Most of the best performers Sunday at Sha Tin went home to their stalls on the backstretch after jockeys dismounted and they were led off the track. Notably not among that group was Highland Reel, who is off to stud now after a memorable end to his career winning the Hong Kong Vase for the second time.
Andrew Hawkins' Hong Kong selections and analysis for Wednesday, December 13, 2017 - Happy Valley
Time Warp made an early lead under Zac Purton, set a walking pace while unchallenged, then flew away from his futilely chasing rivals at the top of the stretch to win the Group 1, $3,203,000 Hong Kong Cup by 2 1/4 lengths over favored Werther on Sunday at Sha Tin.
Beauty Generation has found his niche this season as a miler, and on Sunday he won the most important such race in this jurisdiction, taking the Group 1, $2,946,760 Hong Kong Mile by one length.
John Size is widely judged to be one of the top two trainers in Hong Kong, and his record in the Hong Kong International Races got closer to his general esteem after Mr. Stunning beat D B Pin by a neck in the Group 1, $2,370,220 Hong Kong Sprint on Sunday at Sha Tin Racecourse.
Storybook endings don’t come often in horseracing, but Highland Reel wrote one Sunday at Sha Tin Racecourse in the Group 1, $2.3 million Hong Kong Vase. Making his final start, Highland Reel flicked away a midstretch challenge from Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Talismanic and added a second Vase victory to his 2015 win.
The Group 1, $2.94 million Hong Kong Mile at Sha Tin historically has been a race for the locals. It appears to be open to about anyone this year.
The week of the Breeders' Cup at Del Mar, Talismanic, a horse few Americans had heard of, much less seen, became famous for his looks. The BC Turf longshot has a thick slab of white pitched down the center of his face and bright socks pulled up over his knees. He looks more like a paint horse at a Texas rodeo than a French import from the legendary training yard of Andre Fabre.
Andrew Hawkins' Hong Kong selections and analysis for International Day at Sha Tin: Sunday, December 10, 2017
One last trip, one last race – on Sunday in the Hong Kong Vase – and Highland Reel's career is expected to migrate from racehorse to stud horse.
