Matt Brocklebank reflects on Thursday's draw for the FWD Champions Day and profiles the European contingent gunning for glory at Sha Tin on Sunday.
You can follow Matt's Hong Kong features throughout the week in the lead-up to Sunday's FWD Champions Day fixture at Sha Tin...
There are three things that tend to ring true at the live draw ceremony ahead of a major international race meeting.
You've got to have some Luck. That’s Nick Luck of TW11, Richmond upon Thames, and nobody does it better. Lucky is to live draw ceremonies what Claudia Winkleman is to fringes - it all looks effortlessly glossy, but you know deep down the hard graft has been done long before the mic was even turned on. To see such forces at work is mesmerising, although tackling the vacant Strictly presenting position may be a role beyond even our most prized media personality.
Secondly, the refreshments are more often than not plentiful and available to all-comers. And, unlike a somewhat forgettable 2019 Breeders’ Cup episode which saw me bumble into the locals’ press marquee and ejected by a man mountain for not having quite the right shade of lanyard as I made my way towards the ‘Omelettes of the World’ line with eyes fixed on a feta and jalapeño fusion, the Hong Kong Jockey Club generously spared any blushes with another exquisite breakfast spread.
Finally, it could be misplaced but I tend to think the tourists can often leave a live draw shake-down feeling a little hard done to. And by that I mean the people actually connected to the relevant horses, rather than those of us sent six thousand miles across the globe to write about omelettes they once very nearly tasted.
Not too wide was the pre-reveal message (the Winkleman fringe chat could roll on, but just try and forget that for a moment), and the assembled press from Europe sat with bated breath as connections were called to the heavily-branded, grandiose stage.
Not a bit of it, as it turned out.
Apparently audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers, whose website assures us that “data governance is the new currency of trust”, the data that came to light at the barrier draw for FWD Champions Day 2026 could not have been much better for the horses from Britain, Ireland and France.
Trainer Karl Burke and jockey Oisin Murphy don’t join the party until Saturday afternoon but Yorkshire's big hope Royal Champion has been blossoming under the watchful eye of head lass Lucy Brocklehurst throughout the week and, while seemingly a person of few words, you sense they are well-chosen.
“We’re happy,” she admitted after learning that Bahrain International Trophy and Neom Turf Cup winner had drawn stall 1.
“He likes to travel and he’s in great form, obviously. So we’re looking forward to it.
“In Saudi, that was really good – the way he quickened. That was a bit surprising but he’s a good horse.”
In relation to this specific 10-furlong test on quick turf going right-handed, there are evidently no concerns at all.
“It's all good for him,” Brocklehurst calmly concluded. And I came away thinking Royal Champion might just be the horse that Romantic Warrior will be required to duel with and quicken past if he’s going to claim a fourth QEII Cup here on Sunday.
I’m kindly reminded by an experienced scribe in these parts that ‘duel’ and ‘quicken’ are Romantic Warrior’s bread and butter, so after noting the Europeans have the inside positions quite nicely covered with Andre Fabre’s Sosie getting box 2, we move on swiftly to the Champions Mile.
An open-looking field of 14 could have become potentially quite messy for regular Brit abroad Docklands, but Mark Zahra, who got the leg up for this horse’s finest hour in last summer’s Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot among other globe-trotting jaunts, should have few excuses having also been dished up stall 1 down on the fence.
Laura Pike, who oversees trainer Harry Eustace’s international runners, gave a broad grin and an up-nod toward mine host on unveiling the gate number.
Her immediate reaction? “It’s better than being drawn on the outside, so I’m happy with that.”
It’s not Docklands’ first rodeo here in Hong Kong, it’s actually his third having finished 12th and fourth in the past two editions of December’s Hong Kong Mile over the same track and trip. I wonder if he could improve on those results this time.
"He’s wintered well, had his prep run in England," Pike said. "I think every time he comes he enjoys it here. He’s fresh and ready for the season so we’re good to go.”
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The sole Irish raider Comanche Brave will break from stall 4 in the Chairman's Sprint Prize, just outside the irresistible force Ka Ying Rising, and on paper at least the battle for second in the six-furlong event could be interesting.
Donnacha O'Brien’s travelling head lad Darragh Dwan reckons they are in the mix for that race within a race.
“It’s going to be a tall order trying to down Ka Ying Rising but we’re very hopeful of a good run,” he said.
“It’ll be a privilege to see Ka Ying Rising run live ourselves, but there’s great prize-money on offer so we’re hoping we can pick up as much as we can.
“We’re hoping that through the early part of the race he can stay in his comfort zone and he’ll be coming home as strong as he can.
"We’re all very excited.”
I can certainly go along with that, and the draw has been kind, but there's still a strong sense the four Europeans go in hope rather than expectation this weekend.
European challengers on FWD Champions Day, Sha Tin
Sosie (Andre Fabre) – QEII Cup
Timeform master rating: 125
Stall: 2
Profile: Four-time Group 1 winner who struck gold over 1m4f in the Hong Kong Vase here when last seen at the big HKIR meeting in December. Disappointed on his last try over 10 furlongs in the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown last summer and on a line through Giavellotto, he’s got his work cut out to beat Japan's leading turf horse Masquerade Ball, let alone local star Romantic Warrior who knows this track so well and has won this three times in the past (2022, 2023, 2024).
Royal Champion (Karl Burke) – QEII Cup
Timeform master rating: 122
Stall: 1
Profile: Showed flashes of brilliance in his youth for Roger Varian and although a switch to Australia didn’t quite pan out as hoped, Burke has worked wonders on the gelding who has clearly got stronger with age. Ran well for third in the Irish Champion Stakes, soon after winning the G2 Sky Bet Stakes at York last summer, and has carried his form onto the international stage with big-race victories in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia this winter. More on his plate against Masquerade Ball and fellow eight-year-old Romantic Warrior, but unlikely to go down without a fight and, from stall 1 with Oisin Murphy bound to try and gain a tactical edge, he looks set to fly the flag with distinction once again.
Docklands (Harry Eustace) – Champions Mile
Timeform master rating: 119
Stall: 1
Profile: Has helped put trainer Harry Eustace on the international map, winning for a third time at Ascot when opening his top-class account in last year’s Queen Anne Stakes. Ran well in defeat in some major races around the world subsequent to that, including when fourth in the Hong Kong Mile over course and distance in December, while his comeback win at Doncaster showed him to be in rude health already this year. Might just lack the tactical pace of some of his rivals here, though, and despite the inside stall he's hard to fancy for win-purposes given the strength of the locals and Japanese runners.
Comanche Brave (Donnacha O’Brien) – Chairman’s Sprint Prize
Timeform master rating: 115
Stall: 4
Profile: Lightly-raced over six furlongs, having largely been campaigned over further since his early juvenile days. Stays a mile and his pedigree suggests even further ought to be in range but he is a strong traveller on the whole. Shaped well when third in Abu Dhabi (1m) and Saudi Arabia (7f) earlier this year and likely to be ridden to pick up the pieces late, but he's surely another overseas challenger playing for places only as Ka Ying Rising is in a different league to this colt on all known form.
You can follow Matt's Hong Kong features throughout the week in the lead-up to Sunday's FWD Champions Day fixture at Sha Tin...
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