Last season the Trainers Championship came down to the wire until Tony Cruz started to struggle and shoot blanks and John Moore stormed home with a strong hand on the last two days to win it.
This year, we’re tipping that “Cruzy” won’t be in the top three whereas Moore will, as always, focus on the big Group races.
His loyal army of owners have certainly paid some VERY big money for some VERY good horses!
This means a two horse race between Caspar Fownes and John Size.
Last season, both trainers made moves which suggested that they would be serious contenders for the title, but they either didn’t have the horse power or their horses were too highly placed in the ratings..
This season, we reckon, these are the two trainers to follow.
Fownes has some very good new horses in his yard and more to come and “Sizey” has barely been out of Hong Kong for a break.
Usually a slow starter to a racing season, we are betting that he and jockey Douglas Whyte will combine to rattle off a string of winners right from the get-go.
From there, it will be a game of Catch-Me-If-You-Can and with only Fownes having the horse power and in all classes- to do exactly this.
Plus, who can forget his dancing skills when he trained those mighty six winners at the Valley two seasons ago and won the Trainers Championship?
We don’t.
The other trainers?
Moore and Cruz aside, Tony Millard will have his usual good season with the stable always being a safe bet to follow.
What he does with Hong Kong’s Horse Of The Year- the brilliant Ambitious Dragon and whether Maxime Guyon will be back on the horse or if Dougie Whyte who successfully “pinch-hit” for Guyon when the whizz-bang French ace could not make it toHong Kongwill retain the ride is an interesting scenario to watch unfold.
Sacred Kingdom might not be the force he once was, but Ricky Yiu has a knack of picking up good horses. Remember Fairy King Prawn ? Never count him out.
Dennis Yip is always dangerous, especially, when he turns to Brett Prebble and Whyte for rides.
Me Tsui and Almond Lee will bang home their usual quota of winners and with the Lee-Mosse combination one to always follow.
“New boy on the block” Richard Gibson is the dark horse in this race for the Trainers Title.
An Internationally-known trainer and known in Hong Kong for his successes with Doctor Dino, Gibson, though will never win the title, is someone to watch.
He has picked up some good horses and we’re looking forward to his choice of jockeys.
If he can get them, we’re tipping that with his experience as a trainer in France, he will be turning to Maxime Guyon and Gerard Mosse and, for the month that he is in Hong Kong- whizz kid Mickael Barzalona.
Anyone else?
David Ferraris will, no doubt, focus on the two “super babies in his yard- Bear Hero and Sweet Orange.
Sean Woods, Derek Cruz, the uniquely-named Manfred Man and Andreas Schutz will bring home their usual “low volume” number of winners and here’s hoping that Paul O’Sullivan doesn’t have the shocker of a season which he had in 2010/2011.
Andy Leung and Peter Ng, we have no idea what to make of except that the former will always show up dressed like a Christmas tree.
But for us, we’ll be looking to Fownes and Size to fight it out and may the best man with the best horses and the most luck win!
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