Intriguing field for Hong Kong Gold Cup

The 2,000-meter rematch between Werther and Time Warp on Sunday at Sha Tin Racecourse in the Hong Kong Gold Cup holds interest in its own right. Adding intrigue is the appearance of Season’s Bloom, who won the Group 1 Stewards’ Cup over 1,600 meters in his most recent start and tries 1 1/4 miles Sunday for just the second time in his Hong Kong career.

All that is appealing enough, but the Group 1, $1.28 million Hong Kong Gold Cup also marks the first start since June 25 for the infamous Pakistan Star.

Pakistan Star captivated the Hong Kong circuit and developed an international following basically from the start of his Hong Kong career in July 2016. A monster of a horse with quirks to match his size, Pakistan Star dropped out to 14th in his first two races before mowing down all his rivals, and though similar trips his next two starts left Pakistan Star second-best, it was apparent Pakistan Star had raw talent to rise to the top of the Hong Kong class if only he could harness his mercurial habits.

Instead, things went the wrong way. Last June, Pakistan Star broke from the gate, ran for a bit down the backstretch, and then stopped dead in his tracks, refusing to participate. He did the same thing on multiple occasions last year as trainer Tony Cruz tried to debug his charge’s circuits and get Pakistan Star approved by Hong Kong stewards to race again. Finally, this winter, Pakistan Star began acting right again, and after going through multiple trial runs, he was cleared to race again.

Could Pakistan Star be ready to win right away? Probably not. Pakistan Star finished second to the Japanese shipper Neorealism last spring in the QE II Cup, his only Group 1 try, coming home one place ahead of Werther, but it will be no surprise if the gelding returns to action ring-rusty.

Werther looks like the one to beat. He gave futile chase and finished second as Time Warp shook loose on the easiest of leads and won the Group 1 Hong Kong Cup on Dec. 10, and while Time Warp returned with a flat 10th at a one-mile trip short of his best in the Steward’s Cup, Werther plugged away for a solid third in that race and almost certainly is better suited to Sunday’s longer trip. Season’s Bloom ran below form last season in his lone 2,000meter try and until showing otherwise appears to be a miler.

The Gold Cup is race 8 of 11 with a scheduled post time of 3:05 a.m. Eastern. Race 9 is the Group 1, $1.278 million Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup, a 1,400meter race with a host of plausible winners.