Five days away from a new HK campaign and all things are possible. A summer break has sharpened appetites ahead of Sunday’s Season Opener and the Euro influence is strong in a host of key areas.
THE BRIT AWARDS
Atzeni is scaling the heights, Bentley has set up a solid base camp, and Kingscote and Probert are aiming to ascend from the foothills.
Sunday represents a fresh start for HK’s four riding imports from Britain and nothing is promised.
Andrea Atzeni has thrived in his new home, ending his second full campaign third on the table with 58 winners worth over £9m, and another personal best looks achievable in a place that suits him ideally.
Harry Bentley is well established in HK now and should have another lucrative season in mid-table, but it’s very hard to predict how Richard Kingscote and David Probert will fare having signed up for six months apiece.
Kingscote went 0-31 before riding four winners from his last eleven rides in a spring stint, while Probert starts from scratch but has the ability (and ability to ride light) to make a mark if trainers get behind him.
At least one of these guesses will be miles out, but 60 plus and another top three finish looks viable for Andrea, while another thirtysomething campaign would represent a very fair return for HK Harry.
And then we come to world travellers Richard and David.
Three winners a month may not sound an unrealistic target but HK is a hard school, especially if you don’t click right away. Put it this way, if you could offer the new boys 20 winners apiece (or even 15) over their six-month stays, they would do well to snatch your hand off.
ZAC AND CO
Almost three years have passed since a certain Aussie rider told Michael Cox, formerly of Asian Racing Report, now of Idol Horse: “I definitely am not going to be riding in two years’ time.”
But ZAC PURTON remains a dominant force aged 42 and, fresh from an eighth title with almost twice as many winners (138) as his nearest rival, the most influential man in HK racing is going round again with a formidable contacts book and a blend of force and finesse that is nigh-on impossible to resist.
Hugh Bowman was best of the rest last season and looks a fair bet to match or beat his best of 72 if he steers clear of injury and suspension, while Karis Teetan will be eager to bounce back after a plain campaign and Vincent Ho plans to build steadily after a seven-month injury break.
Time will tell if the HKJC tempts James McDonald into another winter deal. The Kiwi ace has long been regarded as heir apparent to Purton’s crown and the day he decides to move to HK full time surely can’t be more than a year or two away now.
TRAINER TRACE
The remarkable JOHN SIZE secured a record thirteenth title with 69 winners last season and averages a championship every other year since he left his native Australia for HK back in 2001.
But backing up a title campaign with plenty of horses who have reached their level in the handicap is seldom straightforward.
David Hayes (61), Caspar Fownes (52) and Francis Lui (50) are all past champions who will be aiming to derail the Size train over the next ten months, while Mark Newnham’s second season yielded a healthy 44 winners with the prospect of more to come.
Brett Crawford brings an impressive track record from South Africa to replace retiring local veteran Benno Yung and DAVID EUSTACE has far more than a UK passport going for him as he heads into his second HK season.
Backing up a strong first season can be tricky, but 32-year-old Eustace saddled 36 winners from 363 runners and returns with a stronger team including former Derby winner Massive Sovereign, highly promising up-and-comers Light Years Charm and Dazzling Fit and a host of interesting newcomers.
Those new purchases will play a key role, but Eustace seems likely to nudge the 500-runner mark this term – and if he maintains his healthy ten per cent hit rate then a first 50 and a push towards the top six is on the cards.
THE STARS
Hong Kong’s Big Three dominated the 2024-25 season, KA YING RISING running riot in the sprints, ROMANTIC WARRIOR excelling at home and abroad and VOYAGE BUBBLE landing G1 victories at 1600m, 2000m and 2400m.
But a new campaign brings new challenges.
It’s hard to think of a global turf sprinter to compare with Ka Ying Rising and David Hayes’s gelding – fresh from two commanding trial wins - will attempt to give lumps of weight to smart rivals on Sunday before taking his show on the road to Australia for the Everest at Flemington on October 18th.
Voyage Bubble has been tremendously consistent at a high level for the last two years and is still young enough to be a force at G1 level.
And then we come to the globetrotting Warrior, who came agonisingly close to winning the Saudi Cup and Dubai Turf before being rested with a view to winning an unprecedented fourth consecutive HK Cup back on home turf in December.
Gearing up for his fifth season, Danny Shum’s gelding is unlikely to be getting better. But Romantic Warrior remains a formidable battler and a clash with a genuine European A-Lister or two would make for a tremendous HKIR highlight.
NEW FACES
The HK equine population changes significantly each year – with hundreds of new horses replacing those who have moved on – and the market for British and Irish imports has been strong again.
A hefty price tag has never been a passport to success, but good luck to this sextet as they set out on the long, challenging road to the 2026 BMW Hong Kong Derby.
