Kip Deville has been installed as the 4-1 favorite for Sunday's Hong Kong Mile by two of Britain's leading bookmakers, Ladbrokes and Coral, ahead of defending Mile winner and Hong Kong's Horse of the Year, Good Ba Ba.
The Group 1, $2 million contest at Sha Tin Racecourse has attracted seven Group 1 winners and five Group 2 winners from seven different countries and is the deepest of the four big races on the Hong Kong International Raceday card.
Kane Hekili became the first horse to win the Japan Cup Dirt twice as he held on gamely for a head victory Sunday in the ninth running of the Grade 1, $2.7 million contest at Hanshin . In what proved to be yet another fruitless trip to the Far East for the American contenders, Frost Giant finished 12th in the 1 1/8-mile race and Tin Cup Chalice 13th after Mast Track had been scratched on Sunday morning due to lameness in his shoulder.
Defending title holder Vermilion locks horns with the potentially superb Casino Drive at Hanshin on Sunday in the $2.7 million Japan Cup Dirt, in which American challengers Tin Cup Chalice, Frost Giant, and Mast Track will have to produce career-best efforts if they hope to find the winner's circle in this 1 1/8-mile Grade 1 event.
The three American challengers continued their preparations for Sunday's $2.5 million Japan Cup Dirt at Hanshin Racecourse on Thursday, prior to the draw for the 1 1/8-mile Grade 1 contest that saw Frost Giant land in post 2, Tin Cup Chalice in 8, and Mast Track in 13 in the 16-runner field.
With his regular rider, Pedro Rodriguez, unable to receive a passport in time to make the trip to Japan, Tin Cup Chalice has lucked out in picking up the services of Edgar Prado, who is at Hanshin this weekend representing America in the World Super Jockeys Series.
Ascot Racecourse has upped the purse of its centerpiece event, the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, to 1 million pounds, approximately $1.49 million, with the announcement on Wednesday that the 1 1/2-mile Group 1 contest will be sponsored through 2013 by Betfair, the worldwide betting company.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club has reacted angrily to the decision of Australia's Racing New South Wales not to recognize the 30-month suspension it slapped on jockey Chris Munce for his involvement in the notorious "tips-for-bets bribery" scandal for which Munce has recently completed a 20-month prison term in Hong Kong.
Screen Hero scored a 40-1 surprise in the $5 million Japan Cup in Tokyo on Sunday, defeating three Japanese Derby winners as well as three British challengers. Marsh Side, the lone American horse scheduled to race, was scratched after suffering a relapse of the fever that had caused him to miss a week of training after his arrival in Japan.
Kip Deville, America's big hope in the Hong Kong Mile at Sha Tin on Dec. 14, had his first exercise at Sha Tin on Thursday, cantering around the all-weather course.
Meanwhile, three other American-trained horses have been confirmed for Hong Kong International Race Day, Awesome Gem in the Mile and Artiste Royal and Out of Control in the 1 1/4-mile Hong Kong Cup. All three are scheduled to arrive in Hong Kong from Los Angeles International Airport at 11:15 p.m. local time next Friday.
Marsh Side faces a monumental task in the $5 million Japan Cup at Tokyo Racecourse on Sunday when the Neil Drysdale-trained winner of the Canadian International will be meeting three locally trained Japanese Derby winners in Deep Sky, Vodka, and Meisho Samson.
History will be made at Tokyo Racecourse on Sunday when three Japanese Derby winners - Deep Sky, Vodka, and Meisho Samson - meet in the Japan Cup. The only other time three national derby winners ran in the same race was in 1917, when Kentucky Derby winners Regret, Old Rosebud, and Omar Khayyam faced off in a memorable Brooklyn Handicap at the old Aqueduct Racetrack.