Sunday is Ladies’ Day at Sha Tin, one of the most popular days of the year after being built out of nothing since the Jockey Club teamed up with an appropriate sponsor, cosmetics and perfume retailer Sa Sa, and themed the afternoon as a fashion day.
In 2005, Sa Sa adopted the card featuring one of Hong Kong’s oldest races – the Ladies’ Purse, first run in 1846 – and it has grown rapidly in stature since to be annually one of the top three or four best-attended meetings at Sha Tin.
The boss of Sa Sa, Simon Kwok is also one of Hong Kong’s highest profile owners with his string of “Beauty” horses, including former star Beauty Flash.
Kwok won the Purse in 2006 with Hello Pretty and tries to support the meeting with his gallopers and will do again this season, not in the Group Three feature, but in the final race with exciting four-year-old Beauty Only.
Beauty Only was a big winner at his Hong Kong debut, the former Italian highlighting his status as a leading player when the Hong Kong Derby comes around in March and he takes on another Derby aspirant, Caspar Fownes-trained Gun Pit.
It’s no surprise dominant big race trainer John Moore has been the man to beat in the Purse lately, winning 4 of the last 7, but he may not have as tight a grip on the race this time despite his four of the fourteen runners, Same World, Kabayan, Sunny Ying and Ashkiyr all having a claim.
Tony Cruz won three Purses in a row from 2004 to 2006 and has very strong hopes with Willie Cazals and former Dubai Derby winner, Helene Super Star, while John Size has Khaya looking to give him a second win in the race after Endowing in 2013.
By Nathan Mody
