3 minute read

This is the "other" big race day in Hong Kong and only lacks a 2400m race to make it an alternative to the December Internationals.

The three G1 races start with The Chairman's Sprint Prize where Ka Ying Rising is going for his 20th consecutive win.  As usual the interest is in which horse will have the best view of his rear.  This looks to be the Japanese runner Satono Reve, with trainer Hori legging up Moreira who knows both the horse and Sha Tin very well.  They are on 10/1 in the UK and 88.00 in Hong Kong.  Helios Express has probably viewed the rear of Ka Ying Rising and is waiting for that break-through opportunity and much the same for Fast Network (Yip-J Mac).  The prices are all over the place so best to wait for the last minute.

The FWD Champions Mile has a full field of 14 with 2 emergencies and is a much more competitive event – in fact it's probably the most interesting of the three.  The field is headed by Japanese star miler Jantar Mantar, who won all four of Japan's G1 mile events last year and has looked good on the track in the mornings and 4.3 looks generous.  The locals also have their share of talented milers and there are four at least who could present a serious challenge.  They are (in no particular order) Lucky Sweynesse, Voyage Bubble (who has been under the care of the Vet recently but has now been pronounced fully fit), Invincible Ibis who won the Derby in March and Cap Ferrat with Craig Williams flying in for the ride.  There's probably another four that you could add as well but we have to draw the line somewhere.

The QE II Cup is over 2000m and here we expect to see a major contest between Hong Kong's favourite Romantic Warrior and the new kid on the block Japan's Masquerade Ball.  He came to notice with a brilliant second to Calandagan in the Japan Cup last year and after a couple of days in Hong Kong has decided that he likes it.  Lemaire takes the ride and believes the horse has what it takes to become a "great".  At the moment Romantic Warrior is on 1.6 and Masquerade Ball on 4.0.  Japanese runners in Hong Kong are either brilliant or disappointing.  If Masquerade Ball is the former he could cause a major upset although Lemaire would probably need a police escort to leave the track.

There's been a lot of talk about a lot of horses but very little as far as we have seen about Sosie.  He's by Sea The Stars, was a fast-finishing third to Daryz in last year's Arc, is trained by Andre Fabre and will be ridden by Maxime Guyon and at 16.0 is a very good each-way prospect.