Three Hong Kong horses among world’s top ten 10 May 2008
Hong Kong Jockey Club
It’s official. Hong Kong racing has reached its highest ever level of global recognition.
Sacred Kingdom, Good Ba Ba and Viva Pataca have translated their status as the highest-rated horses locally to be among the top ten active thoroughbreds in the world, according to rankings just published by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities.
Trained by Ricky Yiu Poon-fai, Sacred Kingdom is third on the list overall and is the top-ranked active turf performer at an assessment of 123 after a season in which his tearaway success in the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Sprint stood out.
With four Gr.1 wins during the campaign, principally the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Mile and the Champions Mile, the Andreas Schutz-trained Good Ba Ba is ranked the world’s leading miler on a mark of 122 alongside Weekend Hussler from Australia.
Also rated 122 is Viva Pataca, stabled with John Moore and winner of the Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup. The six-year-old joins Ramonti, his conqueror in the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Cup, at the apex of turf horses at intermediate distances (1900m to 2100m).
“It’s terrific that we are home to the world’s best sprinter and miler. Also, the fact that both Viva Pataca and Ramonti determined their positions in Hong Kong is a fine endorsement for our Turf World Championships in December. We have never had such a concentration of local stars among the very best in the world and full credit to the connections involved,” said Mr William A Nader, the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Executive Director of Racing.
The American four-year-old Curlin, who won the Dubai World Cup in a canter at the end of March, is the highest ranked thoroughbred on the planet currently at a mark of 130. Rated second on a level of 126 is Big Brown, last weekend’s Kentucky Derby hero.
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