Hong Kong Horse Racing Tips: Santa to make Christmas come early for punters
EARLY risers will be rewarded with a fantastic card of racing on Sunday morning as Sha Tin hosts FWD Champions Day.
There is almost £7 million and three Group Ones up for grabs and the headline act will be Beauty Generation, rated the joint-best racehorse on the planet, when seeking his ninth successive victory in the Group One Champions Mile (9.00am).
With John Moore’s stable star having scared off any overseas visitors, the six-year-old has only six local rivals to contend with and should turn this contest into no more than an exercise gallop.
Though he won’t be a betting proposition for most, Beauty Generation will at least create a piece of history by becoming the biggest prize money earner in Hong Kong and the first to win eight times in one season should he come home in front.
The 1m2f QEII Cup (9.40am), is a tougher race to call with the likes of Exultant, winner of the Group One HK Vase, HK Cup Glorious Forever and last year’s winner Pakistan Star lining up.
Competing against them are three Japanese raiders, headed by DEIRDRE, recent Group Two winner Win Bright, and Lys Gracieux, second to Exultant in the HK Vase in December.
This is going to be a stiff test of stamina, with leading HK hope Exultant, ridden by Zac Purton, certain to make sure there is no dawdling in the middle stages of the contest having already won over 1m4f.
Japan have already won this race four times, and it may be worth taking a chance with the Mitsuru Hashida trained Deirdre making it five, after her strong finishing effort in this contest last season.
With legendary Japanese pilot Yutaka Take in the saddle, Deirdre has looked as good as ever this season, and was noted staying on strongly in the closing stages when fourth behind all-conquering Almond Eye in the Group One Dubai Turf over 1m1f.
She has certainly caught the eye of work watchers, looking like a ball of muscle at Sha Tin this week, and will be very hard to keep out of the frame.
Local sprinters are normally the dominant force when it comes to Group One events in the territory over recent years, Australian sensation Chautauqua was the exception in 2016, but this season they haven’t matched expectations.
Leading HK speedsters Mr Stunning and Beat The Clock have kept beating one another all season, and both were turned over by rival Rattan in the Sprint Cup earlier in the month when the Richard Gibson-trained gelding produced too much speed in the closing stages.
Step forward Australian champion SANTA ANA LANE.
Rated the world’s top sprinter, this five-time Group One winner blew away the opposition when coming from last to first to win the T J Smith Stakes at Royal Randwick recently.
The outside draw in the Chairman’s Sprint Prize over six furlongs at 8.20am is a worry, but he is guaranteed to go back from the start and with top jockey Hugh Bowman riding, should unleash his unstoppable trade-mark burst of speed down the home stretch.
POINTERS SUNDAY
Santa Ana Lane 8.20am Sha Tin
Deirdre e/w 9.40am Sha Tin