Sporting Life
Graham Cunningham's Hong Kong diary

Japan stars drinking in last chance G1 saloon

By Graham Cunningham
Horse Racing
Wed December 04, 2024 · 16h ago

Graham Cunningham checks in from Hong Kong with a Japanese racing conundrum, asking "why aren’t their best horses cutting it on the global stage this year?"

Proper prize money, fanatical follower engagement, ultra-modern racecourses, uncompromising integrity and a breeding industry that prizes stamina and durability over the cheap, flashy speed that British racing has been seduced by.

The Japanese racing model has long been beloved of the hipster element in the big sport of turfdom – so why aren’t their best horses cutting it on the global stage this year?

It hasn’t been for lack of trying and Shin Emperor gave it a lash when third in the Irish Champion Stakes but one of the most striking stats of HKIR week 2024 is that the Land of the Rising is currently 0 for 50 odd in foreign G1s during 2024.

Still, all that could change before the sun sets on Sha Tin this Sunday.

Several Japanese stars went through serious Wednesday morning turf workouts with a couple of LONGINES Hong Kong Mile hopes making a strong impression.

I know you got Soul

The case for SOUL RUSH beating leading local hopes Voyage Bubble and Galaxy Patch in Sunday’s £3.6m contest is simple and revolves around several factors:

First, he’s a proven force at Sha Tin having finished fourth behind the mighty Golden Sixty in last year’s Mile.

Second, he returns at the peak of his powers after demolishing most of the best Japanese 1600m horses – and leading Euro miler Charyn - in the G1 Mile Championship at Kyoto last month.

And third, Soul Rush will be ridden by Joao Moreira when he bids to master leading local hopes Voyage Bubble and Galaxy Patch on Sunday.

Soul Rush enjoys some track work

The Magic Man was at a low ebb physically and mentally when he left HK over a year ago but he returns under the Japanese flag in search of his first HKIR score since Glory Vase beat Pyledriver to land his second Vase in 2021.

Ricky Yiu’s stable star Voyage Bubble finished a length and a half ahead of Soul Rush in last year’s Mile and is still at that same high level after defying a G1 penalty in the Jockey Club Mile last month.

But the form book and the eye test suggest that Soul Rush has improved since last year – and a repeat of the 121 rating he recorded at Kyoto will take him very close indeed this weekend.

Mantar murmurers know the time of day

And there’s a buzz horse.

Of course there is. No global Fez is complete without whispers about a potential new star and JANTAR MANTAR ticks all the buzz boxes ahead of his acid test in the Mile.

Unexposed – yes after just six starts.

Flashy worker – check out his Wednesday turf hitout.

Flashy gear - festooned in orange accoutrements.

Impressive last run – bolted up in a G1 for three-year-olds when last seen back in May.

Catchy name – yes, especially if you like huge stone sundials in India.

Star rider Yuga Kawada in the irons – I know, but you can’t have everything.

Joking apart, this colt is already rated 118 (just 3lb below Soul Rush) and he represents a trainer (Tomokazu Takano) who saddled Namur to finish third to Golden Sixty in last year’s HK Mile and second to Romantic Warrior in this year’s Yasuda Kinen.

He’s potentially as good or better than that high-class filly and, with further improvement likely, it looks like Jantar Mantar has much more to recommend him than mere morning media chatter.

Kawada seeking a different kind of Liberty

To err is human, to forgive is divine.

The ancient saying is rooted in good sense but I’m not sure I can forgive (or forget) sufficiently to back Kawada and LIBERTY ISLAND to dethrone hometown hero Romantic Warrior in the Hong Kong Cup.

Romantic Warrior seeks to become the first horse ever to capture Sunday’s main event three times, while Liberty Island has already achieved a historic treble by capturing Japan’s Triple Tiara (the Triple Crown for three-year-old fillies) in 2023.

It’s easy to forgive Liberty Island for playing second fiddle to a peerless virtuoso called Equinox in the Japan Cup on her final start last year.

And it’s possible to forgive Kawada for being one of several star riders left in a tough spot as Will Buick kicked for home on Rebel’s Romance in the Sheema Classic at Meydan in March.

But I’m not sure I can just strike a line through Liberty Island’s tame retreat in the Tenno Sho on her latest start.

Yes, it was her first race for 210 days after an inflammation problem and Kawada feels she has “a different type of greatness” to his 2021 Cup winner Loves Only You.

There were flashes of the old brilliance as Liberty Island galloped generously down the straight on Wednesday – clocking 22.5s for her final 400m – but Romantic Warrior and James McDonald will provide an altogether different kind of challenge when push comes to shove on Sunday.

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