The Hong Kong Derby is the city's most influential race and this year's buildup to the four-year-old series is fascinating despite the lack of an obvious superstar.
Sometimes there is a clear standout horse heading into the series but this year looks wide-open, albeit with a host of promising prospects.
None are yet to "kick in the door" and announce themselves as a clear favorite with an emphatic performance. That could change on Sunday at Sha Tin, though, if a candidate separates himself from the pack in the Class 2 over 2000 meters.
This year's top four-year-olds can be sorted into three groups: first there are the sprinters led by superstar Ka Ying Rising, who will bypass the Classic Series and stick to the shorter trips.
Then there are those who are Hong Kong Classic Mile-bound, most of whom raced last Sunday. Rubylot did enough with a Class 2 win to have David Hayes bullish about his Classic Mile chances but what about the Derby? Sunday didn't seem to make it any easier to sort out.
Those who raced well last Sunday, including Packing Hermod, Markwin and Johannes Brahms, may push to the Classic Cup at 1800 meters and then the 2000-meter test of the Derby, but their long term futures seem to be as milers.
That leaves our third category of Derby prospects: horses that will relish the race distance of 2000 meters and likely skip the Classic Mile.
This Sunday's Class 2 contains seven four-year-olds whose connections have their focus on the Derby on March 23.
Over the last decade it has become increasingly difficult for Hong Kong owners to secure the types of horses with established form that are usually competitive in the Derby.
Booming prizemoney in Australia has meant that not only are owners there less willing to sell, but that they are aggressively chasing the same horses from New Zealand and the northern hemisphere that Hong Kong owners traditionally targeted.
The retirement of trainer John Moore also left a void in Hong Kong's bloodstock ranks. Nobody was better than Moore at motivating an owner to spend whatever it took to secure the right horse. Moore retired with six Derby wins, including five in the last 15 years of his career: Viva Pataca (2006), Collection (2009), Designs On Rome (2014), Werther (2016) and Rapper Dragon (2017). All of them had established form and took serious money to purchase.
Golden Sixty's Derby win in 2020 started a run of Private Purchase Griffins, that is horses that arrive in Hong kong unraced and typically costing far less. It was the era of the 'PPG' as Sky Darci, Romantic Warrior and Voyage Bubble followed.
Last year's winner Massive Sovereign, bought out of the Aidan O'Brien-run and Coolmore-owned Ballydoyle stables, marked a return to the Moore model of a high-priced purchase collecting Hong Kong racing's most prestigious prize.
This Sunday's clash between Derby candidates sees more ex-Ballydoyle bluebloods.
Cashed-up by Romantic Warrior's success, owner Peter Lau Pak-fai along with Suki Tang Xianfang, spent big to secure Romantic Thor, another stakes winner out of Ballydoyle.
Young trainer Pierre Ng Pang-chi also seems intent on filling the space Moore used to occupy as the go-to guy for high-priced European imports. Ng has already found success with yet another ex-Ballydoyle runner Johannes Brahms and has two more entered against Romantic Thor in the Class 2 on Sunday: Naval Force and Cambridge.
There are still more than two months until the Derby and perhaps the fact there isn't a standout makes it a year for left-field candidates to emerge from outside the four-year-old Classic Series like John Size did with winners Ping Hai Star (2018) and Luger (2015).
The even nature of the four-year-old hopefuls so far will make this year's path to the Derby worth watching.
Rubylot did enough with a Class 2 win to have David Hayes bullish about his Classic Mile chances but has doubts about his horse at the Derby distance. SING TAO
