3 minute read
Racing and Sports preview the four feature races at Hong Kong's International Meeting.
The Hong Kong Vase
In Highland Reel we have last year's comfortable winner and a horse that has trotted the globe (fairly) consistently over the past 18 months racing at a level beyond what is typically required to win a Hong Kong Vase. He was far too good in the race last year where he outpointed Flintshire in a typical 2400m dawdle around the Sha Tin 2400m. This year there is no Flintshire with his main rivals appearing to be Euro fringe dwellers, the Japanese looking to stay right out or Maurice's way in the Cup, and the locals who are more slow than stamina laden.
This year looks like being a truly run race with Big Orange best when ridden aggressively from the front and Smart Layer likely to be pressing from out wide. True tempo typically leads to a true result and that's Highland Reel. Have him marked as more likely to win than lose with the dangers being Nouvo Record who has been patchy in the past 12 months but ran a cracker in a hot race at this meeting last year and Big Orange who will make himself hard to get past as always.
Racing And Sports Prices: Highland Reel $1.90; Nuovo Record $7.00; Big Orange $8.00.
The Hong Kong Sprint
There's a big performance in Big Arthur and the Hong Kong Sprint looks a perfect setting for him to show the world just how fast he is. Suspect he was about to do just that in the Sprinters Stakes at Nakayama last time but as you can see below, tragedy ensued.
Red Falx was the winner there, and he has to be considered a winning hope again in Hong Kong, but Big Arthur started $1.80 v Red Falx $9.00 and there was a reason for that. Big Arthur had announced himself as a world class sprinter when winning the Takamatsunomiya (spell check please) Kinen back in March in a ludicrously slick 1:06.70.
The track was on fire that day but the time held up to adjustments and remains a very sharp piece of work - work that he backed up in spades in the Centaur Stakes where he went off too quickly but was still far too good and again returned strong overall time.
Rule a line through the Sprinters Stakes and Big Arthur looks every bit a horse ready to unleash a top class sprinting performance. If there is a little query it is the map, with things hardly looking straightforward for Arthur, but he gets Moore to offset that and we are likely to get some juice in the price as further compensation.
Locals are always hard to beat in their sprint and the best of them is Aerovelocity, a Group 1 winner in Japan himself, and a winner of the Hong Kong Sprint in 2014. He's potentially a little bit beaten up these days but he has been solid (if unspectacular) in his two lead up runs this time around and they are the key form races for this.
The local that looks to have the most still to offer is Lucky Bubbles who comes through the same two races and he is good enough to have been sent around a clear market elect last time. That race has to be respected but it does feel like the good sprinters in Hong Kong are just that - good sprinters, lacking star power.
Racing And Sports Prices: Big Arthur $3.20; Lucky Bubbles $5.00; Aerovelocity $5.50.
The Hong Kong Mile
Again the key local lead-up had a good not great feel about it and the ratings reflected that. The Champ Able Friend comes through the Sprint Trial as opposed to the mile trial and given that takes on a bit of a new kid on the block role despite being his high profile. Fairly promising return over 1200m and if he was to bring his A-Game then he would be a cut above these.
Got to be a big query over that, however, and the Japanese are again looking particularly threatening. Neorealism and Logotype both have wins over genuine top-liner Maurice this year.
Logotype comes off being beaten by Maurice in a steady early/fast late Tenno Sho while Neorealism came third in the Mile Championship.
There's little between them on Timeform Ratings while Japanese SP's point to Neorealism being the slightly better of the pair. He also has great tactical speed, plenty of upside, and Ryan Moore - three big ticks!
Both should be towards the head of markets but there might be enough substance to Neorealism to suggest that he should be sent around favourite. Looks like being a good gamble.
Racing And Sports Prices: Neorealism $5.00; Able Friend $6.00; Logotype $6.00; Sun Jewellery $7.00; Beauty Only $7.00.
The Hong Kong Cup
A strong Japanese presence in the first three features is starting to look a domination come the Cup where five are trained in the Land Of The Rising Sun, none better than the mighty Maurice.
Maurice won the mile at this meeting last year and returned to win the Champions Mile at the start of this year, just casually ripping home more than 6 lengths quicker from the 400m than the Chairman's Sprint won by Chautauqua in the race prior.
That was world class, and if he turns up at that level then these are playing for minors, but he has to remain some slight query at 2000m. That is despite winning the Tenno Sho at the trip last time. The finishing speed there was 104.6%, well outside par, and so it was Maurice's ludicrous closing speed that was to the fore as opposed to his stamina.
Surely A Shin Hikari gets back to ripping along in front this time and that will ask a different question of Maurice. That's enough to make it very hard to mark Maurice odds-on, but he is certainly top pick.
A Shin Hikari was blistering around here last year and while a touch flat in his latest couple he still has X-factor that has to be respected.
Staphanos has run well in Hong Kong on several occasions and was a terrific closer behind Maurice last time while Queens Ring is winning and is at a similar level to Nouvo Record who ran so well in this race last year.
Designs On Rome probably leads the home defence, fronting up for his third Hong Kong Cup, winning it in 2014.
He was flat as a pancake last time but he had been a little bit scratchy in the lead up to 2014 so it may pay to be forgiving.
Racing And Sports Prices: Maurice $2.30; A Shin Hikari $5.50; Deigns On Rome $9.00; Staphanos $9.00.
