Hong Kong racing: Graham Cunningham previews the new season

Golden era coming to a close as Hong Kong stars prepare for battle

There’s nothing quite like the sense of optimism that surrounds a new season.

True, the Hong Kong summer break isn’t as long as it once was but an eight-week gap is more than enough to refresh the appetite of players, punters and fans alike.

Quality rather than quantity is the mantra and the next ten months -featuring 88 meetings worth around £170m in prize money – will provide the answers to a host of key questions.

What’s the story with Golden Sixty?

It looks like the sun is finally setting on the Golden era, with reports suggesting a retirement announcement is expected this time next week with a farewell ceremony to follow during racing at Sha Tin on September 15th.

The greatest horse in HK history has been trotting and swimming ever since getting stuck in the mud in the Champions Mile in April but connections have been keeping their own counsel as to whether he will go round again at the age of nine.

It's only nine months since he destroyed a high-class field to win his third HK Mile last December and, given that conditions were all against him on his sole subsequent start, there is something to be said for seeing whether the old fire still burns in November’s Jockey Club Mile.

But Francis Lui and Vincent Ho will be understandably anxious to avoid the sort of low-key departure that has been the final chapter for so many of HK’s past champs.

Next week will reveal all but the facts – with ten G1s among 26 wins spread across six seasons - speak for themselves. And, whatever comes next, the memory of Golden Sixty’s blistering turn of finishing speed will never leave those lucky enough to witness it.

Will Romantic Warrior excel again?

Danny Shum’s globetrotting gelding has secured his own place in HK racing history after a 2023-24 campaign that saw him land the Cox Plate and Yasuda Kinen with three more thrilling HK G1s sandwiched in between.

Two of those five elite wins were gained by a short head with two more by a neck, while that historic Japanese triumph was gained with nothing to spare by half a length.

Maybe that suggests the Warrior doesn’t have much margin for error at the top level, but this is a horse who tends to get the job done by any means necessary.

He starts the season rated 8lb and more ahead of all his hometown middle distance rivals (provided Golden Sixty retires) and it looks like this year’s campaign will be centred around trying to dominate the HK scene again.

An eighth jockeys’ championship for Purton?

It looks long odds on but an even more significant milestone is surely high on the Aussie’s agenda.

Zac starts the new campaign with 1,740 HK winners under his belt, which means Douglas Whyte’s record of 1,813 is now firmly within reach.

All going well, Purton looks set to pass his old nemesis in February or March. That will be the crowning glory of an epic career – but whether the most clinical rider in HK history will want to keep putting his body through the mill much beyond that remains to be seen.

And who will push the champion hardest?

Karis Teetan and Hughie Bowman - and the battle between HK’s new big three might be somewhat closer than many people are expecting.

Teetan finished 44 behind Purton last season but he’s entering prime time at 34 and a first century looks a viable target granted a clear run.

Bowman’s inability to do much below 9st will always hinder hopes of a title charge but his first full HK season yielded 69 winners at a very healthy 15 per cent hit rate and that final tally would have been much nearer 90 but for a damaging spate of injuries and suspensions.

How does Atzeni follow up his fine first full season?

Simply by doing what he did last term, namely riding extremely well for a range of trainers while staying out of the Inquiry Room wherever possible.

The silky Sardinian made a big impression last term, adapting to the demands of a new role swiftly and finishing fourth in the table with 48 winners worth over £9m in prize money.

Improving on that won’t be easy but Atzeni has built a solid foundation and his calm professionalism and easy going approach make him very well equipped for the highs and lows that are central to life in the HK racing bubble.

Can Bentley get into the fast lane?

HK’s sole British rider has been playing the long game for a while – trusting that opportunity will knock as time progresses – and his patient policy paid dividends last season with 39 winners worth around £6m and a first top ten finish.

One good reason doesn’t necessarily lead to another but the affable Englishman would have been pushing for the top six without a costly midseason ban and another PB for HB looks a legitimate target if key supporters like Whyte and Mark Newnham click into gear.

