When Voyage Bubble went out to win the Stewards’ Cup a year ago at Sha Tin Racecourse, the best horse in Hong Kong had departed Hong Kong.
Romantic Warrior this week last winter won the Jebel Hatta at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai, then went to Saudi Arabia and lost an epic battle with Forever Young in the Saudi Cup. Back in Dubai, Romantic Warrior – sapped from his Saudi Cup – took a narrow loss in the Dubai Turf.
Bhupat Seemar for the last few seasons has trained a large portion of the best dirt horses in Dubai, a dynamic on full display Friday at Meydan Racecourse, where Seemar’s four-bagger included victories in the featured Al Maktoum Challenge with Imperial Emperor and in the UAE 2000 Guineas, won by Six Speed.
Both horses are headed toward a start on the Dubai World Cup card, Imperial Emperor in the World Cup itself, Six Speed in the UAE Derby.
Paul Lally:
R1: 8-11-6-4
R2: 4-12-1-10
R3: 8-5-4-2
R4: 1-2-8-9
R5: 7-3-5-2
R6: 1-3-2-4
R7: 2-1-7-10
R8: 1-2-5-8
R9: 4-7-5-8
R10: 4-14-13-3
R11: 2-1-12-7
Best Bet: R10 N4 Happy Index
Longshot: R7 N2 Forza Toro
Play: R9 QQP 4-5-7
DRF is happy to provide international racing nightly on DRF. Watch and wager on top-tier International races daily from Australia, France, Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong. Major tracks include Flemington, Moonee Valley, Royal Randwick, Sha Tin, Happy Valley and more. Bet on all the big races from The Melbourne Cup to The Championships at Royal Randwick and the Hong Kong Cup. These free international past performances are available courtesy of Sky Racing World.
Friday, January 23, (January 24, Australia)
Six Speed stands a decent chance of getting on the Kentucky Derby qualifying-points board in the UAE 2000 Guineas on Friday at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai.
The UAE 2000 Guineas, a one-turn mile, is a new addition to the system Churchill Downs has created that forms the Kentucky Derby field, capped at 20 runners, with more horses than the maximum lining up to run every year. The race is part of the newly formed European/Middle East Road to the Derby, which merges two previous Derby qualifying paths.
By Leo Schlink
David Hayes is confident Ka Ying Rising remains in peak form as the world’s highest-rated sprinter chases history in the HK$13 million G1 Centenary Sprint Cup (1200m) at Sha Tin on Sunday (25 January).
Unbeaten in 16 starts since 12 February, 2024, Ka Ying Rising will equal Silent Witness’ record for a Hong Kong-trained horse of 17 victories in a row if he eclipses six rivals in this weekend’s Group 1 double-header, which also features Romantic Warrior’s clash with Voyage Bubble in the HK$13 million G1 Stewards’ Cup (1600m).
By Declan Schuster
It is a huge week for championship-leading trainer Mark Newnham, who after saddling seven runners at Sha Tin on Wednesday night (21 January), will seek top-level glory with stable star My Wish in Sunday’s (25 January) HK$13 million G1 Stewards’ Cup (1600m).
Group 2 victor My Wish, who has six wins from 15 starts including the 2025 Hong Kong Classic Mile, faces mighty gallopers Romantic Warrior and Voyage Bubble – winners of a combined 17 Group 1 races – in the Triple Crown’s opener this weekend at Sha Tin.
By Declan Schuster
Ricky Yiu has declared it’s all systems go for Voyage Bubble ahead of his six-time Group 1 winner’s Triple Crown defence, which begins in Sunday’s (25 January) HK$13 million G1 Stewards’ Cup (1600m) at Sha Tin, when he clashes with Romantic Warrior.
“He had a really good gallop on Saturday (17 January). He’s fit and he wasn’t blowing at all. Very good signs,” Yiu said. “The feedback from Zac (Purton) was very promising. It seems as though the horse has never had a run and that he is coping with everything.”
In the fifth instalment of The Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Road to the Derby series, we profile a contender who has charged up the ratings this season – the Jimmy Ting-trained Little Paradise.
With less than two weeks until the first leg of the prestigious 2025/26 Four-Year-Old Classic Series – the HK$13 million Hong Kong Classic Mile (1600m) on 1 February – and with the 149th HK$26 million BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) on 22 March on the horizon, Little Paradise’s mark of 95 makes him one of the highest-rated gallopers of his age in the city.
