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South China Morning Post
6 days ago
- Sport
- South China Morning Post
John Size shrugs off mini-drought to land Hong Kong win 1,600: ‘I've taken my time'
It was all smiles for John Size after bagging his 1600th winner at Sha Tin. Photos: Kenneth Chan John Size ended a frustrating mini-drought at Sha Tin on Sunday to celebrate his 1,600th Hong Kong victory and boost his claims of holding off a surging David Hayes in the trainers' championship. Size joined fellow Australian John Moore (1,735 wins) as the only trainers to reach the major milestone in the city when Stellar Express romped home in the Class Three Indigenous Handicap (1,000m). Relief was the overwhelming emotion for the 70-year-old, who halted his winless streak at 36 runners while claiming a crucial win as his battle with Hayes heats up. 'I've taken my time, but finally got there. It's always nice to get some sort of milestone or number up – that's the one today,' said Size, who last tasted success with Perfect Pairing at Happy Valley on May 7. 1⃣,6⃣0⃣0⃣ HONG KONG WINS FOR JOHN SIZE! 👏 Stellar Express brings up a major milestone for our 12-time champion trainer, who becomes the second in history to reach the mark... 🍾 @brentonavdulla @WorldPool | #TripleCrown | #HKracing — HKJC Racing (@HKJC_Racing) May 25, 2025 Since landing his first premiership in his debut season in the city in 2000-01, Size has become a legend of Hong Kong racing with a record 12 titles and a host of star gallopers and Group One successes. The Australian Racing Hall of Fame inductee's bid for another title strengthened when he overcame a sluggish start to the campaign to establish a double-digit lead. However, Hayes cut the deficit to four wins when Shamus Storm won Sunday's Class Four Exultant Handicap (1,400m) before Size struck back. 'I'm hanging on by the skin of my teeth. We'll just keep trying,' Size said. HK Racing News Get updates direct to your inbox Sign up Best Bets Racing News By registering you agree to our T&Cs & Privacy Policy Error: Please enter a valid email. The email address is already in use. Please login to subscribe. Error, please try again later. THANK YOU You are one the list. Brenton Avdulla celebrates on John Size's 1600th winner Stellar Express. Jockey Brenton Avdulla was thrilled to help deliver Size his milestone triumph when Stellar Express made all to bolt in by two lengths from the Hayes-trained Metro Power. 'It's worked out well because I was a bit upset, thinking I would miss out on riding it for him because John has gone three or four meetings without a winner when I wasn't riding,' said Avdulla, who has served careless riding suspensions while Size was stranded on 1,599 wins. 'I thought he might have got it when I was off but it's actually an honour to ride the winner that brings up the 1,600th for John and it's great that it's for [owner] Larry Yung [Chi-kin], who's a big supporter. 'It's a brilliant result and hopefully we can help John onto another premiership.' Stellar Express added Sunday's win to his Class Two triumph down the straight in December. A double for Brenton Avdulla took him to the 40-winner mark for the season. Hayes managed to keep pace with Size after Shamus Storm was given a brilliant ride by Zac Purton to win the Class Four Exultant Handicap (1,400m). It was fifth-time lucky for the Shamus Award galloper, who settled towards the rear of the pack before Purton made a move off the turn to box in his main rival Max Que heading into the straight. It was a move that proved crucial, with Shamus Storm getting first run and justifying $2.2 favouritism in the process. The win had Hayes keeping one eye on the championship, while admitting the task had been made a bit tougher after today. 'It's been a bit of a frustrating day. Ka Ying Glory ran faster than the Class One and got beaten, and Fortune Boy I thought was my best of the day and he got scratched at the gate,' said Hayes. 'I need to have a day where I sneak up on him – if I was further away then I wouldn't be able to win.' The win formed part of Purton treble, with Packing Hermod saluting in the Class Two River Verdon Handicap (1,400m) and Top Dragon ending the card in style by claiming the Class Three Oriental Express Handicap (1,400m).
