Dubai rematch for HK Mile
The Dubai World Cup meeting did a great deal for Hong Kong racing, even though there were no race wins, and the Dubai Duty Free has set the scene for another epic clash between Jim And Tonic, Sunline and Fairy King Prawn in this year's Hong Kong Mile.
'I think you can say that we will be doing everything possible in our power to make that clash happen,' said Executive Director of Racing, Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges yesterday. 'Perhaps Jim And Tonic will prefer the Hong Kong Cup, but we will certainly do our best to get Sunline and Fairy King Prawn together.'
He pointed out that Dubai had given positives both on and off the course. 'Firstly, it showed that we have world-class horse racing here in Hong Kong,' he said. 'Our top horses are up to the top-class horses internationally and the form out of our International Races last December has been marvellous, not only from the mile race but also Fantastic Light.'
Connections of Jim And Tonic are keen to come for the QEII Cup next month and so too are the people with Silvano, third in Dubai on Saturday.
Engelbrecht-Bresges also said the club's 'Dubai shuttle' flight had gone without a hitch, highlighting the Jockey Club's work on the logistics of such a bold move.
Incidentally, he said the Jockey Club estimated yesterday's poor weather to have cost as many as 20,000 in the Sha Tin crowd and perhaps 10 per cent in turnover.
'Still, we got 45,000 people to the races on a miserable day for weather and anywhere else in the world we would be overjoyed with that many on a fine day,' he said.
Mick Kinane showed again why he is one of the world's best when he got Handover in first in the Superior Gold Handicap yesterday. Despite being hampered by Saintly Partners on his inside and eventually colliding with Super Team on his outside, Kinane didn't miss a beat on the eventual winner. Had he stopped to avoid either problem, Handover may not have had the wherewithal to prevail by a neck in a race which gave the stewards a ticklish protest situation.
Super Team was third past the post but Patrick Tse protested against the winner, with whom he had made contact, and the second placegetter, Saintly Partners, who caused all the trouble in the final 150 metres but didn't get near Super Team.
Saintly Partners gave jockey Wendyll Woods more problems than just the protest he eventually lost. The horse pulled hard in running and aggravated Woods' already stiff back, forcing the jockey to stand down from his remaining rides.
Gerald Mosse is one who believes that Lucky Six landed on his feet by missing out on the Derby run yesterday. Mosse won the Chairman's Trophy on Lucky Six over 1,600m but said he felt that the extra 400m in the Derby may have really tested him. 'I think he would have found it tough to beat Industrial Pioneer today over the 2,000m,' Mosse said after wrapping up both events.
Sydney trainer and former top-line jockey, Gary Moore is to set up in Macau. Moore trains his team from Royal Randwick but plans to branch out into the international satellite stable in the near future.
While satellite stables in Australia are common, it is usual for a Sydney trainer to have another stable in Melbourne or Brisbane, and there are also some operations which cross between Australia and New Zealand.
Moore's fellow Randwick trainer, Graeme Rogerson, was the first to set up a satellite yard so far from his main base and is training a team in Dubai as well as Sydney, Melbourne and New Zealand.