By Alan Carasso
Nearly 64,000 fans turned out for Saturday's opening meeting of the 2016-2017 season at Hong Kong's Sha Tin Racecourse, putting over HK$1.21 billion (about US$156.5 million) through the windows and witnessing the birth of a potential new star in the sprinting ranks.
The afternoon's featured event was the HK$2.5-million (US$322,350) HKSAR Chief Executive's Cup H., a Class 1 over the 1200 metres for which the progressive Lucky Year (Aus) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}) was a warm 2.8 (9-5) favorite over a field including the talented Blizzard (Aus) (Starcraft {NZ}) and class horse Packing Pins (NZ) (Pins {Aus}).
A four-time winner last term, all at Happy Valley, Lucky Year was first away from gate two, but was outsprinted down the backstretch and sat in fifth spot as one-time G1 Al Quoz Sprint winner Amber Sky (Aus) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}) showed his trademark early speed. Pinching ground on the turn beneath Joao Moreira, Lucky Year was pulled out into the two path in upper stretch, hit the front a furlong from home and held sway to score by 3/4 of a length from Key Witness (Aus) (Show A Heart {Aus}). Blizzard was blocked for room in upper stretch, then picked his way through horses to run on for third (video). Packing Pins carried top weight of 133 pounds to a solid fifth-place effort.
“We'll look ahead to the [G1 Longines] Hong Kong Sprint here in December now and our plans will lead into that,” said winning trainer Danny Shum, who admitted he'd toyed with the idea of sending Lucky Year to Japan for next month's G1 Sprinters' S. “I think he will improve two lengths off that run today.”
HKJC CEO Winfried Englebrecht-Bresges was pleased with the day's racing and business.
“Today's turnover is a new record for a season, up 5.8% from last year,” he said. “We also enjoyed a dramatic increase in our commingling turnover from last year's season opening, up 41.2%. This is a remarkable testament to both our loyal and dedicated fans and the growing interest on our product from overseas markets.”
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