South China Morning Post
22-05-2025
- Sport
- South China Morning Post
The Champions & Chater Cup by the numbers
Rebel's Romance becomes the first overseas winner of the Group One Champions & Chater Cup (2,400m). Photo: Kenneth Chan The final Group One of the Hong Kong season is not always the most thrilling of elite-level contests but the scene is certainly set for a bumper 2025 edition of the Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup (2,400m). With big-name globetrotter Dubai Honour in town and Voyage Bubble alive in the Triple Crown, fans are expecting fireworks at Sha Tin on Sunday. Here's the race by the numbers: 1 – The number of horses to have started the Champions & Chater Cup alive in the Triple Crown since River Verdon completed the coveted sweep in 1994. After wins in the Group One Stewards' Cup (1,600m) and Group One Gold Cup (2,000m), Ambitious Dragon fell just short of Triple Crown glory in 2012, running second to Liberator by a length and a half. Golden Sixty twice did the Stewards' Cup-Gold Cup double but never made the step out to 12 furlongs. All-time LEGEND of Hong Kong racing! 🧡 The trailblazing River Verdon is the city's only #TripleCrown winner in history, completing the stamina testing three-race challenge in 1993/94... 🏆🏆🏆#FlashbackFriday | #LoveRacing | #HKracing — HKJC Racing (@HKJC_Racing) May 16, 2025 10 – The number of gallopers expected to run in this weekend's Group One, which would be the race's equal-biggest field in the past 20 years. While 12 gallopers were entered for the contest, Dennis Yip Chor-hong removed Noisy Boy early this week, not wanting to run his Group Three Queen Mother Memorial Cup (2,400m) runner-up off a rating of just 86, and Frankie Lor Fu-chuen-trained dirt specialist Sword Point came out on Wednesday. 5 – Cap Ferrat is looking to join the quintet of horses to have done the Hong Kong Derby-Champions & Chater Cup double in the same season since Hong Kong racing turned professional in the early 1970s. If the Francis Lui Kin-wai-trained Cap Ferrat can back up his March victory in the city's most prestigious race, he will join Co-Tack (1983), River Verdon (1991), Makarpura Star (1995), Vengeance Of Rain (2005) and Viva Pataca (2006) in completing the increasingly rare double. After delivering the goods in the Derby, Australian jockey Craig Williams again jets in to partner Cap Ferrat. HISTORY AT SHA TIN! 👏👏@CWilliamsJockey wins the 148th @BMW Hong Kong Derby aboard Cap Ferrat for trainer Francis Lui over a fast-closing My Wish... #4YOSeries | #LoveRacing | #HKracing — HKJC Racing (@HKJC_Racing) March 23, 2025 3 – The number of seconds Romantic Warrior ran during the 2023 Triple Crown, trailing Golden Sixty home in the first two legs before being pipped by Russian Emperor in the finale. There will be a Romantic Warrior flavour at Sha Tin this Sunday, however, with the Jockey Club putting on a welcome home ceremony for the 10-time Group One winner after his three-race campaign in the Middle East. In town to partner Voyage Bubble, James McDonald will sit atop Romantic Warrior as he parades for fans at 3.10pm. 6 – Barrier stats are always going to be skewed for a race prone to small fields but for what it's worth, gate one has provided the most Champions & Chater Cup winners since 1995 with six. Barriers four and seven follow close behind with five winners, while no other alley has thrown up more than three victors. It's the visitor, Dubai Honour, who jumps from the inside stall on Sunday, while Ensued has gate four and Cap Ferrat seven. Winning Dragon looks the potential leader from the outside alley of 10, while Voyage Bubble is poised to get the dream run from stall three. Rebel's Romance is just too good! The boys in blue land the @StanChart Champions & Chater Cup at Sha Tin... 🏆 #HKracing — HKJC Racing (@HKJC_Racing) May 26, 2024 1 – On storming to victory in the race a year ago, Rebel's Romance became the first overseas winner of the Champions & Chater Cup. After running second behind Giavellotto in December's Group One Hong Kong Vase (2,400m), Dubai Honour looks very well placed to become the second. Overseas fixed-odds markets have local hero Voyage Bubble a $1.65 favourite and Dubai Honour a $2.75 second elect. HK Racing News Get updates direct to your inbox Sign up Best Bets Racing News By registering you agree to our T&Cs & Privacy Policy Error: Please enter a valid email. The email address is already in use. Please login to subscribe. Error, please try again later. THANK YOU You are one the list. 3 – Group One wins by Voyage Bubble this season. A fourth this weekend would put Ricky Yiu Poon-fai's superstar firmly in the Hong Kong Horse of the Year conversation alongside Ka Ying Rising and Romantic Warrior.
