by Most in Hong Kong are looking forward to the Happy Valley day meeting and Francis Lui Kin-wai is looking for a trainer who will be particularly keen to get down to business at the city circuit’s first meeting in 11 days this Sunday.
Fresh from a rare night of racing – Lui didn’t have a single runner at the Sha Tin all-weather meeting on Wednesday – the reigning champion trainer heads to the Valley with a hand of five as he looks to add to his impressive record on the track this season.
With five winners from just 20 runners, Lui is at a rate of 25 percent in the Valley, compared to 9 percent overall, and he needs a kick toward the end of an October that has so far brought him just two winners.
Luis Hand’s lead is a galloper who will also enjoy the return to the valley – co-partner Prance.
Co-partner Prance, unbeaten in his last five starts at the track, failed to hit his stride in two rounds at Sha Tin earlier in the season, although he will have every chance of changing that after winning at Class Two Guangzhou on Sunday Handicap (1,200) had cleared the first hurdle M).
Ho adds to HKIR entries
Boniface Ho Ka-kui-owned Celestial Legend and Japanese galloper Sol Oriens were added to the entry list for the Longines Hong Kong International Races on Thursday, just 24 hours after the Jockey Club released the first nominations for the showpiece on December 8 .
Celestial Legend, who has Group 1 wins in the Randwick Guineas (1,600m) and Doncaster Mile, has been entered for the Group One Hong Kong Mile, while last year’s Group 1 winner Satsuki Sho (2,000m), Sol Oriens , this weekend’s Group One Tenno Sho Autumn (2,000m) is in the mix for the Group One Hong Kong Cup (2,000m) and the Group One Hong Kong Vase (2,400m).
Additional registrations for the four international daily contributions close on November 18th, with participants announced on November 20th.
Ka Ying climbs Everest Market
The hottest horse in Hong Kong racing is now the favorite for the world’s richest sprint race, with Ka Ying Rising backed by $8 for the Everest (1,200m) in Sydney next October.
David Hayes first expressed interest in running his stable star in the A$20 million (HK$103 million) slot race last season and he only added to the hype when he took part in the Group One in Melbourne on Saturday Cox Plate (2,040m) in which his sons Will, Ben and JD will take part, will saddle the iron horse Mr Brightside and Evaporate.
Hayes has made his opinion of Ka Ying Rising known and after the galloper won the Group Two Premier Bowl (1,200m) last Sunday, he admitted he had never had a sprinter like him.
“People probably rate him as the best ever and wonder where he compares to all the Group 1 sprinters I’ve trained,” Hayes said of his 127-point galloper, who has won seven of nine starts and racing towards him is his date with Destiny in the Group One Hong Kong Sprint (1,200m) in December.
“I don’t think I’ve ever had a horse as good as him in the first nine starts. I’m not saying he’s the best horse I’ve ever had because he needs to win Group One – if he does as well as them, great – but in the early stages, going through the trials and what he’s doing , I did it. No one has ever done that before.”
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