Graham Cunningham marks your card for the four Group Ones and the undercard at the Hong Kong International Races meeting at Sha Tin on Sunday, live on Sky Sports Racing.
Time for the stars to shine as LONGINES HKIR day finally dawns
Where to begin in ranking the seductive storylines of this year’s LONGINES Hong Kong International races?
Joao Moreira aims to bring down the curtain on a spellbinding HK career aboard three Japanese stars.
The Magic Man’s old foe Zac Purton bids for a record tenth HKIR success on leading homegrown hopes Lucky Sweynesse and California Spangle.
Ryan Moore aims for a fourth Vase win with Aidan O’Brien aboard Stone Age and a second Sprint success aboard Richard Gibson’s local hero Wellington.
Japan comes loaded for bear with a huge team headed by leading Cup contenders Panthalassa and Jack D’Or.
Romantic Warrior leads the home challenge for the Cup under recently crowned World’s Best Jockey James McDonald, while dual HK Horse of the Year Golden Sixty is the star attraction of the week again as he bids to unleash his dazzling acceleration to snag a third consecutive Mile win under Vincent Ho.
Add in the biggest HK crowd since pre-pandemic times and the stage is set for a sensational Sha Tin Sunday – so let’s hope the following hints prove profitable for a ten-race Sky Sports Racing card with the four G1 contests jumping at 6.10, 6.50, 8.00 and 8.40 respectively.
6.10: LONGINES HONG KONG VASE (£2.3m)
Is Glory Vase still the same horse who has won this twice?
The Japanese star beat subsequent King George hero Pyledriver handsomely twelve months ago under Moreira and will be very hard to beat if he can hit that level again but this seemingly delicate Vase has only come off the mantelpiece twice since and, at seven, it’s fair to ask if the clock is ticking.
But settling on the one to beat the jolly here is tough. Stone Age shares the same Galileo lineage as Aidan’s previous Vase winners Highland Reel and Mogul and his BC Turf second gives him solid claims.
However, the second Japanese raider Win Marilyn comes firmly into this on her best form and French raiders Botanik and Bubble Gift wouldn’t have to improve a lot to have a say. All in all, this looks a tough one.
6.50: LONGINES HONG KONG SPRINT (£2.5m)
The equation here looks a little more straightforward and much depends on whether you judge HK’s champion sprinter WELLINGTON on his latest form or his best form.
Richard Gibson’s gelding came back lame after a dull sixth behind Lucky Sweynesse in the G2 Jockey Club Sprint but he had looked better than ever when giving that up-and-coming rival 11lb and a decisive beating in the Premier Bowl on his reappearance.
The measured Gibson seems adamant that his stable star is right back on song and doesn’t seem to feel the Japanese sprinters match up to the best of the HK group.
I’m inclined to agree. Trends are only one piece of the puzzle but in this case they show JC Sprint winners usually struggle to follow up in the big one and Wellington’s global rating of 120 makes him the clear pick here.
Add in the fact that Moore steps in for the injured Alexis Badel and he looks very much the one to be on, with Lucky Sweynesse, last year’s winner Sky Field and live longshot Sight Success tossed in as Quinella likely lads.
8.00: LONGINES HONG KONG MILE (£3.1m)
You would have to walk the length of Sha Tin racecourse to find someone keen to oppose local hero GOLDEN SIXTY as he bids to emulate Good Ba Ba by winning HK’s biggest mile race three years’ running.
Look back at the way Francis Lui’s gelding destroyed his rivals with a killer burst for his two previous HKIR wins and that view is very easy to understand but, as in any race, it’s all a question of price, pace and opposition.
Golden Sixty jumped at 1.3 in 2020 and 2021 and will probably be 1.4 or 1.5 this time after pouncing late in the Jockey Club Mile on his reappearance. It goes against the grain to oppose such a true champion but, unlike the vast majority, I suspect there might be not one but two aces in this year’s HK Mile pack.
True, CALIFORNIA SPANGLE was beaten fair and square when the Golden boy blew by in the Champions Mile back in April but he ran a fine race in defeat and has continued to progress under Zac Purton since, recording two dominant handicap successes before going down by a neck when receiving 5lb in the JC Mile.
“Only bad luck can beat Golden Sixty” is Purton’s summation and the general view is that if the Spangle couldn’t get the job done when fully fit and receiving 5lb in the rehearsal then he surely can’t make it third time lucky at levels on the biggest stage of all.
