Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Races

[my miss storm cat]

Capablanca, who just won his 7th at Kranji, to the Sprint.

(Anyone know the name Johnny Roucke?)

[_ed_]

Possible NZ invaders.

Magic Cape and Mandela for the Vase...nice horses but I'm not sure they're quite good enough for this race. I'd love to be proven wrong though.

Seachange for the Mile. She is definitely good enough, one of the best horses born in NZ in the last decade. But because of her poorly formed front legs (her front right leg swings outwards when she runs) they're worried about running her right-handed...she's never been run that way around. That's a major concern for me.

Apparently they might not go to HK with Seachange though, they're thinking more seriously about giving her a rest before going to Dubai in March and then maybe even races like the Lockinge and Windsor Forest in the UK after that.

[my miss storm cat]

Can you tell me about Magic Cape?

Thanks.

[_ed_]

He's by an Australian sire called Magic Albert, and he's a very good horse.

He's had 11 starts for 4 wins, 1 second and 3 thirds, and one of his wins was in our 2000 Guineas last November, beating Jokers Wild. He also ran third in the Kelt last week.

So he's got ability, but he failed to get the distance in our Derby, and I think the Vase is the same distance (2400m?), so that's a major factor against him.

Also I think he possibly needs at least a slightly rain-affected track to show his best, which he got in his Guineas and the track for the Kelt last week had a bit of give in it too. The Sha Tin track is generally quite firm for International day, which I don't think he'll like very much.

I think he would be a better chance in the Mile, but even then I think the Hong Kong opposition are likely to be just a bit too good for him.

[my miss storm cat]

Well if he beat Jokers Wild (wish there were news about him) he must be pretty good!

I had never heard the name so thanks.

Agree that the locals are a tough crowd.

[my miss storm cat]

Miss Andretti.....

[my miss storm cat]

World’s elite focusing on CXHKIR 2007 17 Oct 2007

Hong Kong Jockey Club

The countdown to the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Races has begun.

At the close of first nominations for the December 9 spectacular at Sha Tin, the Hong Kong Jockey Club received 287 first nominations, including 69 individual Gr.1 winners and nearly half of the active turf horses in the current World’s Top 50.

The global diversity of those entered for the four Gr.1 races worth HK$62m (US$8.1m) has never been more pronounced - 17 countries and regions are represented with Gr.1 winners from 13 racing jurisdictions.

“The entries for this year's Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Races are exceptional and illustrate how the meeting has matured into the Turf World Championships. We have developed a Grand Slam fixture in the international racing calendar, one that clearly features the world’s leading owners, trainers, jockeys and horses as a championship event,” said Mr William A. Nader, Executive Director of Racing at the HKJC.

Featured nominations for CXHKIR 2007

Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Sprint (HK$12m - US$1.6m - Gr.1 – 1200m)

Last year’s increase of the Sprint's distance to 1200m from 1000m has attracted stronger international entries with an increase of Gr.1 winners evident. While the challenging situation of equine influenza in parts of Australia poses a potential barrier to participation, the Club is working very closely with the relevant authorities to enable stars the quality of Miss Andretti, champion-elect of this year’s Global Sprint Challenge and four-time Gr.1 heroine, to take their rightful place.

The CXHK Sprint has identified the world’s top-ranked sprinter for three of the past four seasons and Absolute Champion bids for back-to-back victories in a race that Hong Kong has dominated since 2002. The home team is bolstered further by the very exciting Medic Power and Sacred Kingdom.

Also entered are the Gr.1 winners Apache Cat, Red Clubs, Benbaun (Prix de l’Abbaye), Marchand D’Or, Aston Machan (Sprinters Stakes) and Kelly’s Landing (Dubai Golden Shaheen).

Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Vase (HK$14m - US$1.8m - Gr.1 – 2400m)

A race that has been dominated by European horses in recent years, but this could change in 2007 given the international variety and quality of the nominations. Breeders’ Cup Turf winners Red Rocks from Britain and the American Better Talk Now front the nominations in company with Delta Blues, the Melbourne Cup hero from Japan, the current Caulfield Cup favourite Maldivian and Laverock from the UAE.

Some of the other notable Vase contenders include Quijano, the Grosser Preis von Baden winner; English Channel, one of the best American turf performers of recent times with five Gr.1 victories to his name; the French-trained Doctor Dino, triumphant in a Gr.1 in New York last month; and Sky Conqueror, who in May added the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic (Gr.1) to his haul of multiple Group wins in his native Canada.

Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Mile (HK$16m - US$2.1m– Gr.1 – 1600m)

Close attention should be paid to the NetJets Breeders’ Cup Mile on Saturday week as the winner of that race will collect a US$1 million bonus if successful in the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Mile, already the world’s richest turf event over 1600m.

Excellent Art, trained by Aidan O’Brien to win the St James’s Palace Stakes, is a possibility for the multi-million double, as are the American Gr.1 performers After Market and Kip Deville.
The best European mile form is also present through the French filly Darjina, winner of three Gr.1 races this season. Australian mare Divine Madonna is another on a hat trick of top-level successes at a mile, but topping the lot is the brilliant Seachange, a five-time Gr.1 champion in New Zealand.

The Duke, winner and twice placed in this event, will try to maintain this redoubtable race record and he could be opposed by Able One, the Champions Mile winner last term.

Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Cup (HK$20m - US$2.6m - Gr.1 – 2000m)

Initial entries for the most valuable turf event in the world over 2000m read like a who’s who of the turf, led by Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe hero, Dylan Thomas, a six-time Gr.1 winner, including consecutive Irish Champion Stakes at this distance. Dylan Thomas is also nominated for the Vase and stable companion and four-time Gr.1 winner George Washington is doubly entered for the Cup and Mile.

Admire Moon, runner-up last year, is on course to renew rivalries with Hong Kong’s highest-ranked duo of Audemars Piguet QEII Cup king Viva Pataca and Vengeance Of Rain, the reigning Horse of the Year and successful in this race in 2005.

Godolphin have nominated the Cup as first preference for Ramonti, third in the Mile last year and a triple Gr.1 winner in Britain since; Artiste Royal (Clement L Hirsch Memorial) and Satwa Queen (Prix de l’Opera) both captured Gr.1 prizes on either side of the Atlantic two weekends ago and are also in the reckoning alongside the exceptional victor of five Gr.1 events, Miss Finland, striving to present David Hayes with his first winner in Hong Kong since returning to train in Australia.