HONG KONG - And then there were two.
America's uncommonly small contingent of three runners in Sunday's Hong Kong International Races at Sha Tin was reduced by one-third Thursday when Sarafan was withdrawn from the Hong Kong Mile due to lingering traces of a banned substance.
HONG KONG - Mister Acpen may be among the lowest-rated horses in the Hong Kong Mile, but that hasn't deterred his California-based trainer, Kristin Mulhall, from sending him 6,000 miles to run for a $1.8 million purse.
The Mile is one of four races that comprise the Hong Kong Internat-ional Races, four rich Group 1 turf races that will be held at Sha Tin Racecourse on Sunday before an expected crowd of 55,000. The other three are the $2.3 million Hong Kong Cup at 1 1/4 miles; the $1.8 million Vase, 1 1/2 miles; and the $1.3 million Sprint, five furlongs.
Local rider Yoshitomi Shibata captured the World Super Jockeys Series at Hanshin racecourse in Japan over the weekend, as the two U.S. representatives, Jose Santos and Edgar Prado, failed to threaten seriously, finishing eighth and ninth.
Santos got off to a fair start in the four-race event, with two races on Saturday and two on Sunday, riding Reportage to third in the opening event. A fourth place in the final race gave him a respectable 25 points, 3 ahead of Prado.
Prado's mounts all finished in midpack or worse, with a fifth-place in the second race his best result.
Come the end of November, almost all of the world's major racing outside of Hollywood Park shifts eastward to Asia.
Japan Cup Weekend at Tokyo, the Hong Kong International Races at Sha Tin, the much-underrated Arima Kinen at Nakayama, and the run-up to Dubai World Cup Night at Nad Al Sheba give the Far East and the Middle East a dominant position on the international stage throughout the winter.
Joe Bear, trained by Philip Mitchell, has tested positive for clenbuterol and could lose his July 18 victory in Newmarket's Joe Jennings Rated Handicap, his last race in England before he placed in both the Secretariat Stakes at Arlington Park and the Jamaica Handicap at Belmont Park.
Victor Espinoza has been selected to represent the United States in the International Jockeys Championship at Happy Valley Racecourse in Hong Kong on Dec. 10.
Espinoza, who will ride Sarafan in the Hong Kong Mile at Sha Tin on Dec. 14, completes the field of 11 visiting riders in the competition. Meanwhile, Olivier Peslier has been named to replace Mirco Demuro, who is under suspension.
The American glory achieved by Fleetstreet Dancer's victory in Saturday's Japan Cup Dirt was shortlived as the four American horses in the Japan Cup- Denon, Slew Valley, Johar, and Sarafan - all finished out of the money in a Japanese-dominated finish on Sunday.