But Tony Cruz’s gelding has improved with practically every outing in the last year and is highly likely to get the run of things from the front again. I think he represents value against Golden Sixty at 4.5 or bigger – and I’m tempted to throw in a saver on Japanese raider SCHNELL MEISTER at a big price just in case the HK heroes haven’t read the script.
Find out more here regarding the Hong Kong International Races
8.40: LONGINES HONG KONG CUP (£3.6m)
Japan went out of one huge Cup on penalties this week but there shouldn’t be any need for extra time here as the Land of the Rising Sun has a powerful hand in a race that has been marked for export five times in the last seven years.
Buick’ booking for Japanese Guineas winner Geoglyph is interesting, while Lei Papale ran well in this last year and Danon The Kid has high-class form at up to nine furlongs.
Romantic Warrior has progressed relentlessly since Mick Kinane sourced him for the HKJC as a yearling in Newmarket three years ago but PANTHALASSA and Jack D’Or look the pair to nose on here and splitting them is tough.
Jack D’Or held the edge when asserting late in the G2 Sapporo Kinen but the fiery front runner Panthalassa came out just on top in a dramatic Tenno Sho in Tokyo in October, streaking miles clear of a strong field for a long way only to be worn down late.
In truth, I’ve been swithering all week over whether to side with Jack or the Pantha. Both horses are by HKIR-winning sires (Maurice and Lord Kanaloa) and both have impressed all week at trackwork.
It could be close again and for long enough I was edging towards Jack D’Or and 53-year-old Yutaka Take. But Panthalassa’s brilliant globetrotting handler Yoshito Yahagi seems confident that his charge has improved for his Tenno Sho run. And if that’s the case then he might well do a good impression of the fiery A Shin Hikari, who lit the fire for Japan’s HK Cup dominance with a startling success from the front under that man Take in 2015.
Sunday’s HKIR Hints
- 6.10: No strong view
- 6.50: Wellington to reclaim his crown
- 8.10: California Spangle to give Golden Sixty a major scare
- 8.50: Panthalassa to scorch the Sha Tin turf
To bet on Hong Kong racing via Betfair's Tote click here
And on the undercard...
Express could be on a Golden highway for Size and Purton
- Longines HKIR branded jacket and baseball cap - ✅
- Obligatory Longines HKIR medical mask - ✅
- Elegant Longines timepiece -✅
All the acoutrements are in place for a great day at Sha Tin this Sunday and, for any Euro punters who are jonesing for some high-class racing after Saturday’s winter wipeout, you can find a few thoughts on four G1s worth almost £12m above.
But Sunday’s Sha Tin programme features a clutch of interesting supporting contests and anyone who finds difficulty sleeping after the excitement of England’s World Cup Quarter Final against France might find it worth keeping an eye on the Class 4 Falvelon Handicap due off at 4.55.
Suffice to say there is a feeling that Frankie Lor’s newcomer NICETOBEMET has been working and trialling like a horse who will prove much better than an opening mark of 52 this season, while a 7lb rise might not be enough to stop the progressive front runner VICTOR THE WINNER from making it three from four in the Lord Kanaloa Handicap at 5.35.
John Size and Zac Purton team up with a strong favourite for the Jim And Tonic Handicap at 7.25 in Sweet Encounter, who has already won three from four and would have been unbeaten but for a torrid run two starts back.
Meanwhile, another bold effort from Victor The Winner would provide a definite hat tip to another Size and Purton project in the Maurice Handicap at 9.20.
This Class 3 affair is notable for the HK debut of smart Aussie import Bon’s A Pearla, while Thesis hasn’t been trialling as if ready to strike first time but will be very familiar to British viewers as the winner of Royal Ascot’s Britannia Handicap for Roger Charlton.
However, GOLDEN EXPRESS is the one to note for Size and Purton here. This four-year-old skated clear on his sole run in Australia and looked a winner waiting to happen on his Sha Tin debut, coming home strongly to chase home the smart winner with some fair horses well strung out behind.
The visual impression was highly positive and the evidence of the clock was stronger still as Golden Express followed a 22.13s middle 400m with a lively 22.12s closer. He’s surely well in off a rating of 67 and looks bound to play a major role with Voyage Bubble and Rocket Spade the attractive Quinella options.
Sha Tin Undercard Selections
- 4.55: Nicetobemet
- 5.35: Victor The Winner
- 9.20: Golden Express
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