Hong Kong Harry retires

The four-time graded stakes winner Hong Kong Harry was retired earlier this year and is being retrained for a second career.

“He had a little arthritis set in,” trainer Phil D’Amato said on Thursday. “It was time to stop on his racing career.”

An Irish-bred gelding who is now 8, Hong Kong Harry won 10 of 18 starts and earned $815,097. Hong Kong Harry raced in England at the start of his career, winning four minor races in 2020 and 2021.

Hong Kong Harry won his first three starts in the United States, including the Grade 3 American Stakes in April 2022. Later that year, Hong Kong Harry won two Grade 2 races at Del Mar, the Del Mar Mile in August and Seabiscuit Handicap in November.

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Hong Kong Harry had his final year on the track in 2023, winning once in the Grade 2 City of Hope Mile at Santa Anita. Hong Kong Harry had two workouts earlier this year before the decision was made to end his racing career. Hong Kong Harry raced in California for the partnership of Scott Anastasi, Jimmy Ukegawa, and Tony Valazza.

“I wish I would have had him earlier in his career,” D’Amato said. “I was lucky to have him, period. He was a nice horse with a heart of gold.”

Julie Witt, a former assistant to D’Amato, is overseeing Hong Kong Harry’s day-to-day care for his new career, likely as a trail horse.

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