New faces intrigue in Sha Tin feature

The featured ninth race Sunday at Sha Tin Racecourse in Hong Kong is a class 2 handicap over about seven furlongs for horses rated 105-80. That’s what it is. What it might be is a sneak peek at the 4-year-old championship series next year.

Four of the 13 entered make their Hong Kong debut and are either 3-year-olds on Northern Hemisphere time or 4-year-olds bred in the Southern Hemisphere, both sets of which are eligible for the three-race, 4-year-old championship series, the closest Hong Kong gets to a triple crown.

Four-year-old New Zealand-bred Furore has the highest Hong Kong rating of the bunch at 92 on the strength of a third among 18 in the Group 1 Rosehill Guineas, a sixth of 18 in the Group 1 Queensland Derby, and four wins from his four previous starts. Frankie Lor, fresh off his two Group 1 wins on the Hong Kong International Races card last Sunday, trains Furore, who almost certainly prefers a longer distance than he gets Sunday.

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Richard Gibson trains Gold Chest, an American-bred 3-year-old son of War Front who was called Naval Intelligence when he won a maiden race and the listed Sir Henry Cecil Stakes under the tutelage of trainer Jane Chapple-Hyam in England earlier this year. Those races both came over a straight course at Newmarket, the maiden at 1400 meters, the stakes at 1600, and Gold Chest at least is entered at an appropriate trip if he’s ready to roll first time on the circuit.

Australian-bred Heavenly Thought got in 12 starts back home before being sold to Hong Kong interests. He scored three wins and had three seconds, one of which came in the Group 1 Queensland Derby in June. While he won a maiden race over 1300 meters, Heavenly Thought probably needs at least a mile for his best and figures to be tuning up Sunday.

That might not be the case for King of Hearts, who was named Society Power while racing in England during 2017 and 2018. King of Hearts actually specialized in races at or about 1400 meters on English racecourses – both turf and all-weather – and in his final start there finished second of 21 in the Jersey Stakes at Royal Ascot, beaten only by Expert Eye, who would go on to win the Breeders’ Cup Mile.

Still, the newcomers might at best be running for second behind Conte. The John Size-trained 4-year-old had four wins and a third from five starts during the 2017–18 Hong Kong season and was a close second at this level and distance last month in his first start this season. Joao Moreira takes over the reins on a horse likely set to improve second time out.

Post time for the Sunday feature is 2:40 a.m. Eastern.

Buick appeals long suspension

Jockey William Buick earlier this week appealed a six-week suspension handed him by the stewards at Sha Tin Racecourse for his ride on Pakistan Star in the Group 1 Hong Kong Vase on Dec. 9. Stewards held Buick accountable for a chain of bumps that badly compromised Waldgeist and Red Verdon in upper stretch. Buick didn’t protest his guilt in causing considerable trouble for his two rivals but appealed the severity of the punishment, a ban from 12 Hong Kong race cards (spanning Dec. 17 through Jan. 28) and a fine of about $2,560.

Buick is one of England’s top jockeys, but the suspension would impact his business in Japan, where he has received a short-term contract to ride this winter, and in Dubai, where the World Cup Carnival begins in early January.

Plans still pending for Beauty Generation; Deirdre to Dubai

Connections of star Hong Kong miler Beauty Generation met Tuesday night to discuss upcoming options for the spectacular repeat winner of the Dec. 9 Hong Kong Mile, but as of Friday there was no word yet what the short-term future held for Beauty Generation.

Trainer John Moore wants to run Beauty Generation in the $6 million Dubai Turf on the Dubai World Cup undercard in late March but the family that owns Beauty Generation has expressed concern about the toll international shipping can take on Hong Kong horses.

Already announced as a runner in the 1 1/8-mile Dubai Turf, however, is the Japan-based filly Deirdre, who was badly pace-compromised when second in the Hong Kong Cup over 2000 meters. Deirdre will try and follow in the hoofprints of the Japanese mare Vivlos, who won the 2017 Dubai Turf.

► Glorious Forever was the major ratings riser from the Hong Kong International Races. The gate-to-wire winner of the Hong Kong Cup had his Hong Kong rating boosted 15 points to 125 after the performance. Beauty Generation’s Hong Kong rating of 137 remained unchanged following the Hong Kong Mile.