It’s difficult to get too far away from Joao Moreira in any discussion, with the Brazilian having already won 41 of the 169 races run in the new season, with a strike rate over the last two years which is unmatched in Hong Kong racing history.
He wins the jockey challenge contests monotonously and is a guaranteed chance in every race, something even big rivals Zac Purton and Douglas Whyte can’t even boast these days.
On Sunday, Dream Team version 2 – Moreira and trainer John Size – combines with exciting young galloper Sun Jewellery in the day’s feature, the Panasonic Cup. Sun Jewellery won two of four for Peter Moody in Melbourne before coming to Hong Kong and has a clean record of 3 from 3 with Size, emerging as a likely favourite for the Classic Mile in early 2016 but his first assignment of the campaign is no pushover.
Divine Calling and Super Lifeline come back from creditable runs in Group class last time while Blizzard from the Ricky Yiu team has won 6 of 10 including his last 4 and shocked another very highly-rated Size horse, Thewizardofoz, last time. Dream Team 2 also has So Fast in the ninth and unraced Lion Rock in the second.
Two new jockeys join the list, with Frenchmen Gregory Benoist and Vincent Cheminaud dipping their toes into Hong Kong racing for the first time. Benoist has been towards the top of the French lists for some years while Chemindaud has an interesting back story as a 21-year-old jumps jockey who decided to switch to the flat in the past twelve months and he has done particularly well.
French jockeys have historically done well in Hong Kong but there has never been a tougher time to start. On the plus side, Cheminaud has numbers if not quality, picking up six rides on his first day, while Benoist has done better with seven including winning chances in Bear Rapper, Travel Brother and Malayan Pearl.
By Nathan Mody
