight lengths outside standard.
This set up the win.
Healthy Happy started the longest-priced runner at $9.30, before holding off favourite Circuit Stellar by more than a length.
It was trainer Frankie Lor’s first win in the opening group race of the season.
Healthy Happy, who raced as Leviathan in NSW Australia, won at his first start in Hong Kong on 11 October 2020 before continuing the campaign winning the 1800 metre, middle-leg of the Four-Year-Old series. He then ran sixth in the BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) behind Sky Darci.
Last season, he failed to win but ran hard-trying placings, all at 1400m, behind Lucky Sweynesse (twice) and another seemingly headed for bigger things, Beauty Eternal, who won his seventh race from 10 starts that day.
I WRIGHT 