Emmanuel Roussel: The international week is always a great event, so close to the festive season. Are you happy with what was under the Christmas tree for the Club?

Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges: It's great that we are back in full swing. Last year, we were open but not yet quite out of our bubble, while what we saw [at the International Jockeys' Championship] with such a tremendous atmosphere, demonstrates that the city's vibrancy is back. The night went extremely well. And for me, one of the highlights was Vincent Ho winning the International Jockeys Championship. His victory meant a lot to Hong Kong people. Despite economic challenges and some geopolitical tensions, Hong Kong can be a centre of growth and excellence. That was a great symbol. Vincent is one of the most professional athletes you can find. During COVID, Amy, our head of the Sports Institute, said that very few athletes showed such dedication in training. And I want to really express my gratitude to Ryan Moore for having helped Vincent to develop into the great athlete he has become.

ER: The Club must also share the pride of Hong Kong, since Vincent is a local apprentice…

WE-B: This is one of our strengths. We put people and systems in place to develop our community. And we have transferred the same now to Conghua, our mainland training centre. We went from zero to 600 people there. Most had never seen a horse before. And if you go to Conghua today, you can always appreciate their horsemanship. 

We enabled platforms which allow us, since last month, to issue vocational training licenses in Conghua. We can bring up people from every province to follow vocational training to become jockeys and horse workers. That's quite a breakthrough.

ER: What is next at Conghua?

WE-B: In April, we will be able to show more. We are still building and will have to complete phase two of our stable expansion with another 450 spaces. We will also have the staff accommodation ready. The topping of the grandstand should be completed in February, too. It is planned to accommodate 10,000 people, as it is supposed to be a boutique racecourse. I have to admit that I'm very excited about it. This is one of the most iconic grandstands I know, built with full design on sustainability. Seventy per cent of the energy will be produced on site. And then we have plans for a wind farm which will be five or six kilometres away, that would allow us complete energetic independence.

ER: What about racing at Conghua?

WE-B: The first race meeting is planned for April 2026. We have to finish everything by October 2025, and then practice for six months, running simulations.

ER: First race in April 2026, and then?

WE-B: We will have the first meeting in April, and then that will do for the season. The following season, in 26/27, we will probably conduct one meeting a month in Conghua, from October to April.

ER: What is the Club's long-term plan in China? 

WE-B: This is only a part of our overall strategy for China. We want to contribute to the National Equine Industry Development Programme, which was published in 2020 by the Minister of Agriculture and the Ministry of Sport. We now try to outline an equine value chain and this includes breeding, training people, holding auctions and races, and horses going back into breeding. This is a long-term plan that would also include veterinary studies. Equine veterinary science is one of the development areas where one would need further progress. Last week, we met 160 equestrian vets from all over China in Conghua and they are really keen. We want to build a specific one-year training programme for equestrian vets.

ER: Will Conghua become the centre of the Club's strategy in China?

WE-B: We want to create a sustainable model in Conghua. Around 90 owners from all over China joined our members' clubhouse in Beijing. We will open up another such clubhouse in Shenzen, which will also be cultivating interest in horseracing, including an equestrian interest. In September, we will open an Institute of Philanthropy, through which we will make donations to China. 

People have to understand we are not only a racing institution, and especially not only a wagering organisation. What I found really fascinating in our surveys and the discussions we have had with potential owners is their will to understand breeding and racing, but rather from a sporting and cultural point of view. It's a little bit like what you find in Japan.

ER: How is ownership doing in Hong Kong at the moment?

WE-B: We don't have an ownership issue per se. There is a risk of an ageing ownership population you have to build up again. Many owners also lost interest in owning a horse during COVID because they could not go to the track. This has resulted in a higher retirement rate in the last two years. Secondly, owners used to go to the sales a year or two before getting their purchases home, and they have not been able to travel to buy during COVID. Therefore, they couldn't replace the horses they were retiring sooner. The optimal number of horses in training in Hong Kong is 1,280. We have probably at the moment 1,160 horses ready to run, that's 120 short due to these effects. The economic situation will probably delay the recovery. It will probably take a year and a half to two years to build back up to the normal level, and we need this for Conghua.

