Like all big race meetings around the World the build up has been interesting, but we now reach race day and ten contests to work on from here at Sha Tin racecourse with the four International Group ones just the highlights of what I am sure will prove to be a fascinating day
Trying to paint a picture for you, I like to start with a Hong Kong/UK racing comparison and I’m sorry if it rarely if ever makes pretty reading, but facts are facts and cannot be denied. Entry to the track and all facilities (other than hospitality) worked out at about £1 ($1.60), beer was buy one get one free at £4.30 a pint, and food was freely available for less than a fiver (in some cases a lot less), and with infinitely more variety than any racecourse I have ever suffered visited back at home in England.
On the down side as you can imagine it attracts a healthy (sell out) crowd but the track and facilities are so well set out that with the odd exception movement is relatively straightforward, though a 16 flight parade ring does make things that little bit easier but it yet more proof of just how much they love their racing over here, and not just the betting a some would have you believe.
After a bit of entertainment from the drum group Ban’s Gig Drum and a couple of numbers from local pop icon Leo Ku we got down to the racing proper and the chance for next big thing Jing Jing Win to show he is not all hype in the opening six furlong handicap with the local thoughts being that this time next year he could be back to contest the International Sprint, so we were all interested to see if he was as good as they are suggesting. Talking statistics and there was over HK$20,000,000 in all the pools (wins forecasts etc) which makes impressive reading in any language, and fully explains why they have sorted out a deal so we can now bet in to their massive pools back in the UK– all we have to do now is find the winners.
Back to the race and not the best of starts for punters as he was beaten at odds of about 1/3 in to third place by 206/10 chance Water Diviner with no real excuses, and we may not have had the sounds of cheering bookmakers but we did hear plenty of bubbles bursting including mine as my short priced accumulator went down in flames after just the one race.
With ten races as mentioned and “just” the four Group One’s later on the card we had another handicap next, this time over nine furlongs and where the pool were ridiculous figures once again, and once again we had a well backed – and beaten favourite. This time General Sherman took the spoils at odds of 9/2 after fifteen losses in a row since arriving in Hong Kong so someone clearly knew a lot more than the whole of the press room here combined.
Ignoring the next race to go for a walk and soak up a bit more of the atmosphere (as well as a visit to the souvenir shop which had a queue around the block just to get in), I took in the opening ceremony (National Anthem, jockey introduction, big-wigs and so on), and saved myself some money as well as another favourite bit the dust with Winner’s Way scoring but the narrowest margin at odds of a fraction short of 4/1, far from unfancied but still not the favourite at the end of the day.
Next up we had the first of the big races as the Longines Hong Kong Vase saw Highland Reel sent off the odds on favourite under Ryan Moore to repeat last season’s victory in what looked a significantly weaker renewal. In my view he looked a reluctant front runner with none of the expected pace setters getting to the lead early enough, and was being niggled along some way out, but he soon slipped his field and looked all over the winner until Satono Crown appeared late under local favourite Joao Moreira to run him down close home and take the first prize by half a length with close to seven more lengths back to third.
The sprint was always going to be a tough call but Lucky Bubbles headed the market for jockey Brett Prebble and was as low as Evens five minutes before the off which was frankly ludicrous as punters even more desperate than me lumped on in the hope of a winning favourite at last. Once again they had to settle for second as our selection Aerovelocity took first prize at the age of eight and at odds of 13/2 or thereabouts though I can only hope you took a price with your chosen bookmaker as he was freely available at over double that price earlier in the week.
For reasons I don’t even understand (technology is for other people), I had ended up doubling the winner with something I had never heard of in the handicap that splits the Group One races and spend the next few minutes fretting about my own stupidity before watching my “selection” lose and do so quite comfortably too.
Two down and two to go for the International Races (it all goes by so fast on the day) and the Mile came next which I have to say looked as hard to call as any of the races on the card, though local punters are in love with Moreira and backed Able Friend as if defeat was not an option. It would appear that value is not a necessity to have a bet here but with ridiculous amounts in the pot (HK$32,000,000 and that was a few minutes before the off), who cares I suppose if you can get a chunk of the winnings. Fact is that was not the case though as Moreira pulled him out for a run and the acceleration we have all seen in the past just wasn’t there, leaving Zac Purton to steer Beauty Only home at odds of 5/1 and make it race number seven on the card without a single winning favourite.
After a cup of coffee (needed, it’s a long old day) we moved on to the Cup and in my opinion the race of the day (wise after the event), with A Shin Hikari getting stressed out in the paddock and basically losing his race before he even got as far as the stalls. He did jump out of stall one as expected and then tried to make all the running, putting up to eight lengths of daylight between himself and the rest of the field and I confess I thought he was going to stay there all the way to the line. Sadly (for my betting balance) he folded like a pack of cards once Ryan Moore loomed up on Maurice following a patient ride and faded to finish tenth at the line, and dash all my each way bets in the process. I mustn’t let my personal finances take anything away from the winner who did it in style, quickening up when asked to rapidly put the race to bed though the fact that he will now be rushed off to stud takes a little bit of gloss of it for me knowing that we will never see him on the track again, though the punters wont care as he became the first winning favourite of the afternoon at odds of 1.7 and good luck to all those who backed him down to that price.
Personally, I have never really understood why they follow the top races with a couple of handicaps as it always feels like a bit of an anti climax to me but everywhere does it including England so they must all know better than the rest of us. The crowd certainly didn’t reduce though I did miss the ninth race thanks to a much needed trip to powder my nose, but I did get back in time to watch the much hyped Pakistan Star in the lucky last. For those who haven’t read the stories he is inclined to start slowly and finish fast winning his first two races that way but he has come unstuck twice since and made it third time unlucky with an out with the washing fifth at odds of 1.6 and ending the day on a low for the majority of punters, including me s I walked away with a less than full wallet after on winner on a ten race card, but an experience never to be forgotten.
So how do I wrap up my final Hong Kong article 2016, what simple words can ever do justice to a spectacle of earth shattering proportions in the sport we all presumably love? Trying to start with a single word and “Class” is the one that springs to mind. The whole experience has been well oiled and organised without ever feeling contrived, the racecourse and facilities are second to none (I have been all over the world and they are top drawer), and the races of the very highest quality. Yes the Europeans left with a bit of a bloody nose (I still can’t believe that Highland Reel lost, but that’s my wallet talking), but that is our own stupid and self-centered fault for failing to send over a stronger team (when you look at the prize money and the way connections are treated, they must be mad), but as the world continues to shrink in racing terms with co-mingling of betting pools the driving force, perhaps the years spent trying to show the UK there is racing elsewhere on the planet will finally reap some dividends.
