2016 News
Big challenge for Japanese trio in Hong Kong's QEII Cup (G1)','../en/racing/news_media/gallery/img/2015/s2/151101a.jpg','../en/racing/news_media/gallery/img/2015/b/151101a.jpg'))
Lovely Day  (G1)','../en/racing/news_media/gallery/img/2014/s2/140525a.jpg','../en/racing/news_media/gallery/img/2014/b/140525a.jpg'))
Nuovo Record ','../en/racing/news_media/gallery/img/2016/s2/16021401a.jpg','../en/racing/news_media/gallery/img/2016/b/16021401a.jpg'))
Satono Crown There’s a short break from Grade 1 action in Japan this week, but with a quick swivel of the binoculars, eyes will be trained on the showpiece at Sha Tin in Hong Kong on Sunday, April 24, when the Grade 1 Audemars Piguet Queen Elizabeth II Cup will be run over 2,000 meters at the track. It is the 42nd running of the race which has gained a higher profile than ever, with it now being the highest ranked race in Hong Kong, together with its HK$ 20 million sum in prize money. With six foreign horses among the nominations to take on the seven local runners, the race looks to be a real spectacle in the making, and it is guaranteed to give racing fans all they could possibly want from a single race. Japan has put forward three runners with plenty of potential, and they are commanding a lot of respect going into the race. Hong Kong trainer John Moore said, “The competition from Japan is about as good as you’re going to get,” while jockey Douglas Whyte merely endorsed that by saying, “The Japanese horses are coming with some very strong form.” These words have yet to be confirmed by actual performances, but it is a sign that Japan’s three representatives are indeed held in high regard.With an international rating of 121, Lovely Day has the highest mark, tied on that figure with Blazing Speed and Highland Reel. Lovely Day achieved six graded race wins in 2015, including two Grade 1s in the Takarazuka Kinen and Tenno Sho (Autumn). He also finished third in the Japan Cup last year, and scooped the award for Best Older Horse in the annual JRA awards in 2015. The 6-year-old by King Kamehameha has nine wins and three seconds from 28 career starts, and from his 10 starts over 2,000 meters, he has won three times and placed second twice. His only run in 2016 saw him finish fourth in the Grade 2 Sankei Osaka Hai. His trainer, Yasutoshi Ikee, seems to have found the key to getting him relaxed and producing his best results. Lovely Day arrived in Hong Kong on the evening of April 14 and seems to have settled in well. “He seems happy with the new surroundings, and the journey here was fine. He’s training well so far,” said assistant trainer, Ryo Terashima. To give Lovely Day an even better chance, Hong Kong’s leading rider, Joao Moreira, looks poised to take the ride. Since 1995, ten 5-year-olds have won the QEII Cup, and that would bode well for the mare Nuovo Record, who has come of that age. She is by Heart’s Cry, and won the Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) in 2014, her one Grade 1 victory among five wins from 16 starts. She finished a game runner-up in last December’s Longines Hong Kong Cup under Ryan Moore, and in her one run in 2016, she finished sixth in the Grade 2 Sankei Osaka Hai, just fading at the end of that 2,000 meter race. To add a bit more sparkle, jockey Yutaka Take will ride her for the first time, and his big international wins in Hong Kong include Stay Gold in 2001, and most recently, a runaway win on A Shin Hikari last December, to give the Japanese legend his 102nd Grade 1 victory. Nuovo Record arrived in Hong Kong at the same time as Lovely Day, and connections are pleased with her so far. “She’s settled in well and seems to know where she is. She’ll gallop with the jockey on Thursday,” said Hideyuki Obara, assistant trainer to Nuovo Record’s trainer, Makoto Saito. Last but by no means least, Satono Crown will complete the Japanese trio, and the 4-year-old from the stable of Noriyuki Hori is four wins from just seven starts. He finished third in last year’s Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) and sixth in the Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) the same year. He’s won his only start this year in good fashion, claiming the Grade 2 Kyoto Kinen in February on a yielding track. Satono Crown touched down in Hong Kong on Sunday, April 17, and assistant trainer Tomohiro Takahashi said, “He sweated a little on the journey, but he travelled well and is relaxed now at Sha Tin. He’s a lot calmer now that he’s out working and exercising.”Japan has won the QEII Cup three times, and Staphanos ran a big race last year to finish second, but the opposition this time will take some beating. Other international contenders include Aidan O’Brien’s 2015 Hong Kong Vase winner Highland Reel, the 5-year-old mare from Australia in Rising Romance, and from the UAE, the Grade 1 Cape Derby (South Africa) winner, Ertijaal. And, of course, the Hong Kong challenge itself looks formidable. Trainers Tony Cruz and Moore have between them won the race for the last three years, and those winners, namely Blazing Speed, Military Attack, and Designs On Rome, are all back again this year to set their sights once more on victory. Moore also saddles the 4-year-old Werther, winner of the BMW Hong Kong Derby in March. The draw will play a big part with the short run to the first sweeping curve, but whatever happens, a great international race can be expected, with the visitors engaged in a real battle at Sha Tin on Sunday. * Please visit the following websites for more information. Hong Kong Jockey Club website: Audemars Piguet QEII Cup website: |
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