ER: How do you recruit new owners?

WE-B: We recruit potential young owners through our racing club. Traditionally, young club members are not allowed to own horses on their own for a while. We have 1,400 racing club members and 200 of those are very keen to become owners. So, we have created a pipeline racing club to allow them to be syndicate owners, and then become partnership owners or individual owners.

ER: You also have opened the doors to foreign owners last year…

WE-B: Yes, major breeders and owners can now come through our overseas ownership scheme. We have now some prominent owners from South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. We must do this carefully, because we want to be sure that they are really committed and we look at a combination of owners and breeders because, in the end, we will venture more into the breeding industry. And if you look at owner-breeders, they usually show longer stamina and they have a greater interest because they can breed horses and showcase their horses.

ER: Talking of breeding, are you also looking for breeding ventures in China?

WE-B: The Beijing government looks at the industry and sees that we have unique skills that we can share. Beijing understands what a developed equine industry can give. Besides, a lot of the breeding or training would be located in rural areas and would have a great impact on rural economy. It already has in Conghua. The economic impact there is already significant and growing. If you look at related industries, starting with bedding and other supplies, you create supply routes, logistic networks that boost the overall local economic development.

ER: Meanwhile, has the ever-growing sales market in Australia created issues to recruit new horses?

WE-B: We currently have a significant supply chain issue. Prices have gone through the roof. We bought a lot of horses from Australia, and it gets more and more difficult to buy them because they are owned by syndicates. So we have now a turned-down offer of  A$1.7 million for a three-year-old who won one race and a Listed race.

I see that if China opens, we will need a bigger supply chain. This is the reason why we are exploring strategic partnerships or maybe even buying ourselves a breeding or racing operation in the Northern Hemisphere and in the Southern Hemisphere. We need approximately 450 horses every year. If at least a quarter is guaranteed, our supply chain is back on. We will relaunch the Hong Kong International sales and if you look at the quality of horses that will come out of them, you will notice that it's completely different from what we had five years ago.

ER: How far into this project are you already?

WE-B: We have certain targets. All I can say is that we are beyond the feasibility study. We still have to assess the opportunities. There may be clusters if you buy a couple of operations that you combine, but this would not be run by the Jockey Club, rather by industry experts in this field.

ER: Where would you elect to establish a breeding operation in the Northern Hemisphere?

WE-B: We would be aiming more for Europe because of our focus on turf races. Australia will always be a key provider of horses but most of them are sprinters. When it comes to a mile and further, it's another story. We have already started to slightly shift our racing programme for it to focus less on short distances. I am not willing to talk about cheap speed but if there isn't enough quality available, we'll go to 1,400m and over. This shift will affect our supply chain, as Europe is a more appropriate provider of such horses. We will not focus on 2,400m horses because it's not appropriate for our climate and our trainers. Our focus will be more on horses to compete on distances from 1,400 to 2,000 metres.

ER: Can you provide an update on the World Pool?

WE-B: The World Pool keeps expanding and I think that in every continent people now see the benefit of this. 

I can understand why fixed-odds, especially in Australia, is so successful now: 83% of the win and place bets in Australia are fixed-odds. It is, I think, because of the number of daily meetings there – it is like every minute – and there is not enough liquidity. If you want to have a real bet with such limited pools, you can't. But with the liquidity gathered by World Pool, with the different views of the world from Hong Kong, from Great Britain, from Australia, you offer prices that a fixed-odds betting product cannot match. Suddenly, the bookmakers could not lay off certain things, because the value of the Word Pool product was too high. Customers get a choice. 

However, I don't see bookmakers as mere competitors. Pari-mutuel gives the highest return to the industry and the industry needs growth. Secondly, there are certain bet types that cannot be operated as fixed-odds bets. They are different products, offering different opportunities. 