South China Morning Post
19-05-2025
- Sport
- South China Morning Post
David Hayes hopes for a Champions & Chater upset with Rubylot against ‘horse to beat' Dubai Honour
Trainer praying for some rain to help his Classic Cup (1,800m) winner measure up at the elite level Dubai Honour is the 'horse to beat' in Sunday's Group One Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup (2,400m) but David Hayes is relishing the chance to try and cause an upset with Classic Cup (1,800m) winner Rubylot. Rubylot ran sixth in the first leg of the Classic Series, the Classic Mile, before defying $14 odds to come from nearly last to first to mow down My Wish and win the Classic Cup. The four-year-old ran another stormer when finishing strongly into fifth in the BMW Hong Kong Derby (2,000m) and was last seen finishing an unlucky sixth in the Group One FWD QE II Cup (2,000m) on Champions Day. Rubylot was shuffled to the back of the field after an inside trip and his rider Hugh Bowman had to take the daring route between horses, copping a sizeable bump before lashing home. Rubylot mows them down in the Hong Kong Classic Cup at Sha Tin! My Wish is brave in defeat as @brentonavdulla and David Hayes combine for victory... 🏆#4YOSeries | #LoveRacing | #HKracing — HKJC Racing (@HKJC_Racing) March 2, 2025 Hayes reports Rubylot is in flying form in the mornings as he prepares to watch the Rubick galloper have his final piece of work. 'We're up at Conghua for his final piece of work on Tuesday before Sunday's big day,' said Hayes. 'He's working like a horse that's really peaking and not going off. 'He's by Rubick so some people would say he wouldn't run a mile and a half, but if you look at the dam's side, it's a very dour European type. 'With luck, I think he could have easily placed in the QE II Cup and that's the elite level. Hugh [Bowman] is very confident he can run a placing and be competitive with the locals.' The race has been billed as a clash between the Triple Crown-seeking Voyage Bubble and top-class foreign raider Dubai Honour, with the rest of the runners making up a supporting cast. Voyage Bubble will bid to become just the second Hong Kong Triple Crown winner on Sunday after wins in the Group One Stewards' Cup (1,600m) and the Group One Hong Kong Gold Cup (2,000m), but like a vast majority of the locals he has stamina to prove on his first try at the trip. No such reservations are held for William Haggas' Dubai Honour, who is a two-time Group One winner at the 2,400m distance, most recently when flashing home to collect the Group One Tancred Stakes at Rosehill (2,400m). He is proven at Sha Tin by virtue of his narrow second in the Group One Hong Kong Vase (2,400m) back in December and Hayes is under no illusions about who is the horse to beat. A fourth Group 1 for Dubai Honour! 🏆@TomMarquand's mount protected his 100% record in Australia earlier this morning, seeing off Duke De Sessa to land the Tancred Stakes for @WilliamHaggas... — At The Races (@AtTheRaces) April 1, 2025 'Dubai Honour is the horse to beat, he's got nothing to prove compared to the local horses,' said Hayes. 'People have billed it as a clash between him and Voyage Bubble and I do see it that way as well. 'If there's a horse that can cause an upset, maybe that's us, but realistically I'd be over the moon to run in the first three. I have incredible respect for Voyage Bubble. 'I haven't looked at Voyage Bubble's pedigree but he's very good at 2,000m – if it rains then Rubylot will love it and it will make things very interesting.'
South China Morning Post
12-05-2025
- Sport
- South China Morning Post
Andrea Atzeni hopes improving Crimson Flash can help him raise his bat at Happy Valley
The 34-year-old has some big chances on Wednesday night as he hones in on a century of Hong Kong winners Andrea Atzeni will be hoping last-start winner Crimson Flash can draw him one winner closer to his Hong Kong century at Happy Valley on Wednesday night. The Sardinian is just two winners away from raising his bat after two fruitful seasons in Hong Kong and victory on Crimson Flash could also draw him level with last campaign's tally. The Mark Newnham-trained three-year-old doubled his career total and got off the mark in Hong Kong with a very comfortable win in the Class Three Violet Handicap (1,200m) last month. Ridden by Atzeni for the first time, he bombed down the outside after a midfield trip to score with plenty in hand and he is well drawn in stall six for his return to the Valley. Crimson Flash is lightning quick late! @Atzenijockey takes a double at Happy Valley tonight atop Mark Newnham's galloper... ⚡️#HappyWednesday | #HKracing — HKJC Racing (@HKJC_Racing) April 16, 2025 That form has been boosted by Chateauneuf winning last Wednesday and despite going up 7lbs in the ratings, he looks to be Atzeni's best chance of the evening. 'He arrived in Hong Kong with only one run under his belt, so he's very unexposed,' said Atzeni. 'He was nicely on top over course and distance last time and still showed inexperience, so I think there is more to come from him. 'He has a nice draw to work with and a nice racing weight as well. I'm really hopeful he can run well again.' The 34-year-old also has plenty of other chances to enhance his total, with the smart Nimble Nimbus hoping to snap a 14-month losing run in the feature Class Two Choi Hung Handicap (1,650m). Andrea Atzeni's superb season continues! 