Been a few of days since race day and just thought I’d post a few photos and comment on the races.

Vase

All seemed to be going to plan in this race until the 300m mark. However horse races do not always pan out exactly as we envisage (in fact rarely). BigOrange and Highland Reel were the early pace. However Big Orange was gone early and with Highland Reel skipping clear, it appeared he’d go onto an easy win.

However Joao Moreira and Satono Crown had other ideas and used the long Sha Tin straight to good effect and managing Highland Reel down late. Maybe Highland Reel was feeling the effects of a long campaign, which has seen him race ten times in six countries this season. O’Brien wasn’t disappointed “He ran very well, he’s had a long season but he ran a great race – he ran his heart out. He’s had a phenomenal season,”. He races on next year, which is great for racing.

Trainer Noriyuki Hori on the winner – “We had been considering this race and after his performance in the Tenno Sho (Autumn) we decided to make this a priority,” Hori said, “We’re happy that the horse has been able to come through and perform at his best.

“This horse was at a very high level even as a two-year-old, winning a Group race. We’ll now take time to look at the horse and take time to talk to connections and discuss what this horse’s next race will be.”

Sprint

Aerovelocity is an old marvel – loves to race and hates being beaten. He’s had a troubled eighteen months, missing HKIR 2015 after not coming up in his prep. He suffered a bout of colic when traveling to Japan last March and then ran in the Chairmans Sprint in May when clearly short of fitness. This was his third run in for the preparation so was ready, especially after drawing a low gate. However the younger brigade were preferred and Lucky Bubble went out a firm favourite.

Not everything went the way of the favourite early in the race and he finished hard at Aerovelocity, but ran out of ground to run him down. Prebble commented “It was a pretty rough race and I got shuffled back a little bit more than I would have liked. There are few jocks playing jockeys out there. If I got out early he wins, full stop. He is the best horse in the race. There is no better horse than Lucky Bubbles at the moment.”

Paul O’Sullivan had wondered during the week whether his horse was a bit long in the tooth for the younger brigade, so the win was especially satisfying. “I certainly expected him to be competitive, it was just a matter of whether time had caught up with him,” he said. “He’d had probably the best preparation that he’d had going into an international, but he had indicated that he was getting a little bit older – he was taking a little bit longer to come to hand. I thought he’d get some prize money for sure, but to win it is just fantastic.

Mile

Beauty Only has been a favourite of mine since finding him at his first start in Hong Kong. He went on from that to race his way through the four year old series, picking up the Classic Mile. Since then he has raced consistently at the top level, without picking up an open age Group 1. The writing was on the wall for this though, as he accounted for his local opponents in the Classic Mile three weeks ago.

His get back style makes him difficult to follow and he went out third favourite here, behind Able Friend and Helene Paragon.

Trainer Tony Cruz has plans of traveling him “I think we haven’t seen the best of him yet. From the day we bought him, we had high expectations with him and I’m so pleased to see how he has improved this season. He’s a good horse to handle, a real professional and he’s gone on as we thought he would after winning the lead-up race.

“We’ll generally keep him to local races but I’d look to the Yasuda Kinen in Japan as the mile and the firm ground there is perfect for him,” Cruz said.

Cup

The Cup was all about Maurice. Rumoured to be racing for the last time, the striking stallion had looked well during the week. Fellow Japanese raider A Shin Hikari was the wild card in the race, would His Madness bring his A game, or the other one. As it transpired, it was the latter and he looked a shadow of the horse of last year.

As expected A Shin Hikari led from gate one and got a soft lead through the first turn. But approaching the 1400 he took off as Helene Super Star came to his girth. Meanwhile Maurice fans had their hearts in their mouths as he settled second last after bungling the start.

However with the good pace on, back markers were suited and once they straightened Maurice was able to make his run up the rail, come around the heels of A Shin Hikari and kick clear to record a dominant win. “Fortunately there was good pace in the race and halfway down the back I thought it was setting up nicely for him and it was just a matter of finding the room,” said Moore.  “As soon as he got room and I put him into gear he just let down exceptionally well. He got to the leader early and then he was just easing up really. He has improved every time I’ve ridden him.”

Trainer Noriyuki Hori has arrived on the world stage thanks to Maurice, but is modest in his statements. “The horse, the jockey and the staff all tried very hard so it is a mutual effort and it feels great,” said Hori. “This horse really does seem to love Hong Kong but we get a lot of support from the Hong Kong Jockey Club including Mark Player and everyone who has helped us here and helped us get the horse to be his best. It is a team effort, Japan and Hong Kong together.”

Hori wouldn’t be drawn on whether Maurice has run his last race, teasing the gathered media in answer to questions of his stable-star’s imminent retirement.

“That’s what they have been writing in the newspapers anyway,” he said.

What a great HKIR experience it has bee. Thanks to the HKJC for everything they’ve done to make it so good.