We want to have the best 100 races in the world to be made available in the World Pool. We are working on a new platform and new wagering information protocol, which hopefully could be launched through a first pilot in April or May. We then would have the ability to take exotic bets on quartet, to six up to triple trio, and include wagers from the bookmakers into such pools. Bookmakers could find an interest in connecting with the World Pool, and that could be an option for them. What is important is differentiation. You need to have enough time between races to build up your liquidity. 

The next development would be more combined meetings. We did this already in France and Germany, and we could look at something like the Everest and the Caulfield Guineas, in Australia. We have done the top races as a separate, highly attractive product, and we could focus on quality to reach that level of differentiation from the intense simulcasting you find in Australia or in England. It's too much. We did a lot of market research, and it comes to this: horse racing cannot be a game of chance. It cannot be only a game of somebody's tips. You must make your own judgment. This research was conducted in Hong Kong, and you would have to do more studies globally but one of the reasons why the World Pool works is that it doesn't promote a game of chance. It is a game alright, but people get satisfaction in working on their own strategies and analysis to pick a winner. If you have a start every two minutes, you can't do that.

The post ‘We Have a Significant Supply Chain Issue’: Engelbrecht-Bresges on the Need For More Horses in Hong Kong appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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“If we get an invitation from Dubai, we'll go to Dubai. I would love to see him run in a straight 1200m race because, in the past, he's run very well in straight 1000m races here, but there's no straight 1200m races here,” Ng said of the 7-year-old, who took his career earnings to beyond HK$18 million with his ninth career win. “If he doesn't [go to Japan], we'll go through the motions again, going for the Group 2 and the Group 1 races here because he wasn't invited to Japan.”

In the Devon H. given an uncomplicated run from barrier one under Jerry Chau, Duke Wai claimed leader Nervous Witness (Aus) (Star Witness {Aus}) in the last 100m before fending off Courier Wonder (NZ) (Sacred Falls {NZ}) to win by half a length.

“He got the inside draw this time. Jerry knows him well. He just had to wake him up in the early stages and let him travel. Around the bend until the 300m, he was travelling quite strongly, and he finished off very well. After the race, Jerry told me Courier Wonder was never going to get past him,” Ng said.

In the Al Quoz Sprint, the veteran turf sprinter might clash with fellow Hong Kong speedsters Sky Field (Aus) (Deep Field {Aus}) and Sight Success (Aus) (Magnus {Aus}).

The post Duke Wai Seeks Dubai Passage appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Naboo Attack won five of seven starts in Australia when he was known as Command N'Conquer. He shipped to Hong Kong and did not make his debut until May 30 of this year in a class 2 handicap. Carrying a feathery 117 pounds (he weighs over 1,360 pounds!), he pounced on the leaders and won going away in 1:07.92 seconds with Vincent Ho aboard.

Rested for the summer, David Hayes had him out the first week of this year's racing season and he faced 95+ handicap foes with an even lighter impost of 113 pounds. Despite a slower pace, he dominated by a length in 1:08.11. Since his rating was only increased by 10 points off that win, he was still eligible for class 2 company and he faced them on Sept. 26.

However, he had to carry 133 pounds and with the rail way out at the C+3 position, he was far back early. Turning for home, Zac Purton knew swinging wide would not work so he picked his way through traffic down on the inside to get up for second. Even with his massive size, Naboo Attack showed he is nimble enough to run between horses and considering the weight he carried and trip he endured, it was a stakes-quality effort.

The only real blemish on his record was his stakes debut at Sha Tin in the Premier Bowl Handicap (G2). Carrying 114 pounds and sent off as the second choice in the wagering, Naboo Attack — with his fourth different rider in four races in Hong Kong — had trouble down the backstretch out of the gate which kept him stuck down on the inside. When he looked for room turning for home, the hole closed and for the first time did not show his lethal, late kick.

