Hong Kong has six weeks still to run, with the jockey and trainer championships still not settled by any means but the Horse Of The Year title could be finalised after the last Group One of the season.
Sunday sees the Champions & Chater Cup over 2,400m in a field containing the past two winners, Liberator and California Memory, and the Hong Kong Vase winner Dominant, however few fans will be seriously opposing the four-year-old Designs On Rome.
It is the gelding’s first attempt beyond 2,000m and he is expected to handle the extra distance comfortably, give Tommy Berry and John Moore yet another Group One together and stamp himself the ultimate star of this season after already winning the Derby and the QE II Cup.
The day’s other feature, the Sha Tin Vase at handicap conditions has some intriguing angles to it, not the least the first appearance of rising star sprinter Divine Ten around a turn and at 1,200m. He was unlucky to beaten the only time in 6 starts that he met defeat on the straight course, but we have seen before with straight track stars like Amber Sky and Eagle Regiments that this can be a different world. He is opposed by established Group class runners at the top of the weight as well another of the season’s big finds, Aerovelocity – 4 from 6 at the trip – and lightly-weighted talents in Tour de Force and Smart Volatility.
Elsewhere in Asia this weekend, the Japanese Oaks is the feature in Tokyo on Sunday. The race features the boom daughter of Deep Impact, Harp Star, being touted by some as the best female to emerge in Japan in recent years – not a small claim considering the deeds of Vodka, Buena Vista and Gentildonna.
By Nathan Mody
