Guyon chases Ambitious memories with another Dragon as Four-Year-Old Classic Series begins

By Declan Schuster

Maxime Guyon captured Hong Kong racing’s ultimate glory when he won the 2011 Hong Kong Derby (2000m) aboard former champion Ambitious Dragon, and this Sunday (1 February) at Sha Tin, the elite French rider takes his shot at landing the HK$13 million Hong Kong Classic Mile (1600m) aboard Top Dragon for trainer Chris So.

One of Hong Kong racing’s great champions, Ambitious Dragon won 13 times over distances ranging from 1400m to 2000m. He was twice Hong Kong Horse of the Year (2010/11 & 2011/12) with earnings of HK$58.72 million, and he dominated his four-year-old division by also scooping the Hong Kong Classic Cup (1800m) a month prior to the Hong Kong Derby.

Guyon, 36, won four times on Ambitious Dragon, and said: “It’s a long time ago. It was my first time in Hong Kong. It was amazing to have the chance to win the Hong Kong Derby. I was young then; I was very lucky to ride Ambitious Dragon.

“He had a strong turn of foot. He was easy to ride, but he was just a really good horse.”

The Four-Year-Old Classic Series, run under its current name since 2016/17, comprises the Hong Kong Classic Mile, Hong Kong Classic Cup – also worth HK$13 million – on 1 March before finishing with the showpiece HK$26 million BMW Hong Kong Derby on 22 March.

Triple winner Top Dragon continues to improve with each of his 11 starts, most recently rising to Class 2, where he was third behind Sagacious Life over 1600m after being crowded for room at the 250m mark, before rattling home in a race-best 23.08s (400m).

The Pierata gelding has trialled once since that effort, pinching ground late under Guyon last Tuesday (20 January) behind Group 3 winner Patch Of Theta at Sha Tin.

“He’s in good form. I trialled him over 1200 metres on the dirt, and he’s an easy horse. He ran well last start, but he was a little bit unlucky,” Guyon said.

On Monday morning (26 January), Guyon worked the 81-rating Top Dragon, raced in partnership by Vincent, Kenneth and Ronald To, alongside stablemate Carryon Smiling at Sha Tin, clocking 53.6s (29.0, 24.6) for the hit-out.

“I’m really happy with him,” Guyon said. “We just gave him an easy gallop, just to make sure he was moving well.”

Guyon has 11 wins so far from 113 rides during his current short-term contract, which concludes on 1 March after commencing last November. His biggest win throughout this period came aboard Sosie in the HK$26 million G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Vase (2400m) – the Frenchman’s third success in the race after Flintshire (2014) and Junko (2023).

Sagacious Life, Little Paradise, Invincible Ibis, Beauty Bolt, Crimson Flash, Infinite Resolve, Patch Of Cosmo, Public Attention, Winfield, Akashvani, Circuit Grand Slam, Shanwah and Windlord are also entered for Sunday’s Hong Kong Classic Mile.

Reserves for the race are Pope Cody, Daryl Flash, Aerodynamics, Natural Numbers, Uranus Star, California Waves, Fivefortwo and The Golden Knight.

Also trained by So, Sing Dragon blitzed his barrier trial at Sha Tin this morning (Tuesday, 27 January) in 1m 09.33s under Karis Teetan on the dirt. Bursting to the front, Sing Dragon coasted across the line nearly nine lengths ahead of Horsepower, who was second.

Sing Dragon is entered for the G3 Mahab Al Shimaal (1200m, dirt) on 28 February and G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen (1200m, dirt) on 28 March. Both races are run at Meydan in Dubai.