Undaunted, Hayes brought him back five weeks later for the BOCHK Jockey Club Sprint (G2) and the big guy was back. Carrying 123 pounds and Zac Purton, he languished far back early with a first 400 meters run in 24.73 seconds and then began to catch up. A second 400-meter section in 21.55 seconds got him into contention and through the stretch he passed all but the red-hot Lucky Patch. His final time of 1:08.11 was good enough to win this race most years and he gets Karis Teetan who rode him to victory back in September.

Of the local sprinters, I feel Naboo Attack is the best and still has some upside. He ran sub 22-second last 400-meter sectionals in three of his four starts this season and can shade 1:08 on any day. The Japanese contingent is led by the defending champion Danon Smash and will be tough as always but local sprinters have won six of the last seven runnings and horses like Naboo Attack and Lucky Patch have emerged as a new generation of domestic stars.

A word of caution: fasten your seatbelts since this race will not be decided until the final strides.

The post Hong Kong Racing Study Guide: After Name Change, Naboo Attack On The Upswing In Time For Hong Kong Sprint appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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The 2021-2022 Hong Kong Jockey Club season began on September 5 and will continue with racing twice a week until July 16. Unlike the jockeys where the top two, Joao Moreira and Zac Purton, won 282 of the 835 races last season (34%), the two leading trainers, Caspar Fownes and John Size, won a combined 152 races (18%).

There are no “super” trainers in Hong Kong and the table below illustrates it. These are the leading trainers and their win percentages. Only five have even double-digit win percentages and the highest is John Size at 13.98%.

Part of this is explainable by field size. The average field size of every race in Hong Kong is about 12. So, from a random point of view, each trainer has a 1 in 12 chance of  winning or 8.33%. If the field size is 8, like it is at many American tracks, there is a 1 in 8 chance of winning or 12.5%. Winning races in Hong Kong is much more difficult, even for the leading trainers.

Takeout on win betting in Hong Kong is 17.5% so an average win payoff of $1.65 exceeds the takeout. The following are the leading trainers from the 2020-2021 season and their ROI based on a $2 win bet:

This tells a dramatically different story as the leading trainers do not always equal pari-mutuel success. So which trainers provide the best value? Here are the trainers listed by their ROI:

Some words of caution:

Jimmy Ting's positive ROI is affected by a win that paid $359.30 but it is still a decent $1.62 without it.

Benno Yung's positive ROI is affected by a win that paid $151.90 but it is still a decent $1.67 without it.

Frankie Lor ($1.87) and John Size ($1.83) are the only leading trainers that are beating the takeout and a couple, Caspar Fownes ($1.28) and Tony Cruz ($1.16) are near the bottom. When making your selections, make sure you are getting a decent price.

The post Hong Kong Racing Study Guide: Leading Trainers By ROI appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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“That was out of this world,” Chan said three days removed from his Goodwood accomplishment, recalling how he watched the races live from home in Hong Kong thanks to the Hong Kong Jockey Club's World Pool. “We had hoped for a winner in one of the Group 2 races, but we never would have been close to thinking we could get a double there.”

Chan, a tech entrepreneur and private equity investor, has raced horses in Hong Kong for close to a decade and later added a string in Australia, where he currently has a small handful of horses in training with the Hayes family at Lindsay Park. Over the past year he has built up a small but highly successful stable in Europe largely with trainer Ralph Beckett; New Mandate (Ire) (New Bay {GB}) brought him near immediate stakes success last year when winning the Listed Flying Scotsman S. and G2 Royal Lodge S. after being purchased privately. Chan likewise has four 2-year-olds in training in America: two in California with Paddy Gallagher and a pair on the East Coast with Graham Motion and Brad Cox.

Chan was bitten by the racing bug as a child in Malaysia, when his father and grandfather took him to the races in Kuala Lumpur.

