Part racing article part travelogue again today as I attempt to put in to words the noises, colours and smells from the World Turf Racing Championships from Sha Tin in Hong Kong that I was lucky enough to attend on Sunday morning, writes Sean Trivass.
As those who read my articles will know by now I have long been a champion of International racing and although it would be an exaggeration to suggest my dreams are coming true just yet there has been a surge of interest in other jurisdictions in recent months helped no doubt by the strength of the betting pools with Hong Kong the best example of them all.
First things first and I am aiming this at punters, racegoers, and would be tourists alike as an attempt at some kind of encouragement to embrace either the racing or the intriguing World of racing that most of us fail to engage throughout our betting lives. On to the racecourse first and despite four Group One events attracting horses from around the globe the fact is that thanks to “tote” style monopoly, racecourse entrance remains affordable as do both drink and food – not as cheap as they used to seem but with the weaker pound that may have little to do with price rises.
As you can imagine, the racecourse does get pretty busy but I can assure you I don't like crowds and at no time did I feel claustrophobic. There is room to manoeuvre, walkways aplenty, and to on-one's great shock, massed banks of either “tote” windows or computerised betting terminals. Although the vast majority of the income brought in by the Hong Kong Jockey Club is via their take outs from the betting pools they put back in to racing and society via various charitable arms and perhaps for that reason, racing is not seen as the devil in disguise we have in the United Kingdom. Performances from a top class drummer troupe were followed by local heartthrob Hins Cheung singing to a crowd of screaming girls in the parade ring before we got to the first race, setting up a something for everybody's concept for the day out and one that attracted a full house – so it's obviously working.
On to the racing and as you may have noticed racing abroad rarely settles for a six or seven race card and on Sunday, we had a fairly modest ten races to deal with but fear not, my comments will reflect the top four only and I will not be curing your insomnia with a race by race dissection of events.
Sticking to the Group One's I was as shocked as everyone in the Media Rom as eight of the fourteen European challengers in the Longines Hong Kong Vase managed a third at best. Rostropovich was being scrubbed along to hold his place early on meaning I knew my bet was going south, though why Ryan Moore sat so far back in Mirage Dancer in a race with very little pace where they quickened from the front only he will know, though I suspect the rock hard ground may yet have been his undoing. Although too late on in the year to take much out of a race in December, Waldgeist was the unluckiest contender, getting caught with nowhere to go and finishing full of running but he still catches me as nearly horse, more often than not finding a way to get beaten in the better races.
On to the Sprint and Europe only had the one contender in David Elsworth's Sir Dancealot but as he looked outclassed on paper, my attentions (and money) were elsewhere. To everyone's shock (and it is evidenced elsewhere your honour), I actually had the winner in Mr Stunning who was freely available at 4/1 in the UK though I had to settle for shorter here. I am clearly no race rider as the winner burst out of the stalls before being reigned back in to third or so and then being produced late on to win with plenty in hand, and although he won, I wonder why they bother to fly out when they clearly don't want to lead?
To level stakes I am not guaranteed to be in profit (pennies maybe, but profit regardless), so onwards and upwards to the Mile, though why we had a Class Two handicap in between is anybody's guess. I suppose it did give time for us all to catch a breath (and for local hero Joao Moreira to grab a winner to the crowd's delight), though it failed to alter the price of Beauty generation in the next with 4/6 the best price I could find back home. I wasn't impressed with the price but wow was I impressed by the horse who could have been called the winner three furlongs or more from home. Zac Purton rushed him up as needed early on to stop the others forcing him wide and then simply turned on the taps to make the rest look pedestrian and although I will confess I cannot pretend to accurately evaluate the form of those in behind him, I can say it was the most impressive performance I have seen over a mile since the Frankel era.
A mile and a quarter for the Longines Hong Kong Cup, the culmination of our quartet of action on Sunday afternoon and with the locals looking to make out four out of four and leave every other nationality represented with a bloody nose. With the Japanese one and two in the betting the odds were not in Hong Kong's favour but that has never bothered them as Silvestre De Sousa came home in front on Glorious Forever. Making most of the running you got the feeling that they felt he was going too fast and would come back to the field but they had it all wrong as he held on and then some for a length success and a well-deserved one at that. If I am honest, I doubt I would back the Archipenko gelding in the replay and from the silence of the crowd I doubt I am the only one, but what we did see was proof of the strength in depth of Hong Kong racing – beware when their owners decide they are willing to travel.
Pictured is Karis Teetan celebrating on Mr Stunning (picture: HKJC)
