3 minute read
Many involved will be sleeping easier after the HKIR went off without a hitch on Sunday.
There were only seven runners in the Vase and it is safe to say that after this race Mogul has come of age. He's a powerful 3yo by Galileo and looks set to have some more big wins in his future. Exultant the local hero started favourite but was no match for the younger winner who had 3 lengths in hand. Columbus Country ran on well to take third.
In the Sprint Ryan Moore got a second successive winner when he guided the Japanese Danon Smash on a path from the gate 14 start to finish in front in a race that is normally considered a Hong Kong home win. In fact it was Danon Smash's sire Lord Kanaloa who won this twice and set a precedent for his son to follow. Both came from Yasuda-sensei's stables. On returning to scale Ryan Moore described him as both very brave and a pleasure to ride. Second place went to the 9yo Jolly Banner to the delight of connections and Rattan continued his record of good finishes to take the third place money.
Classique Legend could be excused owing to his rushed preparation for this race and all the hoops he had to jump through to even make it into the race. While the stewards considered the performance unsatisfactory, he is a very good horse and if given a break now and a chance to settle in, he should be able to justify his record in future.
Hong Kong hero Golden Sixty did not let the side down with an excellent run in the Mile and form part of a 4-timer for jockey Vincent Ho who had also been on Classique Legend so he would have been under pressure here. Southern Legend can never be ruled out and he came through to take second with Japanese raider and last year's winner Admire Mars third. Waikuku was fourth and Beauty Generation fifth and he's now been retired and will go to Living Legends in Victoria for what we hope will be a happy retirement.
The Cup had Magical on top but not a clear-cut favourite as there were moves for several other runners especially Danon Premium. We send in our preview that we preferred Normcore and she rewarded us with a wonderful win defeating her countryman and two-time winner Win Bright and Magical – it was not her day- third. Danon Premium was fourth.
Zac Purton had picked up the ride on Normcore after Christophe Soumillon was sidelines and that helped him become the winningest jockey of the International races.
There were two Class 2s to round off the day and in the first of these, named after Lord Kanaloa, Winning Dream added to his winning record and seems unbeatable over 1200m.
Beauty Applause was second and California Rad third just ahead of Duke Wai.
The Maurice Handicap justified our enthusiasm for Tourbillon Diamond a.k.a. Eric the Eel who just held out Circuit three to win with favourite Shadow Hero third.
A big thank you to all the HKJC people who worked so hard to make this day firstly happen and then a big success. Let's hope more than 250 people can watch HKIR 2021!