“My grandfather and my father were racing fans and they loved to punt-they were big time punters back then,” Chan recalled. “So I was exposed to horses back then when I was very young. I still remember all the jockeys' names, the trainers' names; back then you had Ivan Allen, who was a legendary trainer. Even today when I talk to the trainers and agents in England they all remember that he was a maestro.”

Chan later relocated to Canada to attend the University of Western Ontario, where he obtained an engineering degree and lived and worked in the greater Toronto area. While his passion for racing largely took a backseat to his business interests at that stage, his proximity to Woodbine Racetrack–and to the Canadian paddocks that have had such a profound influence on the global Thoroughbred breed–kept him on the hook.

When Chan relocated to Hong Kong in 1991, he found himself immersed in yet another locale with a vibrant racing culture, albeit highly contrasting with the wide open spaces of Canada. Some 20 years later, he at last leapt into the business of racehorse ownership and pursued his passion for horses.

“About seven or eight years ago, my dad had come over from Malaysia and he was watching the racing on TV and he my wife were punting on it,” Chan said. “So I said, 'hey, why don't we get more involved in this beyond just punting and own a horse in Hong Kong?' So that's when we applied to be a Jockey Club member and to get a permit for a horse.

“I also took up riding at the Hong Kong Jockey Club riding school. They have a private riding school at the Beas River Equestrian Center where you can ride the retired racehorses. I always loved horses but had never got around to [learning to ride]. I had always wanted to own a farm and be close to horses, so I went to the farm that is owned by the Jockey Club in Hong Kong and was able to get close to them and go riding there.”

Chan has enjoyed success as an owner in Hong Kong at a moderate but respectable level with Class 3 and 4 horses, and he and his wife currently have three horses in training in Hong Kong and are involved with one in a syndicate. A few years ago, while searching for European horses to import and aim for the Hong Kong Derby, Chan was introduced to Jamie McCalmont and Frankie Dettori.

“They began to help me look for horses for the Hong Kong Derby, and I told them I was interested not only in racing in Hong Kong but that I'd like to get global with my racing,” Chan explained.

Among the earlier purchases were The Summit (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) and Tsar (GB) (Kingman {GB}). The former had won the G3 Prix de Fontainebleau and finished second in the G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains for trainer Henri-Alex Pantall before Chan scooped him up, after which he was second to Mishriff (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}) in both the G1 Prix du Jockey Club and G2 Prix Guillaume d'Ornano before joining trainer David Hayes in Hong Kong. The Summit ran three times in Hong Kong over the 2020/21 season and is currently on his way back from a minor injury.

Tsar is a Juddmonte-bred who won three times over a mile for John Gosden and was gelded and sent to trainer Me Tsui. Though he didn't make the cut for the Hong Kong Derby, he has been gradually improving and won a Happy Valley handicap on May 26. “He's doing well and is a very classy horse,” Chan said.

Around the same time the deals were done for The Summit and Tsar, Chan was also completing the paperwork for New Mandate, who had won at third asking at Sandown by 2 1/2 lengths. The $35,000 yearling had been gelded prior to the start of his racing career, a fact that would have automatically struck him off the list of a certain sector of purchasers shopping the private market. Not so for Chan, however, whose membership with the Hong Kong Jockey Club gives him a viable outlet for horses without breeding potential. New Mandate justified Chan's faith almost immediately, winning the Flying Scotsman within weeks of his purchase and the Royal Lodge two weeks after that, both under Chan's pal Dettori. The latter victory earned New Mandate a trip to the Breeders' Cup, giving Chan a first runner at that prestigious meeting in his first year of ownership in Britain. It wasn't to be at Keeneland, however; New Mandate blew all chance early when breaking a step slow and then pulling hard under Dettori, burning himself out in the preliminaries. With the prospect of a lengthy career ahead of him, New Mandate underwent minor knee surgery over the winter and was not fully race fit when beating just three home in the G3 Jersey S. at Royal Ascot.

“He has run just once this year and he really wasn't ready, he was just getting back into the rhythm so we're looking to run him in Europe in the coming months,” Chan explained.

