A big part of Darren Flindell's career comes to a close at Sunday's BMW Hong Kong Derby meeting as the Jockey Club racecaller commentates his final Hong Kong meeting. Before the "best in the business" heads back to where it all began in Sydney, where he will be number one caller and behind the microphone for the upcoming autumn carnival, the SCMP asked Flindell to nominate his five most memorable calls from the last 16 seasons.
1. "They turn for home, the crowd going ballistic ... Flying Elite in the red blinkers surging through the centre for Dennis Yip .... what a night of drama in the trainers' championship and Dennis Yip takes it out!" - Class Three Handicap, season finale, 2013: Flying Elite clinches trainers' championship for Dennis Yip Chor-hong in final race of season.
A Chinese trainer hadn't won the championship since 2001, when Brian Kan Ping-chee triumphed. Kan's protégé Dennis Yip Chor-hong came into the final meeting of the 2012-13 season in a neck-and-neck struggle with Tony Cruz and John Size that had been playing out for more than a month. It came down to the final race, with Flying Elite needing to win to deliver Yip the title. "When I went back and watched this in the days afterwards, it still sent shivers up my spine," Flindell said of the dramatic moment. "The crowd that night was amazing, with banners and flags, all cheering for Dennis. It was a very special night, I'll never forget the roar of the crowd."
2. "This is what we've been waiting for ... it's Designs On Rome and Able Friend fighting it out, Designs On Rome with his head in front, he's edging away and Designs On Rome wins the Derby!" - Hong Kong Derby, 2014: Designs On Rome beats stablemate Able Friend in a Derby for the ages.
John Moore's two star four-year-olds Designs On Rome and Able Friend had already staged two monumental battles in the two lead-up races, but expectation was at fever pitch in the lead-up to round three in the 2014 BMW Hong Kong Derby. "Those two horses just stood out from the very early stages, but it is very rare that a clash like that lives up to the billing - let alone three times," Flindell said. "It was a great rivalry and that was a great race, with the two horses breaking away to fight it out."
3. "Happy Zero pulls out, Good Ba Ba pulls out with him, we're in for a great finish ... here's Happy Zero lengthening, Good Ba Ba is trying to go with him ... Good Ba Ba, will this be history? Yes! Good Ba Ba swamps them. There's three in a row!" - Hong Kong Mile, 2009: Good Ba Ba makes it three straight triumphs in the Hong Kong Mile.
Good Ba Ba was a crowd favourite in Hong Kong, but was eclipsed for 2009 Hong Kong Mile favouritism by new kid on the block Happy Zero. "Hong Kong crowds really get behind the champions, and they certainly loved Good Ba Ba," Flindell said. "One of the great things about commentating at Sha Tin is that you are calling through an open window and with the massive crowd straight below you, you can hear everything and feel the electricity from the crowd. It was at high volume that day."
4. "And the favourite dashes clear in the sprint, Iwata, up and down in the saddle but away goes Lord Kanaloa, he's going to make it back-to-back wins in the sprint, his swansong of racing. He's waving to the crowd Lord Kanaloa, away he goes." - Hong Kong Sprint, 2013: Lord Kanaloa demolishes opposition to win a second straight Hong Kong Sprint by five lengths.
Lord Kanaloa had already smashed the best sprinters Hong Kong could assemble a year earlier, but when Lord Kanaloa booted clear in the 2013 Hong Kong Sprint, his final start, the Japanese stallion was in another realm. “I’ve never seen domination on a racetrack like that," said Flindell.
5. "Coetzee still at Super Combed last, but that's happened before, but he is last going up the rock ... Super Combed revving up now, here he comes, he is looking for another Happy Valley win, Super Combed, and he's got it by the looks of it." - Class Two Handicap, 2005: Valley specialist Super Combed swoops from the sky to snatch victory for his sixth success at the city track.
Super Combed isn't the most high profile horse on the list, but for Flindell, the Tony Cruz-trained horse was perhaps the most fun to call because of his dramatic come-from-last racing pattern. "He would always still be last with 200 metres to go and had a knack of getting up on the post - I would never give up on him."
