Hong Kong Racing

Mind poisonous odds as well

The Gp1 Centenary Sprint Cup has been won by the Victor The Winner (5g Toronado x Noetic, by Cape Cross) who led all the way to defeat Lucky With You & Wellington.

Strange ride by Zac Purton on the odds-on favourite, Lucky Sweynesse.

Thanks GA.

Unsurprisingly the Jockey Club paid a lot of money for Deep Field yearlings at the recently completed MM sale.

Interesting race today the G1 Stewards Cup, without either of the big 2, Golden Sixty and Romantic Warrior, California Spangle would be favourite at his best but he doesn't appear to be near that currently, Voyage Bubble, who ran 2nd to the great one in the Hong King Mile and Beauty Eternal, who won the G2 lead in to that race head the market.

Seeing Manchester United relegated would mean more than words can describe to me.

What a shame there was never a thread on Golden Sixty Cry

On the eve of his retirement, this from Vincent Ho:

Ho is now focusing on the rest of the season in Hong Kong and what should be the final two starts in the amazing career of Golden Sixty — and also taking time to reflect on last Sunday's thrilling win.

When barrier 14 was drawn, there were gasps of disbelief from some sections of the audience. The consensus was that it would be a very difficult draw to overcome. But the jockey says he felt it was not a big deal.

"I was probably the only one, who was not worried," he says. "It's a big international race with 14 runners, so there was always a good chance there would be plenty of early pace. And I got the position that I wanted, three-wide with cover.

"I would rather be wide in 14 than drawn barriers one or two. I was always confident. I know what Golden Sixty is capable of," he adds.

Golden Sixty is destined to go into retirement later in the season — owner Stanley Chan says the gelding will live out his days in Japan — but is there part of Ho that wishes the champion had taken on challenges in other countries?

"It's not a disappointment to me, not really. Of course, a lot of people would love to see him overseas. But a lot of overseas horses have come here to Hong Kong and we have beaten them," he points out.

"Prizemoney in Hong Kong is good enough. If you have a horse like him, why risk it? The most important thing is that he is healthy. Of course, as a jockey, I would love to win those Group 1s elsewhere, but he doesn't need to.

"It's like Frankel or Baaeed, did they need to go overseas? No. Like Winx in Australia, did she need to go? No. Even the best horses don't need to go outside all the time. Their success still remains with them."

Wisdom has been chasing me but I've always outrun it!