The highlight of the race day at the Sha Tin Racecourse on Sunday the 18th March is The Hong Kong Derby. The derby race is run over 2000m for a prize money of $18million.
The Champion Trainer John Moore has won the event six time previously and this time he is eyeing for a hattrick. Last year he produced a fantastic win with Rapper Dragon and in 2016 with Werther. This time he has three horses lined up. Ruthven ridden by D Oliver, Rivet ridden by S Clipperton and Rocketeer ridden by T Berry.
He will definitely have a tough one on his hand. Ping Hai Star trained by John Size and ridden by one of the finest jockeys, Ryan Moore, comes in this race with three wins under his belt. So he does not lask confidence but we got to see those were all 1400m races. His stablemate Nothingilikemore has also had a good start to career. He hasn’t had a good year but he brings in class to the race and Class does matter in the long run.
Another horse , Exultant, who has won a 2000m race The Long Ke Handicap a class 2 win here at the Sha Tin in December last year. After that he entered two races but failed to impress. He is trained by A S Cruz and will be ridden by Z Purton.
All these horses will make the racecard produce a very interesting feature. Who wins the derby will remain the question till the D-Day.
Trifecta:
1) Ping Hai Star
2) Exultant
3) Nothingilikemore
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By Apurva Chavan, Racing Writer, apurva.chavan@secretariatsworld.com