Hong Kong International Races lack Americans

HONG KONG – There are no American horses here for Sunday’s four Group 1 stakes that make up the Hong Kong International Races, but there is an American rider in town for Wednesday’s international jockeys’ challenge, the de facto lid-lifter to the most important week of the local racing season.

Javier Castellano accepted an invitation to participate in the jockeys’ challenge on Wednesday night at Happy Valley Racecourse, Hong Kong’s city track. No Americans, however, accepted an invitation to the quartet of international races, set for Sunday at Sha Tin Racecourse.

Stormy Liberal was the lone U.S.-based participant a year ago, finishing 11th in the Hong Kong Sprint over six furlongs around a bend. That flat performance was a far cry from Stormy Liberal’s scintillating win over World of Trouble last month in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint and demonstrates how difficult it can be to ship to Hong Kong and contend with fast local horses firmly adapted to the particular conditions here.

Last year’s Sprint winner, Mr. Stunning, is one of a dozen expected to be among final entrants here Thursday. Mr. Stunning could be second choice in the $2.56 million Sprint behind Hot King Prawn, one of four sprinters – along with Ivictory, Beat the Clock, and D.B. Pin – trained by John Size. Size also trained Mr. Stunning at this time last year before the gelding was moved into the stables of Size’s former assistant Frankie Lor.

The Sprint is the shortest race Sunday, and the $2.56 million Hong Kong Vase is the longest at 2,400 meters, or about 1 1/2 miles. The Hong Kong program concentrates on distances between five furlongs and 1 1/8 miles, and the Vase is the race most open to international shippers, of which there are 10 this year. Among them is Waldgeist, a close fourth in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and most recently seen finishing a less-close fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Turf.

Also expected to run is Eziyra, sixth from a wide draw in the BC Filly and Mare Turf.

Another horse coming out of the Breeders’ Cup and into the international races is One Master, the England-based 4-year-old filly trained by William Haggas who finished a commendable fifth in the BC Mile and is among 14 expected final entrants in the $3.2 million Hong Kong Mile. One Master got bogged down inside on the worst part of the Churchill Downs course and still was beaten only a length by Expert Eye in the BC Mile. She has the misfortune, however, of running into the brightest star of this weekend: Beauty Generation, the 2017 Hong Kong Mile winner, the top-rated horse in Hong Kong, and the highest-rated grass miler in the world.

The $3.58 million Hong Kong Cup over about 1 1/4 miles lacks standouts, though it includes last year’s winner, Time Warp, who has not shown his best this Hong Kong season. Also expected to run are a trio of Japanese horses, the most interesting of whom is the filly Deirdre.

While Sha Tin is an expansive, straightforward oval course, Happy Valley is a tight, irregularly configured racetrack well suited to test the skills of many of the best jockeys in the world on Wednesday night. Castellano is one of a dozen participants – four local, eight international – who ride races 4, 5, 7, and 8 and accumulate points for placed finishes.

After the jockeys’ competition wraps up comes the featured ninth race, a Class 2 handicap for horses rated 100-80. All the other races on a card that kicks off at 5:30 a.m. Eastern are Class 3’s or lower – top-shelf jockeys riding horses of far more modest accomplishment.