SERIOUS CONTENDER
Aidan feels his King George V Handicap and Irish Derby runner-up is “a seriously good horse who will do very well in HK.”
I hope he’s right, but Danny Shum is now tasked with coaxing the best from a Wootton Bassett colt who thrived over 2400m and will start HK life in handicaps over much shorter trips off a testing rating in the 90s. And that double whammy suggests it would be unwise to expect too much soon.
SERAPH GABRIEL
Quai De Bethune was sold for 775,000gns after pipping this lad in the Golden Gates Handicap at Royal Ascot and, with impressive Goodwood winner Best Secret back in third, the form has been polished.
Formerly with Ralph Beckett and now in the Eustace barn, Seraph Gabriel reached a BHA rating of 101 after just five starts.
He won’t be rushed by his canny new handler and, given that highly progressive profile and scope for further improvement, the chances of him making the grade at a smart level look rosy.
GLITTERING LEGEND
There’s also plenty to like about this Too Darn Hot gelding, who won four from seven for James Fanshawe, signing off at Royal Ascot with a solid third behind Trinity College and Tornado Alert in a Hampton Court that represents very solid G3 form.
Another new string to the powerful Eustace bow, he’s likely to start off over 1400m or a mile from a mark in the low 80s. That could prove challenging, but the Derby trip (2000m) will suit him very well by the time next spring rolls around.
BECKMAN
Has taken the route from Ger Lyons to Pierre Ng with an Irish rating of 102 after winning two from six including a handicap at Naas in May.
That latest success was gained in decisive fashion, but none of the five horses he beat has won since and the Class 3 contests he will be pitched into once his trials are complete are very hard to win for new arrivals.
WINDLORD
It’s been a while since the likes of Derby winner Akeed Mofeed and crack sprinter Lucky Nine were putting Dubawi’s name in lights in HK.
Maybe Windlord can reverse the trend but he hasn’t had an easy paper round, making the pace twice for Field Of Gold before winning a Sandown Listed race and finishing a remote third behind Merchant in that rain-lashed Gordon Stakes at Goodwood.
Cody Mo is the man charged with coaxing more improvement out of Andrew Balding’s colt in those tough Class 3 contests. Good luck to him – as it won’t be easy.
THE KING’S FALCON
You know the lure of the HK dollar is hard to resist when the King and Queen accept a bid for another Dubawi gelding and one who seems to be going the right way.
True, it was only a Carlisle minor event over 1800m that The King’s Falcon won on the fourth start of his career back in May, but the style of victory was emphatic.
Add in the fact that the trio who chased him home have polished the form – and that he’s gone to the Five Star Size Hotel - and the flight path of this Falcon starts to look somewhat more promising.
EARLY HKIR ANGLES
A little over three months out is too early to be making predictions but, all the same, it’s fun to speculate.
So here goes. Ka Ying Rising could give a stone to the vast majority of Europe’s best sprinters without breaking sweat, so it’s hard to see more than the odd one taking him on in his own back yard.
Europe is winless in the HK Mile since Firebreak scored for Saeed and Frankie in 2004, but maybe a truly run race on fast ground would tempt Aidan into giving Henri Matisse or Diego Velazquez a shot against Voyage Bubble and company.
And Aidan and the Lads, as ever, are key HKIR players from a Euro viewpoint.
Another big win or two this autumn would make Whirl a fascinating HK Cup foe for Romantic Warrior, especially if her trainer is closing in on his own record of 28 G1 wins in a year.
Los Angeles and Jan Brueghel could come into HK Vase conversations if they shine in the autumn, while King George hero Calandagan and last year’s
Vase winner Giavellotto could add further Euro depth to HK’s showpiece event of the season.
THE FUTURE
The HKJC runs a very tight ship, but numerous racing nations have sailed into choppy waters by tightening whip rules and it will be fascinating to see what happens if riders at Sha Tin and Happy Valley are forced to adapt to a new system.
Whip suspensions have been very rare under a longstanding HK rule allowing stewards to punish riders guilty of whip use deemed “excessive, improper, unnecessary or inappropriate.”
But HK is the sole World Pool jurisdiction that doesn’t place a clear limit on whip use and seeds of change were sown in May when Andrew Harding, the Club’s Executive Director of Racing, told Idol Horse’s
Jack Dawling that “there is a case for reducing the use of the whip.”
Consultation with key stakeholders is ongoing, but keen observers will recall that Bowman and Teetan both picked up whip bans of twelve and eight days in their flying visit to the Shergar Cup last month.
It’s crystal clear that even hugely experienced riders find it hard to adapt when forced to stay within a set limit of strikes. Time will tell whether HK heads down that route - but it feels as if there will be more to follow on this testing topic. Possibly much more.
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