Chan's immediate rapport with Beckett surely gave him added confidence when the trainer last winter presented him with another horse in his yard. Kinross had made a memorable impression when winning by eight lengths on debut at Newmarket at the back end of his 2-year-old campaign, earning the 'TDN Rising Star' tag. Things had gone somewhat pear-shaped thereafter, however, for the Julian Richmond-Watson homebred, who was off the board in his next five starts before winning the Listed Hyde S. on the Kempton all-weather last November. Chan swooped in to purchase him after that victory, and after a pair of lacklustre efforts back on the turf at Meydan over the winter, he was gelded. He has since elevated his form to a new level, going two-for-two since the operation in the G3 John of Gaunt S. in May and last week's Lennox. His long-term target this campaign is the G1 Prix de la Foret.

“Ralph had said the horse had a lot of potential, but he had some issues that needed to be unlocked,” Chan said. “The horse had been underperforming so I was willing to take a chance with the much-reduced value of the horse, and hopefully we'd find the key to unlock his potential. We went through a few experiments to get to where we are today. Ralph probably has his own version of it, which might be much better than mine, but I think the gelding helped him a lot.”

One who looks likely to stay an entire, at least for now, is Angel Bleu, who increased his stud value markedly with last week's Vintage score under Dettori. That was the sixth run of his campaign and remarkably came just three days after he finished second in the Listed Pat Eddery S. at Ascot. Angel Bleu was almost handed a very different path, with the immediate post-race verdict of the Pat Eddery being that he should be gelded and sent to Hong Kong, but when the horse came bouncing out of his box in the following days, Beckett devised a new plan.

“He came out of the race very fresh,” Chan said. “Ralph Beckett called me and said, 'I'd like to run him again.' I said, 'ok, sure, you are the commander in chief, you know best what to do with the horse.' It sounded 'wow' to me, but he said the horse was full of energy and had only had a warm-up run at Ascot.

“I like that kind of thought process from the trainers, when they think outside the box and don't do the traditional, standard procedures all the time. Sometimes you have to try different things.”

Angel Bleu represents the next generation of Chan colourbearers sourced at auction. While the global pandemic has kept him away from the European and American races and sales-a fact he would like to remedy soon-Chan found himself drawn to a Dark Angel colt with unusual colouring at last year's Deauville Select Sale who also happened to be a close relative to Galileo's highest earning runner Highland Reel (Ire).

“We came across this horse and I liked the pedigree and the physical,” Chan said. “The horse has a very special colour to him–he's gray but he doesn't look gray. He's a very special mix of colour.”

Chan has 12 2-year-olds in training across Europe and America, and among those is the most high-profile yearling sold last year by Angel Bleu's relative Highland Reel, the half-brother to champion miler Palace Pier (GB) (Kingman {GB}) who has joined his brother at the yard of John and Thady Gosden and has been named Highland Frolic (GB). He was a 320,000gns purchase from Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale last year, but Chan is not yet putting him up on a pedestal any higher than his other unraced juveniles.

“Hopefully he'll turn out to be good, but sometimes it's hard to tell,” he said. “All these half-brother, half-sister stories can turn out to be a mirage dream.”

Chan has an arsenal of well-bred juveniles preparing to make their debuts. He points to a full-brother to G3 Earl Of Sefton S. winner Steel Of Madrid (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) named Cresta De Vega (Ire) as one to watch, and is also looking forward to Northern Aurora, a Canadian-bred son of Uncle Mo bought by agent Kelsey Lupo's Atlas Bloodstock for $210,000 at Keeneland September last year. Northern Aurora, who is in training with Graham Motion, is named for the small town of Lucan, Ontario, where he was bred and foaled and where Chan himself lived for four years while at university.

Chan meanwhile also has his sights set on the next phase of expansion of his stable into the breeding sphere.

