Racing Victoria hope to lure HKIR hopefuls to Champions Stakes day
The emergence of VRC Champions Stakes Day, the final day of the reinvigorated Melbourne Cup Carnival, is Australia’s chance to reconnect with the Asian markets of Hong Kong and Japan and provides a natural championship series in the Asia-Pacific region at the end of each year.
That is the belief of the Victoria Racing Club’s executive general manager of racing Leigh Jordon, who still holds hope that runners from both racing powerhouses could be represented at the initial VRC Champions Stakes Day on November 5 – and it could also be backed by Australian trainers with Edward Cummings yesterday suggesting the Hong Kong International Races could potentially beckon for his star mare Duais (Shamus Award) after she runs in either the Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m) or the VRC Champions Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m).
As expected, no horses from Hong Kong or Japan were nominated for what are traditionally Australia’s biggest three races – the Caulfield Cup (Gr 1, 2400m), Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040m) and Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m) – when entries closed yesterday. And while Japanese horses have been infrequent visitors in recent years, the flow of horses coming in from Hong Kong has all but stopped.
There are a couple of former Hong Kong trainees in the nominations – last year’s Queen Mother Memorial Cup (Gr 3, 2400m) fourth Packing Waltham (Wootton Bassett) and the well-performed Dark Dream (All American) most notably – but no Hong Kong trainers are represented.
It marks 11 years since the last Hong Kong-trained horse contested any of the three features, that being the John Moore-trained Mighty High (Pon) in the 2011 Caulfield Cup, although a year before Peter Ho’s Mr Medici (Medicean) tackled both the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups and Luen Yat Forever (Honours List), prepared by Pou Choi in Hong Kong’s close Pearl River Delta neighbour Macau, ran in the Cox Plate.
However, the new VRC Champions Stakes Day – which, in addition to the revamped Mackinnon Stakes, includes the VRC Champions Sprint (Gr 1, 1200m) and the VRC Champions Mile (Gr 1, 1600m), with each worth $3 million – looms as an attractive proposition both for locals looking for a springboard to the prestigious December meeting but also internationals seeking significant prizemoney and a logical programme across Australia and Asia.
That includes Europeans, with a number believed to be looking at contesting the Flemington features at 1200 metres, 1600 metres or 2000 metres before heading to Sha Tin for the equivalent contest, but also potentially Hong Kong and Japanese visitors to Australia.
“There are a number of horses that we would love to attract to Flemington for what will be a fitting grand final to the Melbourne Cup Carnival, Australia’s biggest and most recognisable racing event,” Jordon told Asia Bloodstock News yesterday. “With interest from European trainers once again apparent in the Lexus Melbourne Cup nominations, we are confident of attracting world-class talent from the UK, Ireland, France and Germany to Flemington for VRC Champions Stakes Day as well.
“However, we have not closed the door completely to Hong Kong and Japan and there are a number of trainers that have expressed an interest in our races. It offers another pathway to the end-of-year meeting in Hong Kong and, with more than $30 million on offer throughout the Melbourne Cup Carnival, we are sure that we will see interest in 2022 and it will only continue to grow in the years ahead.
“The VRC Champions Sprint at 1200 metres leads directly into the Hong Kong Sprint, the VRC Champions Mile at 1600 metres can be followed by the Hong Kong Mile, the VRC Champions Stakes at 2000 metres is known as a potential pointer to the Japan Cup and the Hong Kong Cup and obviously the Melbourne Cup at 3200 metres has produced a number of Hong Kong Vase winners before. These are natural links and we look forward to working closer with other jurisdictions to ensure the best horses are bound for Melbourne in early November.”
Racing Victoria’s executive general manager of racing Greg Carpenter will issue one final set of Melbourne Cup weights next month before he heads to Sports Road at Happy Valley, where he will head up the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s racing team.
That could open the pathway for greater collaboration between Racing Victoria and the Hong Kong Jockey Club and could potentially be beneficial to both jurisdictions in terms of luring the best horses to their racecourses.
Cummings, whose Australian Cup (Gr 1, 2000m) and Tancred Stakes (Gr 1, 2400m)-winning mare holds early favouritism for the Melbourne Cup, said yesterday that there was some thought of continuing her preparation into November and December with the Hong Kong Cup (Gr 1, 2000m) and Hong Kong Vase (Gr 1, 2400m) possibilities alongside the Japan Cup (Gr 1, 2400m).
“It’s definitely worthwhile,” Cummings said yesterday. “By winning the Tancred she’s eligible for a Japan Cup bonus, if she was good enough to win a race like that. We really won’t know exactly where we stand until the Melbourne Cup Carnival but it’s definitely worth consideration.”
Cummings’ brother James, who heads the large Godolphin operation down under, also said that VRC Champions Stakes Day was a significant initiative that would likely attract the best horses from Australia to tackle a classy international brigade.
“I’m already thinking about horses that could head that way and who knows, maybe it will lead them to head further afield,” he said. “A horse like Cascadian, he has run so well in the Cantala before and now that it is weight-for-age it looks ready-made for him. However, I expect that we will face stiff opposition from at home and abroad. The programme has that sort of feel to it.”
Their grandfather Bart, a legend of the Australian turf, is best known for his 12 Melbourne Cup wins from 1965 to 2008. However, he also trained a Hong Kong International Races winner, with Catalan Opening (Kaapstad) taking the Hong Kong Mile (Gr 1, 1600m) precursor, the Hong Kong Bowl (Gr 2, 1400m), in 1997 – five weeks after winning the Cantala.
He also took a number of his horses to Tokyo for the Japan Cup with third-placed Shaftesbury Avenue (Salieri) his best performer in 1991.