Over a decade ago, the heads of the Hong Kong Jockey Club and Racing New South Wales clashed over what was referred to as the “Tips for money” case involving former jockey Chris Munce.
It’s good that though they still might not exactly be the two amigos, there’s been some kind of unholy alliance and that this will result in today’s simulcast of the AUS$15m race called The Everest from Randwick, the pride and joy of Racing NSW supremo Peter V’landys.
It’s always good for Hong Kong racing fans to watch the world’s best rider- James McDonald,29, aka J-Mac with 71 Group 1 wins to his name and aboard the world’s best sprinter Nature Strip owned by Rod Lyons with a conga line of owners having smaller shares in the horse.
Once described as “the most polarising horse in Australia” after a somewhat controversial career that saw him trained by Robert Smerdon, Robert Hickmott and Darren Weir until being moved to Chris Waller and for whom everything seems to have clicked.
At his last appearance, which was in the King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot earlier this year, the galloper absolutely demolished his competition.
Though drawn barrier twelve for tomorrow’s race and the track going to be on the heavy side, it shouldn’t stop Nature Strip from winning The Everest.
Originally quite a controversial race created by Peter V’landys to clash with Victoria’s traditional Caulfield Cup, like the Pegasus race first did in the US, The Everest came with the introduction of slots, selling slots, and runners needing to be nominated etc etc and all a bit like buying and selling and haggling with an Egyptian carpet salesman.
The lure was the enormous prize money for what is still not a Group race. But who cares these days?
That was then and here we are trying to make sense of this post pandemic broken down world.
Today, The Everest has won over the imagination of many racing fans in Australia, and owners everywhere in the world wanting even a small percentage of the prize money.
This success has partly been achieved through relentless marketing and all the column inches from a Sydney based racing writer like Chris “The Rooter” Roots devoted to drumming up interest in the race.
It’s a race day originally hyped as being for “younger people”. This was by having a member of One Direction who wasn’t Harry Styles or some random artist like Jason Derulo, who was on a promotional visit of Australia at the time, plugged in after the last race had been run. It worked.
Whatever one might think of Peter V’landys, he is not stupid. He stood his ground, he went to bat for his state in the North with his mountainous racing product, the South only had blanks with which to fire back, and the disruption worked.
This afternoon, racing fans in Hong Kong will also be able to watch the running of the Caulfield Cup with the favourite for the race being Smokin’ Romans, below, and ridden by Jamie Kah who is expected to participate in the Hong Kong Jockeys International Championship along with Hollie Doyle and others.
As for The Everest, apart from J-Mac, other riders in action in the race will be Hugh Bowman, who’s expected to ride in Hong Kong on a full-time basis sooner rather than later.
Also riding in the race- at least for now though there will certainly be scratchings depending on the weather gods decide- will be Nash Rawiller, William Pike, a very much in-form Sam Clipperton, Glyn Schofield, and Craig Williams, who have all ridden in Hong Kong at one time or another.
For those who have never seen them ride, one hopes there’s the chance to see the excellent young gun Dylan Gibbons, below, plus Rachel King, Jason Collett, and Josh Parr. Dylan Gibbons is a name to follow. Promise.
Calling the race and giving his all will be popular former Hong Kong Jockey Club race caller Darren “The Dazzler” Flindell.
Also be ready to watch tens of thousands of racing fans living it up and “living the dream” at Randwick without masks.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong racing fans will be happy to hear that young apprentice Britney Wong, 23, who’s gaining experience for the next couple of years riding throughout Australia, rode another winner yesterday.
This was at Murray Bridge where she rode Mottell to a last to first 13-1 winner.
Well done, Britney!