And a big season looming for Vincent?

Most definitely. Golden Sixty’s departure would leave a hole that’s impossible to fill, though Galaxy Patch is next man up after a first season when his late-charging exploits carried him to six wins and a rapid rise from a mark of 63 to 119.

But regular availability is key for HK’s most famous homegrown rider this season.

Two heavy falls and a lengthy easing down ban akin to the one Callum Shepherd had rubbed out this week kept him off games for 33 of the 88 meetings last term.

His seasonal total dipped from 96 to 41 as a result but normal service ought to be resumed after another busman’s holiday to Europe during the summer.

Who’s in pole position to be champion trainer?

Let’s just say there are at least six cars on the grid in a ten-month race that involves a huge amount of educated guesswork.

Francis Lui sealed a first title by pipping his former assistant Pierre Ng 70-69 in a final day thriller in July with messrs Yiu, Cruz, Shum, Fownes, Size and Hayes on 60, 55, 52, 51, 50 and 47 filling out the top eight.

But last season’s table tends to be of limited value when trying to assess how a new campaign will develop.

Liu and Ng now face the problem of trying to squeeze further progress from horses who have already shown their hand to the handicapper and, as in football, those who’ve enjoyed the best summer transfer window can make major moves.

In short, only time will tell. Size’s bid for a 13th championship never got off the ground last season but he has a handful of exciting youngsters – including Young Champion, The Winnabe and Wunderbar – and will surely make a much bolder bid this time around.

Can Lucky Sweynesse bounce back from injury?

Now here’s a tricky one. Manfred Man’s gelding is the cream of the crop when on song – as he showed when winning three big ones including the HK Sprint last season – but Lucky Sweynesse was turned over at 2.2 or shorter in four other runs and failed to make Champions Day after suffering a cannon bone fracture when winning the Sprint Cup in early April.

He's trotting and swimming at present but a few old foes (California Spangle, Victor The Winner and Invincible Sage) look like being up and running before him and a dangerous new shooter gets a chance to show what he can do when Ka Ying Rising reappears in Sunday’s day one feature at Sha Tin.

Who are the new faces to note?

David Eustace and Britney Wong add notable layers of interest, the former as an English trainer abroad after a successful spell in in partnership with Ciaron Maher in Australia and the latter as the first homegrown female to ride in HK since the retirement of Kei Chiong in 2018.

The son and brother of former trainer James and current HQ handler Harry, 32-year-old Eustace is planning to rely on patience and a data driven approach in his new home, while Wong has ridden 50 winners in South Australia in preparation for her promotion to the big league.

Good luck to both, but HK is a notably hard school for new arrivals. Eustace is taking things steadily with a team of 26 in work at present and won’t have his first runner until September 28th.

Wong’s prospects depend largely on how much trainers are prepared to back her.

Aussie handler David Hall will guide her early progress – supplying debut mount on Glorious Expert this Sunday – and the 25-year-old returns to her home city with a valuable 10lb claim and able to ride much lighter than most at 105lb (7st 7lb).

Any early international HKIR contenders?

HK’s biggest day of the season is still a little over three months away but it’s not too early to speculate on which Euro stars might be at Sha Tin on December 8th.

Jane Chapple-Hyam has already earmarked her July Cup winner Mill Stream for the Hong Kong Sprint, while George Boughey might be tempted to return given that Believing has thrived since getting stuck in the Chairman’s Sprint Prize mud back in April.

Maybe the absence of Golden Sixty will help more Euros focus on the Mile this year, while Aidan O’Brien is always keen to make his mark and has any number of possible contenders for the HK Vase and HK Cup this year.

And what about a couple of stars who aren’t welcome in their home nation’s biggest race?

The fact that King George winner Goliath and Juddmonte International runner-up Calandagan are geldings means they can’t run in the Arc but there is well over £6m on offer for the HK Vase and HK Cup and maybe Francis-Henry Graffard will think Longchamp’s loss is Sha Tin’s gain for his two stable stars?

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