The Hong Kong racing season kicks off again this Sunday, with the Class 1 HKSAR Chief Executive's Cup (1200m) a fine way to open the 2022/23 racing season.
As usual, there's plenty of new names, both human and equine, joining the jurisdiction this season, most notably New Zealand's four-time premiership winning trainer Jamie Richards.
Although Richards has not entered any horses for the opening meeting of the season, fellow newcomer Pierre Ng will have a two-pronged attack in the feature of the day, with Lucky Patch and Duke Wai set to line up.
Of course, you can catch all the action from Hong Kong LIVE and FREE on the Racing And Sports website, as well as all the form, ratings and replays your heart desires.
And new to Racing And Sports, Hong Kong trial results and replays are now available in our form guide, making racingandsports.com.au the one-stop-shop for all your Hong Kong racing needs this season.
Included in our enhanced form guide is all the previous form for imports entering the racing jurisdiction, and that's what I'm most looking forward to this upcoming season.
The Imports
Hong Kong's rich four-year-old series brings a plethora of proven horses into the city every year, and the 2022/23 racing season is no different.
One of the most fascinating imports is the Australian filly Bon's A Pearla, who makes her way into the stable of David Hayes.
The four-year-old will be targeted toward the four-year-old series after showcasing her ability up to 2000m, finishing 1-1/4 lengths away in third to star colt Hitotsu in the Australian Guineas (Group 1, 1600m), and placing fourth in the Group 1 Australasian Oaks (2000m).
Her peak Timeform rating of 110 is the highest of any import heading to Hong Kong this season (so far), putting her right at the top of chances for the prestigious four-year-old series.
One horse I'm excited to see is the former Chris Waller-trained galloper Straight Arron.
The son of Fastnet Rock was an impressive winner over 1600m in testing conditions at Randwick in April, being rated 107+ by Timeform for that effort.
He then got too far back over 2000m at his next start, but did match his 107 rating in what was again tough going.
Over the past decade, the average winning rating for the Hong Kong Derby is 116. With improvement and maturity under his belt, Straight Arron looks an early pick for the HK$24 million feature in March if he can continue to trend the right way.
Jungle Magnate is the only Group 1 winner to be making his way over to Hong Kong for this season, but only rates 108 for that win in the South Australia Derby.
The son of Tarzino has already had some doubters in the media, due to his biggest win coming at 2500m, and the lack of races over that distance in the city.
But, the four-year-old has proved his versatility, winning the Mornington Guineas over 1600m and won the Group 3 Chairman's Stakes over 2000m.
He's a strong horse who is proven in stakes company over the four-year-old series distances, and lands in the right hands of Tony Cruz with those famous 'Beauty' silks on his back.
The Jockey Room
It's a tough environment for jockeys in the Hong Kong racing scene, and is often referred to as a 'pressure cooker'.
That pressure was only increased last season as a covid-19 outbreak forced lockdowns and restrictions, prompting Blake Shinn to return to Australia after 3 seasons in the city.
Shinn followed fellow Australian Daniel Moor back home, after spending just 4 months in the jurisdiction, with Chad Schofield also returning to Australia in December last year.
With all that, leading riders Joao Moreira and Zac Purton have spoken openly that they're feeling worse for wear after battling it out for supremacy over a number of years.
Purton threatened to sit out race meetings last year if the Jockey Club did not allow him to get the required medical attention he needed, following a dramatic fall in the Group 1 Hong Kong Sprint in December.
Moreira will also miss the opening day of the Hong Kong racing season, and possibly the second as well, as he continues to recover from a series of injuries.
The Brazilian hoop headed overseas to get the necessary treatment for his injuries, and won't return to Hong Kong until September 10, meaning he'll miss Sunday's opening day due to quarantine requirements.
Moreira will then need to be assessed by the Jockey Club's chief medical officer before being allowed to race ride once more.
Taking a look at last season's results, it's interesting to see how things played out from an impact point-of-view.
Despite being banged up and in pain, Purton was, on average, improving horses by 4lbs that he was hopping aboard, compared to the neutral impact that Moreira was having.
It's interesting to see that after the poor start to his stint and his injury in December, Lyle Hewitson was able to improve his impact value to 0.98 and match that of Alex Badel, while improving horses 2lbs on average.
Hewitson could be the one to break out this season, after finishing on a tear at the end of the 2021/22 season with six winners in his final 50 rides.
He's improving horses 2lbs (on average) when he hops aboard, and if he can pick up where he left off last season, he can easily work his way up the Premiership table.
Silvestre De Sousa will also make his way to the jurisdiction once again with the three-time British Champion jockey given a six-month contract.
He won the 2018 Group 1 Hong Kong Cup, as well as the 2018 International Jockeys Challenge, and with proven experience in the city, he can make an immediate impact in the jockey ranks.
Will anybody be able to challenge Zac and Joao for the title this season? Probably not, but the race behind them is far more interesting.
International Presence:
We only got to see the international's once last season due to the covid outbreak in Hong Kong, restricting horses travelling to and from the city.
Talks of champion Golden Sixty travelling to take on Japan gained traction, only for them to be knocked back down due to the ongoing situation with covid.
Tony Millard also entered Group 1 winning stayer Panfield for the Takarazuka Kinen (2200m), but was a touch disappointing in the Champions & Chater Cup (Group 1, 2400m) and elected to remain in Hong Kong.
They came from Europe and Japan to tackle HKIR in December, but their presence was missed in April on Champions Day.
We have already seen Computer Patch and Kings Shield travel to Korea to take on the Korea Sprint and Korea Cup, and maybe that's just a slice of what is to come this year.
Will Hong Kong's two-time horse of the year Golden Sixty finally take on Japan on their home turf?
Whatever happens, it's bound to be another fantastic season of racing in Hong Kong, with plenty of action and surprises.
You can catch all the news, previews and reviews at Racing And Sports, as well as watch every raceday LIVE and FREE.
