There may be no Romantic Warrior, but Jockey Club chief executive Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges remains confident Sunday’s FWD Champions Day will be the best yet.
While local hero Romantic Warrior, the world’s highest-earning racehorse, is enjoying a break after a tough overseas campaign, superstars Ka Ying Rising and Voyage Bubble will fly the Bauhinia flag and a record 14 international gallopers will grace the Sha Tin turf across Sunday’s three features.
“I personally think it has grown and even if you compare it to before Covid, probably this is the best international line-up we have had,” Engelbrecht-Bresges said of Champions Day, which was introduced by the Jockey Club in 2018.
“We are delighted with the Australian participation and you probably can’t have a more popular horse than Mr Brightside. This will create huge interest.
“We are really delighted with how this has shaped up and having 14 international runners, we are heading the right way.”
Sunday’s richest race, the HK$28 million Group One QE II Cup (2,000m), will feature six international raiders in three-time winner Romantic Warrior’s absence, with French giant Goliath shaping up against crack Japanese trio Prognosis, Tastiera and Liberty Island.
New Zealand’s El Vencedor, to be ridden by Zac Purton, and Bahrain’s Calif complete the overseas contingent, while it’s a pair of four-year-old’s who are perhaps the most interesting of the local brigade.
Cap Ferrat will look to become the first horse since Romantic Warrior in 2022 to do the Hong Kong Derby (2,000m)-QE II Cup double in the same season, while Classic Cup winner Rubylot looks open to further improvement.
Straight Arron won the key local lead-up race, the Group Two Chairman’s Trophy (1,600m), and is not without a chance for the home team, but the reality is it would require a significant upset to prevent the lion’s share of the QE II Cup riches heading abroad.
A nine-time Group One winner for Ben, Will & JD Hayes in Australia, Mr Brightside has finally made it to Hong Kong after numerous false starts, and he is joined by another galloper trained Down Under, Royal Patronage, in the Group One Champions Mile.
Japan’s Gaia Force and Goemon of Bahrain also line-up in the HK$24 million feature, but the internationals will have their work cut out beating Ricky Yiu Poon-fai’s brilliant miler Voyage Bubble.
With the Group One Hong Kong Mile and Group One Stewards’ Cup already in the bag, Voyage Bubble can join exalted company by sweeping all three of Hong Kong’s elite-level 1,600m contests in the same season.
Mark Newnham’s My Wish, an agonising second in the Derby, and Galaxy Patch are also among the local hopes in what promises to be a mouthwatering Champions Mile.
History awaits for Ka Ying Rising in the Group One Chairman’s Sprint Prize (1,200m), with the David Hayes-trained speedster looking to join Beauty Generation and Lucky Sweynesse as eight-time winners in a single Hong Kong season.
Standing in Ka Ying Rising’s way is perennial bridesmaid Helios Express and a quartet of Japanese speedsters headlined by Satono Reve, who finished third behind Ka Ying Rising in December’s Group One Hong Kong Sprint (1,200m) and will be ridden by fan favourite Joao Moreira.
While a fourth straight Group One win from Ka Ying Rising would no doubt mean plenty for Hayes senior, it’s certainly not the only result capable of making the Australian Hall of Fame trainer’s day on Sunday.
“I’d say if Brightside managed to win it would be one of my proudest and happiest moments in racing,” said Hayes in reference to the galloper trained by his sons.
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