A week after HELLO PRETTY (Distorted Humor) stamped himself a leading local
hope for the Hong Kong Cup (HK-G1) with a victory in last Sunday’s Cup Trial
(HK-G2) at Sha Tin, Sunday’s program features the final prep races for the Hong Kong Mile
(HK-G1) and Hong Kong Sprint (HK-G1).
The Mile Trial (HK-G2) has attracted every top miler in the SAR, but arguably
the horse who will garner most attention is VENGEANCE OF RAIN (Zabeel). Last
year’s Hong Kong Cup winner and World Series Racing Champion returned
from an 11-month absence and was 10th in the HSBC Premier Bowl H., but was
getting home generously and finished five lengths behind the winner. The
1,600-meter distance of Sunday’s Trial is also well short of his best, but trainer
David Ferraris is confident the six-year-old will go forward off the effort
primed for a title defense in the Cup.
Among the competition is former Hong Kong champion miler Bullish Luck (Royal
Academy), rising star Floral Pegasus (Fusaichi Pegasus) and The Duke (Danehill),
who has placed in the last two runnings of the Hong Kong Mile.
The Sprint Trial (HK-G2) is a more wide open affair in which Scintillation (Danehill)
could start a lukewarm choice. Fourth by a length in the 2004 Hong Kong Mile, he
has excelled at shorter distances, but is having his first run since finishing
second in a domestic Group 1 last March. Silent Witness (El Moxie), a two-time
winner of the Hong Kong Sprint, gets a five-pound pull in the weights and has
trained well for this. As he has aged, however, the 1,000 meters has become too
sharp and that is likely to be the case again here.
The International Races are set for December 10.