Hong Kong racing season begins

The first of 88 racing programs during the 2023-24 Hong Kong racing season comes Sunday at Sha Tin.

Despite a typhoon that hit Hong Kong about a week ago and record-setting rain late this week - as much as 15 inches during a 24-hour period in some places - Hong Kong Jockey Club officials told local media they fully expected Sunday’s 10-race program to go forward as planned.

The turf courses at Sha Tin and the Hong Kong city track, Happy Valley, drain exceptionally well, and while training has been canceled this week because of torrential rain, the racecourse itself remained in good condition.

Hong Kong’s best sprinter of the 2022-23 season, Lucky Sweynesse, sees action on opening day when he starts in the 1,200-meter HKSAR Chief Executive’s Cup Handicap.

Sunday afternoons at Sha Tin and Wednesday evenings at Happy Valley (Hong Kong is 12 hours ahead of Eastern Daylight Savings time) form the standard two-day racing week, though Sha Tin periodically races on Saturday. All the major races are contested at Sha Tin, which has a standard, flat oval.

The Happy Valley track is quirkier and smaller, with uneven bends and a far shorter run from the top of the stretch to the finish. Hong Kong races are run right-handed (clockwise).

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Zac Purton, who has won six riding titles, and John Size, who has a dozen training titles, will be expected to top the jockey and trainer standings for the second year in a row. The major addition to the jockey colony is Italian-born Andrea Atzeni, who rode in Hong Kong in 2014, did poorly, and left long before season’s end.

While Lucky Sweynesse races Sunday, Golden Sixty - Hong Kong’s best horse and the world’s best horse over the last three years - is not expected to start until the Hong Kong Mile on Dec. 10. Golden Sixty, who is 8, typically has at least one preparatory race before the Hong Kong Mile, part of Hong Kong’s biggest race day along with the Hong Kong Cup, the Hong Kong Sprint, and the Hong Kong Vase.

Romantic Warrior, the best mile to 1 1/4-mile horse in Hong Kong not named Golden Sixty, is aiming for to start in the Cox Plate in Australia this fall.

Lucky Sweynesse, who won eight of 10 starts last season, including three Group 1s, and is 17-13-2-1 for his career, wastes no time kicking off his campaign. He faces just five rivals in Sunday’s fourth race and carries 135 pounds, including Purton.

In Hong Kong, races are organized through a ratings system, the ratings updated each week by the HKJC handicapping department, the races made more competitive through weight assignments. The Sunday feature is a Class 1 for horses rated 91 and higher, and Lucky Sweynesse carries a towering 131 rating. He gives 20 pounds to his five opponents but still will be expected to prevail.

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