Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Beauty Generation trying to regain the winning thread
Beauty Generation will try to get back on track Sunday at Sha Tin Racecourse at Hong Kong after his 10-race winning streak ended Oct. 20 in the Oriental Watch Sha Tin Trophy Stakes. Beauty Generation conceded a huge amount of weight in that handicap race but gives only five pounds to just six rivals Sunday in the Jockey Club Mile.
The Jockey Club Mile, carded as race 6 with a scheduled post time of 12:45 a.m. Pacific, is the first of three Group 2 races each worth $542,885 on Sunday’s card at Sha Tin. The Jockey Club Mile is a prep for the Hong Kong Mile, the Jockey Club Cup over 2,000 meters a prep for the Hong Kong Cup, and the Jockey Club Sprint over 1,200 meters a prep for the Hong Kong Sprint.
All three of those Group 1 races plus the Group 1 Hong Kong Vase over 2,400 meters form the Dec. 8 Hong Kong International Races, but both those races and Sunday’s card are being run in the shadow of continuing and escalating clashes between Hong Kong police and pro-democracy protestors throughout Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Jockey Club canceled its Wednesday night card at Happy Valley Racecourse, and Sha Tin sits just down the hill from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, site of chaotic conflict this week between student protestors and police. HKJC officials said Thursday that Sunday’s card would go forward as planned despite the fact local expressways and train lines have gone out of service this week.
Beauty Generation has been Hong Kong’s top-rated horse for two seasons and has captured the last two renewals of the Hong Kong Mile, but last month he was run down in deep stretch by victorious Rise High and runner-up Waikuku. Rise High, who races Sunday in the Jockey Club Cup, got 14 pounds from Beauty Generation while Waikuku, who starts in the Jockey Club Mile, carried 19 pounds fewer. Beauty
Generation widely is expected to bounce back Sunday, but in the end, this is a 7-year-old who has been at the top of his game for two years now, and even the most elite form doesn’t persist indefinitely.
Rise High steps up from his 1,600-meter upset of Beauty Generation to try another Hong Kong star, Exultant, over 2,000 meters in the Jockey Club Cup. Exultant won the Hong Kong Vase on the International card last December and ranks as Hong Kong’s leading horse over distances from 2,000 to 2,400 meters. He finished third Nov. 3 racing 1,800 meters in his season debut and stands to improve Sunday, keeping in mind that his main goal lies three weeks ahead of him. Rise High, who finished second by 1 1/4 lengths to Exultant last May 26 in the Group 1 Standard Chartered Champions and Chater Cup over 2,400 meters, probably better suits the shorter distance he races Sunday, and gets five pounds from Exultant.
A somewhat unsettled local sprint division could gain clarity following the Jockey Club Sprint, which drew 14 horses, among them familiar names like Mr. Stunning, Beat the Clock, D B Pin, Hot King Prawn, and Pakistan Star.