Race meeting number 83, the final fixture of the 2014/15 Hong Kong racing season, will take place at Sha Tin on Sunday, 12 July. The feature event on the 11-race card is the Class 1 Sha Tin Mile Trophy (Handicap), which has drawn 12 talented gallopers, each aiming at one last moment in the spotlight before settling down to a well-earned summer of rest.
Trainer John Size has all but certainly missed out on the Trainer Championship as he heads into the season finale seven wins adrift of John Moore. But Size will team up in the feature - as he has done so often this campaign - with Hong Kong’s new Champion Jockey, Joao Moreira. Contentment (122lb) is the horse that will carry the record smashing champ and the gelding will no doubt have the weight of the crowd’s expectations on his back, too.
The Hussonet four-year-old has won five from eight this term, including a Class 2 at the course and distance last time. Victorious or not, Contentment will end the season with one notable prize in the bag, the chestnut having carried off the season’s Most Improved Horse Award.
Size is also set to saddle the smart five-year-old Wonderful Moments (123lb), last year’s winner, while Moore will rely on Kabayan (125lb). Trainer Tony Cruz’s HKG1 Hong Kong Classic Mile winner Beauty Only (127lb) is a notable runner.
Top-weight Rainbow Chic (133lb) from the Caspar Fownes stable heads into the 1600m heat off a third consecutive career win in the 1800m Happy Valley Vase. The six-year-old has backed-up in this race in each of the past two seasons, finishing 10th last term and runner-up to Designs On Rome in 2013.
The Fownes-trained Travel Brother (126lb), a close third in last year’s Sha Tin Mile Trophy, is on for a brace of wins after he scored a Class 1 course and distance win last start. The five-year-old has had seven weeks to freshen up for this and Zac Purton takes the ride.
All You Wish (128lb), Gurus Dream (125lb), Santa Fe Sun (120lb), Pikachu (115lb), Twin Delight (113lb) and Fantastic Kaka (113lb) ensure the contest has plenty of depth.
Assuming Size does not pull-off an unprecedented and improbable, though not impossible, seven-win streak on Sunday, Moore will receive the Champion Trainer Award at the track in front of Hong Kong’s enthusiastic racing fans. The Champion Jockey Award will be presented to Moreira, and Vincent Ho will receive the Best Freelance Jockey Award, unless his closest pursuer Keith Yeung can notch a startling four-timer.
The card kicks off at 12.30pm with the Class 5 Planet Ruler Handicap (1800m) and concludes with race 11, the Class 2 Hong Kong Racehorse Owners Association Trophy (Handicap) over 1400m, at 5.50pm.
