After the Group One action on Derby day last weekend, Hong Kong racing comes down a notch to a standard card on Saturday this week but there is still some top grade racing to keep a watch on.
John Moore-trained Dominant will be the first Sydney runner for the trainer when he contests the Ranvet Stakes at Rosehill.
Moore has told the media that Dominant has not been well suited by the accommodation at Canterbury quarantine centre, as he is used to air conditioned stabling in Hong Kong and the heat in Sydney has been affecting him.
Still, Moore’s son George, travelling with the horse, has reported the former Hong Kong Vase winner has worked and eaten well and the camp is expecting a good run. Moore said Dominant’s performance will determine whether his next goal is the Queen Elizabeth Stakes or the Sydney Cup.
There is also the whiff Group One targets for Hong Kong horses departing this week, Aerovelocity for a sprint in Japan on March 29 and seven horses heading for Dubai’s World Cup the night before.
The weekend at Sha Tin is a mixture of dirt and turf and the main interest is whether Joao Moreira can get to 100 wins before the end of the month – only Douglas Whyte and Zac Purton have ever notched a century and neither ever did it before June.
He needs 7 more after winning on Savvy Nature on Wednesday and has his usual strong bookings at Sha Tin, starting with Dragon Bachelor in race one, John Size-trained Modern Fortune (race four), Country Melody (race six) and Teofilo Calva (race nine) and likely hot favourite Packing Pins in the final event.
An interesting one is So Caffe in race eight – Moreira told the press he wants to ride a winner for every stable at Sha Tin and So Caffe is from his one ‘maiden’ trainer, Sean Woods.
By Nathan Mody
