Excellent Proposal can better his solid form in Hong Kong Derby

In 2020, Hong Kong harbored a standout 4-year-old, Golden Sixty, who swept through the 4-year-old Classic Series, winning the series’ final leg, the Hong Kong Derby, by a nose despite having to pass 10 rivals in the homestretch.

There’s no such star among this 4-year-old class, but there are a number of talented horses set to do battle Sunday at Sha Tin in the $3.09 million Hong Kong Derby.

The Sunday feature has post time set for 4:40 a.m. Eastern on a card that starts at 1 a.m. You can catch all the action at DRFBets.com, and a wager on Excellent Proposal might not go too far astray.

Excellent Proposal drew post 8 for derby, which drew a full gate of 14 set to race 2,000 meters around two turns. At 101, he is the co-second highest-rated horse in the race, which is run at level weights, and Excellent Proposal never has put the wrong foot forward during a seven-start Hong Kong campaign. The Australian import trained by Aussie ex-pat John Size won the Hong Kong Classic Mile in January and ran well – but not so well he can’t improve Sunday – finishing fourth in the Hong Kong Classic Cup over 1,800 meters last month. He had an excellent barrier trial preparing for this start and should be finishing smartly under jockey Blake Shinn.

The three horses in front of him in the Classic Cup – Healthy Happy, Shadow Hero, and Russian Emperor – all return for the derby. Healthy Happy reaped the benefits of a comfortable lead winning last out, and among those three it’s Russian Emperor who merits the most respect Sunday. Culled from the yard of trainer Aidan O’Brien in Ireland, Russian Emperor, by Galileo, is one of the surer things to stay this roughly 1 1/4-mile trip. He twice raced with some effectiveness over a similar distance in Ireland, and after modest showings in his first two Hong Kong races, Russian Emperor really sparked to life with his closing third in the Hong Kong Cup.

Sky Darci is top-rated at 103, but his four strong races early this Hong Kong season came at distances between 1,200 and 1,600 meters.

One more to consider – Tourbillon Diamond. Another lightly raced horse, Tourbillon Diamond is out of a mare by Montjeu and should fare well in his first Hong Kong trip over a distance longer than 1,800 meters. Racing in Australia while named Eric the Eel, Tourbillon Diamond turned in his two top performances at distances of 2,200 and 2,400 meters, and he lacked clear passage last out in the Hong Kong Cup.