“That's where we'll be heading when some of our fillies have retired,” Chan confirmed. “That's why we have a number of fillies in Europe, like Valeria Messalina (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}) with Jessie Harrington-she was supposed to run at Goodwood too but Jessie felt the ground wasn't right for her so she scratched. We have some fillies in the U.S., too, so hopefully we'll turn those into very good broodmares. I'd like to venture into breeding; I'm very fascinated by the breeding industry, but I'll be doing this mainly for myself, not commercially. I plan to breed to race rather than breed to sell.”

It isn't out of the question, either, that Chan could further expand his racing arm into Japan. He has businesses based in Hokkaido, Japan's power-packed breeding capital, and said ownership in Japan is something he is considering.

“I'm still weighing my options as to whether I want to dive into that,” he explained. “It's a very different culture and there is a language barrier, but I have friends who have horses there and they could partner with me or introduce me to the trainers and the industry there. I have friends who live in Hong Kong who have horses in Japan and also some friends from Tokyo who bring their horses to Hong Kong to compete in the international races. So I'm thinking about that, but I need to think clearly about how I'd be able to manage it.”

With an infectious enthusiasm for the industry to go hand-in-hand with his proven track record of success, Chan certainly seems to have unlimited potential when it comes to the global game of horse racing.

The post Racing a Pursuit of Passion For Chan appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Twice Hong Kong's Horse of the Year, Beauty Generation will return to Sha Tin Racecourse  – the scene of all of his extraordinary career highlights – for one final appearance before flying to Australia for a life of retirement at Living Legends in Melbourne.

The New Zealand-bred gelding, who was crowned Hong Kong Champion Miler an unmatched three times, won 18 races from 34 starts in Hong Kong and earned HK$106,233,750, making him the highest-ever prize money earner in Hong Kong history.

The eight-year-old, who finished his racing career with a gallant fifth behind Golden Sixty in the G1 Longines Hong Kong Mile on 13 December, bows out with eight G1 triumphs, five G2 successes and three G3 wins.

Additionally, he holds two course records at Sha Tin over 1,600 meters and 2,200 meters, having also once posted the fastest 1,400 meter time at the track. No horse in the history of Hong Kong racing has more wins in a single season than Beauty Generation, who posted eight wins through 2018-19.

Owner Patrick Kwok said: “Beauty Generation is the horse of a lifetime. He was a champion and we are indebted to the great bravery and determination which allowed him to scale the greatest heights.

“His many G1 wins, track records and horse of the year accolades serve as a worthy measure of his phenomenal qualities.

“We have been privileged and blessed by our association with a truly wonderful horse who has been cared for so brilliantly by John Moore, David Hayes, Zac Purton, Derek Leung as well as the stable staff. We are also honoured to own such a great horse that contributed in cementing Hong Kong racing on the world stage.

“We would also like to thank all the fans who support Beauty Generation from Hong Kong and overseas.”

“We farewell Beauty Generation with immense gratitude and a pledge to visit him eventually in his new home at Living Legends in Melbourne.”

John Moore – who is also soon bound for Australia – said: “Any horse who can go from 1,400 meters to 2,200 meters and break a track record must have a lot of ability because champions like him can do it over short and long,” Moore said.

“His toughness, his fighting spirit but he was a very sound horse – I don't even remember times when I had to go in with the vet, he was such a sound champion and that was one of his biggest assets – it held him in good stead throughout his career.”

Beauty Generation achieved the equal-highest international rating for a Hong Kong horse, joint at 127 along with Able Friend on the Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings. He was allotted that mark in both 2018 and 2019 and was honoured as the world's leading specialist turf miler in both years.

Zac Purton, who will be on hand to say goodbye to Beauty Generation, remains in awe of the great champion's performance against an all-star cast of international G1 winners from Japan, Great Britain, Australia and Hong Kong in the 2018 G1 Longines Hong Kong Mile.

