griffin race

King Dance (Nyquist--Do the Dance, by Discreet Cat), a 3-year-old half-brother to last week's GIII Pimlico Special Stakes winner Awesome Aaron (Practical Joke) who cost $200,000 at Keeneland September in 2023, makes his career debut in a 1200-meter 'griffin' race at Sha Tin Racecourse Sunday afternoon. King Dance is owned by Peter Chu and is trained by Francis Lui, best known as the conditioner of three-time Hong Kong Horse of the Year Golden Sixty (Aus) (Medaglia d'Oro), and who has had other success with American-bred gallopers, such as Hong Kong...

Sent off the 35-100 favorite in Sunday's 1000-meter Chairmen's Day Plate at Hong Kong's Sha Tin Racecourse, Chancheng Prince (Carpe Diem) made light work of four other rivals to score by 3 1/4 convincing lengths (video). The event was restricted to so-called griffins, Southern Hemisphere 2-year-olds and Northern Hemisphere 3-year-olds that are unraced prior to their arrival in Hong Kong. With second-leading rider Joao Moreira taking the reins for the first time, the gray colt hopped slightly at the start, then raced prominently on the stands' rail. Sent into the...

Sent off as the 11-2 fourth choice in a field of six for Sunday's Yau Ma Tei Plate, the first griffin race of the year in Hong Kong, Sunny Star (Flatter) flopped out of the gates, but came with a stinging rally inside the final 200 meters to open his account at first asking, defeating 6-5 favorite Smiling Face (GB) (Acclamation {GB}) by 2 1/4 lengths. Chancheng Prince (Carpe Diem) raced prominently throughout and stuck on gamely for third. Sunny Star hopped in the air just as the gates flew...