By Alan Carasso
The John Moore yard is perennially a formidable force where it comes to the 4-Year-Old Series in Hong Kong, and at least three of the seven horses the Australian conditioner has entered for Sunday's first leg, the HK$10-million Hong Kong Classic Mile, have legitimate claims.
Rapper Dragon (Aus) (Street Boss) was the 'winter book' favorite for the Hong Kong Derby, and his victory in the Lion Rock Trophy H. over the course and distance last May was full of merit, as it came at the expense of Beauty Only (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}), recent winner of the 2016 G1 Longines Hong Kong Mile. An intended starter at that meeting, the former Street Rapper kicked a wall and bruised a foot, and instead was a deceptively good fifth in the Class 1 (1400m) on International Day, a hot race won by the progressive Blizzard (Aus) (Sebring {Aus}). Joao Moreira sticks around to ride, and Moore isn't lacking for confidence.
“The way he went [Friday] morning, he's showing me that he's peaking right now,” Moore told HKJC's David Morgan. “There's no concern about his fitness or his well-being going into the Classic Mile–he's very easy to get fit, he's very clean-winded.”
Beauty Generation (NZ) (Road to Rock {Aus}) could present the biggest challenge to his top-rated stablemate. Runner-up in the 2016 G1 Rosehill Guineas (2000m) when trained as Montaigne by Anthony Cummings, the bay was a good second on his Hong Kong debut over 1400m Dec. 27 and most recently annexed a Class 2 going 1600m Jan. 8, defeating an unlucky Western Express (Aus) (Encosta de Lago {Aus}, third) and Winner's Way (Aus) (Starcraft {NZ}, fourth) in a close finish. The former goes out for trainer John Size and jockey Ryan Moore, who teamed to win the 2016 Classic Mile with Sun Jewellery (Aus) (Snitzel {Aus}). Winner's Way is trained by Moore for Johnson Chen, whose Werther (NZ) (Tavistock {NZ}) scooped the 2016 Derby.
Tommy Berry flies in to take the mount on the Moore-trained Eagle Way (Aus) (More Than Ready), with whom he teamed to defeat now-stablemate Rodrico (Aus) (High Chaparral {Ire}) in last year's G1 Queensland Derby. Eagle Way was the surprise winner of a Class 2 going the metric mile Dec. 11.
Fan favorite 'TDN Rising Star' Pakistan Star (Ger) (Shamardal) is one of four Classic Mile runners for trainer Tony Cruz and most recently snapped a three-race losing streak with a comfortable victory in the restricted Griffin Trophy (1400m) Dec. 27.
Each-way players could do worse than Seasons Bloom (Aus) (Captain Sonador {Aus}). Not fully extended when eighth on his first local appearance Nov. 12, he easily handled the promising Derby entrant California Whip (Giant's Causeway) by two lengths next time out and most recently overcame a slow start to score by a half-length Jan. 1 with a final quarter-mile in :21.99.
“I've had a big opinion of him from day one,” jockey Nash Rawiller said of the Danny Shum-trained gelding. “He's a horse that's still on the way and I think he's in a race that he can be competitive in.”
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