There are plenty of feature races across the globe this weekend, with Irish Champions Day, the St Leger meeting, the Golden Rose and the Arc trials, but for those who follow Hong Kong racing, some lesser races may prove to be of the most interest.
The sad anecdote of Viva Pataca was one of the South China Morning Post’s most read stories last season, with Hong Kong’s highest prize-money earner left languishing in a Macau stable. It also shone a spotlight on the number of Hong Kong racehorses now well looked after in retirement – such as Silent Witness and Sacred Kingdom – in stark contrast to Viva Pataca.
These are well chronicled, but what about Hong Kong-trained horses continuing their racing careers elsewhere?
At first, thoughts go back to a less happy account, to Good Ba Ba. The three-time Hong Kong Mile winner was retired by controversial owner John Yuen Se-kit in 2011 with the intention of racing him on in Macau, but while that fate was avoided, he did continue his career in Australia at 11 years old – finally retired after finishing last of seven behind champion mare Black Caviar in the Group One William Reid Stakes.
Thankfully, this weekend a number of former Hongkongers are stepping out across the globe and they are far removed from his sad and sorry tale.
Down under, Golden Shaheen winner Sterling City, formerly with John Moore, has his first start for David Hayes and Tom Dabernig in the Group Three Bobbie Lewis Quality over Flemington’s straight six.
After losing his way last season, the high-class sprinter has been priced up at 33-1 by Australian firms first-up under the hefty impost of 59 kilograms, yet part-owner Gary Ling Kay-wai believes it will be a good stepping stone towards bigger and better races later in the carnival.
“We sent him back because he was struggling a bit with his environment in Hong Kong, the firm tracks and everything here,“ he said.
“I wanted to give him a long spell before we tried to rejuvenate him and Lindsay Park seemed a logical place to send him. He seems to have settled into the property at Euroa well, the timing has been right after cutting his Hong Kong career short in the middle of our season, but he will probably need the run on Saturday.
“Hopefully, he will head to the Manikato Stakes and the Darley Classic later in the carnival, and those races should be more suitable under weight-for-age conditions. He also has the Caulfield Sprint and the Linlithgow Stakes, both handicaps, as other options."
"If he finishes top four in any of those races, the ultimate goal is to return to Hong Kong in December for the Hong Kong Sprint, but this time representing Australia."
The following day, on the other side of the world, John Size’s Hong Kong Mile winner Glorious Days is slated to have his first run for Ed Walker in a conditions race at Bath – a far cry from the masses that cheered him on at Sha Tin.
They are not the only two former Hong Kong horses going around, either, with Chris Waller-trained Silverball lining up in the Group Three Kingston Town Stakes at Rosehill as he prepares for a tilt at the Group One The Metropolitan next month. Silverball is the horse’s third incarnation, having raced as Yang Tse Kiang when he finished second in the UAE Derby for French handler Richard Chotard, and Crackerjack when he won a Class Three for Tony Millard.
While it is rare for horses to continue their careers elsewhere, there have been notable occurrences in recent seasons.
Last year in New Zealand, Tony Cruz’s Pure Champion, a two-time Group Three winner and a Hong Kong Gold Cup placegetter, won the Group One Windsor Park Plate before retiring to stud, while two months later Hong Kong Derby winner Fay Fay took out the Group Three Tauranga Stakes for Cruz’s nephews Trevor and Martin.
Owner Sanjeev Mahtani is another who has had some success sending some of his noteworthy imports away from Hong Kong. He imported Argentine Group One winner Vroom Vroom, who could only finish second in a Class Three, and Australian Group Two winner Growl, whose best result was a third in the Queen Mother Memorial Cup, but when neither found the same level of success in Hong Kong, he sent both back to Australia and to David Hayes.
Vroom Vroom, who was retired from Hong Kong after two heart irregularities, finished fourth in the Australian Cup and Singapore International Cup, while Growl snared a Hobart Cup and Albury Cup – not exactly noteworthy but still a winner.
It’s not as big a fall though as Keredari, who raced in Hong Kong as Majestic Falcon. In his final season in Hong Kong in 2013-14, the Moore-trained Majestic Falcon was placed behind his stablemates Able Friend and Rewarding Hero, who ran 1-2 in the Champions Mile earlier this year.
Keredari? No, there were no Group One targets for him. Instead, he went around last weekend in the Birdsville Cup, one of Australia’s more famous races – but not for the quality of the race, instead for the remote nature of Birdsville, as synonymous with isolation as Timbuktu.
There, Keredari could only manage an inglorious last, beaten almost 17 lengths.
Now THAT’S a far cry from Sha Tin.