🤯 He takes a second Group 3 this term as Nimble Nimbus just outlasts Five G Patch for Ricky Yiu... 🏆@Atzenijockey | @AtTheRaces | #HKracing — HKJC Racing (@HKJC_Racing) February 4, 2024 Atzeni was on board when Nimble Nimbus won a red-hot Group Three Centenary Vase (1,800m) at Sha Tin last February, defeating the likes of Five G Patch, Straight Arron and La City Blanche with a power-packed finishing effort. This season's form has not quite scaled those heights, but he has now slipped down the ratings to a fairer mark and he was not disgraced when finishing fifth in the Class One Shan Kwong Handicap (1,650m) at the Valley back in February. 'It's a small field with only seven runners, but it's still very competitive as you'd expect,' said Atzeni. 'He's not getting any younger, but he can definitely still run well in a race like this. 'He actually ran his best race of this season in a course and distance Class One in February when he finished off well and I'm hoping we can do the same again.' After a trio of Hong Kong winners in 2014 before his two more recent full-time seasons, Atzeni sits on the cusp of a big milestone – as well ticking off his early season target of flashing past last season's tally. With 18 meetings to go and just one winner needed to equal last season, perhaps Atzeni can aim even higher, but a Group winner is something he desperately wants to cap off the campaign in style. 'I came into the season wanting to beat last season's tally as my main goal, so it's nice to be so close to doing that with time to spare,' said Atzeni. 'The one thing I've been missing this season is a Group winner – I had two last season with Taj Dragon and Nimble Nimbus. 'I've ridden lots of nice young ones and good types, but I haven't had one in a big race yet. There's still time, of course, and every winner counts.'
South China Morning Post
08-05-2025
- Sport
- South China Morning Post
What's in store during the final quarter of the 2024-25 Hong Kong racing season?
Voyage Bubble (white, blue and green colours) will bid to become the second winner of Hong Kong's Triple Crown later this month. Photos: Kenneth Chan We're into the final quarter of the 2024-25 season and it's about now that those inside the Hong Kong racing bubble start looking for the finish line. That's not to say there's not plenty to unfold between now and the season finale on July 16, however, with another Group One to come, the outside chance of a title fight in the training ranks and the annual shuffling of the riding roster next month. Sizeable leads for kingpins Like he has every season since Joao Moreira's departure, Zac Purton is coasting to the jockeys' premiership – his fourth on the bounce and eighth overall. Purton leads by 44 over the second-placed Hugh Bowman with 19 meetings remaining and it is now only a matter of how many winners the star Australian can amass. The trainers' championship is mathematically much closer but the chances of John Size being overrun look just about as slim as Purton being reeled in. Ten clear of his nearest rival in David Hayes, Size is sitting pretty and looks to have more than enough ammunition to keep powering towards a record-extending 13th title. Of course, bigger gaps have been closed in Hong Kong title races but chasing down Size is a different story. More broadly, Size heads to Sha Tin this Saturday needing just one win to hit 1,600 victories in Hong Kong and the 70-year-old continues to close in on John Moore's all-time record of 1,735 successes in the city. Raiders eye riches again Rebel's Romance became the first overseas winner of the Group One Champions & Chater Cup (2,400m) last year and the final elite-level contest of the season looks poised to boast some much-needed international flavour once again. While the Triple Crown quest of local star Voyage Bubble will create plenty of interest, the expected inclusion of decorated globetrotter Dubai Honour and Joseph O'Brien's Al Riffa will give the race real substance. Officials are confident both gallopers will make the journey and if they do, Hong Kong racing fans will have a genuine late-season highlight to look forward to. Change afoot in riding ranks Next season's riding ranks will be largely known when the Jockey Club licensing committee confirms the roster next month and Alfred Chan Ka-hei is one jockey who will not be continuing. While Chan is retiring because of a lack of opportunities and Antoine Hamelin is expected to head back to France after more than five seasons in Hong Kong, Australian James Orman is one fringe jockey keen to hang around after making a solid start to life in the city in recent months. While Jockey Club officials are no doubt hard at work looking for new blood to add to the riding roster, it was confirmed in February that South African Brett Crawford will be joining the training cohort. The man most likely to make way is Benno Yung Tin-pang, who has reached the retirement age of 66. However, it's been a disjointed season for Yung as he's battled acute myeloid leukaemia and the Jockey Club could certainly do worse than granting the veteran handler a proper farewell season. Unlike most recent campaigns, all handlers look set to meet the Jockey Club's trainers' benchmark – which is 16 winners for those with a Conghua stable and 14 for those without – with Michael Chang Chun-wai and Jimmy Ting Koon-ho filling the bottom two rungs of the table with 12 winners apiece.