“He's the special one really, every jockey hopes that a horse like him comes along in their career and luckily for me he has and I've enjoyed the ride – he was a wonderful horse,” Purton said.  “There's many highlights but if I had to pick one, I'd say it was his 2018 Hong Kong Mile win, he drew a wide gate, they made him work into the first corner and it was a very strong field – Vivlos, as well as a number of other runners were in the race and he won by three lengths eased down.”

The ceremony will be broadcast during Sha Tin's prestige meeting on Sunday, 24 January which features the G1 Stewards' Cup (1600m) – a race Beauty Generation won in 2019 – as well as the G1 Centenary Sprint Cup (1200m) and Hong Kong Classic Mile.

The post Hong Kong Favorite Beauty Generation To Retire In Special Ceremony At Sha Tin Jan. 24 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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“I'm happy with his trial, in the trial you can relax him – he doesn't show much, he never does,” trainer Francis Lui said.

The son of Medaglia d'Oro went through his first barrier trial of the new year under his own steam, traveling wide throughout before crossing the line fourth, while the Caspar Fownes-trained Southern Legend went home best in a time of 1:11.73 with stablemate Rise High just behind him.

Lui outlined the brilliant 5-year-old's program for the near future, including a potential step back up to 2,000 meters for the first time since his thrilling BMW Hong Kong Derby success last year in next month's G1 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup, where he may square off with reigning Hong Kong Horse of the Year, Exultant.

“Stewards' Cup first and then maybe next month's Gold Cup,” Lui said, all but ruling out an overseas tilt this year: “Not this season (to going overseas) but that's another plan.”

The bay will seek back-to-back G1 victories in Sunday week's HK$12 million feature in what will be his fifth run this term as he shoots for his 12th consecutive win after surpassing the great Beauty Generation's 10 Hong Kong wins in a row last month.

“Sometimes you have to worry that he doesn't race too much, there aren't many races for him so he's fresh – Vincent (Ho) said he was a bit fresh this morning.” Lui said.

Lui was pleased with the Australian-bred's wellbeing and he remains buoyant of a positive result in 12 days' time.

“The way he has won his last few races – he can win,” Lui said.

The post Golden Sixty Shooting For 12th Consecutive Hong Kong Win As He Prepares For G1 Stewards’ Cup appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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The pair, who are living out their retirement at Highden Park near Palmerston North, have become New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing Welfare Ambassadors and will start to visit New Zealand race tracks next Sunday to promote horse welfare post-racing.

“It is a new concept through NZTR,” said Libby Bleakley, who owns Highden Park with husband Sam. “Welfare has become such a big issue and we all need to put it to the forefront when we are breeding and racing these animals.

“They will just be called upon when needed. They will head to their first event next Sunday at the Wanganui racecourse.”

Bleakley is excited about the new concept and said it will give the two former stars of the track the opportunity to help grow the profile of the sport.

“It's such a privilege and it wasn't something we were anticipating when we rehomed the boys,” Bleakley said. “These horses love having something to do, they love having a job. They look after weanlings for us and they go on the truck to keep mares company, and I think they will thrive with this next step.”

The post Hong Kong Racing Heroes Werther, Ping Hai Star Become Welfare Ambassadors In New Zealand appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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If you follow the international pattern races like i like to do or just want to have a bet elsewhere then listening to the commentary or watching live if you are awake at least given time differences is part of the fun and excitement.

For Hong Kong and some other nearby country races then the place to go is the Hong Kong jockey club website.

No login or VPN needed for the HKJC just go to the website below.

https://www.hkjc.com/home/english/index.aspx

From the main top menu you want Horse Racing – Multimedia Showcase and from there you can access the live audio or the replays, the replays are usually up about 30 minutes after the race and can be enlarged to full screen in good definition and in English commentary.

The site has plenty of other info if you dig around although it can be a bit confusing where it all is.

Under Racing Information local – Entries there is plenty of info on the runners and riders and stats etc.

Under Racing Info Local – Reference Info you have a wealth of information and simulator as well as speed ratings etc.

Well worth a check out.

Horse Racing betting systems and tips.