It is 40 years since Hong Kong last saw a flurry of snow and even with temperatures set to drop unusually low this weekend the likelihood of the white stuff falling anywhere bar the top of Tai Mo Shan remains slim to zero. But the sight of a storming Blizzard at Sha Tin on Sunday (24 January) is no longshot, with the Ricky Yiu-trained gelding of that name among the leading fancies for the afternoon’s feature race, the HK$10 million HKG1 Hong Kong Classic Mile.
Yiu’s confidence in the Starcraft gelding’s chance of victory received a boost when declarations were revealed on Thursday. Blizzard had drawn gate three of 14.
“This is the first time he’s got a good gate, so now I’m pretty confident,” said the trainer.
“First time” can be taken as hitherto exasperated trainer speak for “one of the rare times”. To the horse’s connections, it must feel like the first. In 12 Hong Kong starts, Blizzard has drawn a double digit gate on eight occasions, and this season alone he has berthed in gate 12 three times in only five races. That includes a last start second over 1400m, through a tough, wide run, behind the likely Classic Mile favourite Thewizardofoz (Gate 9).
“He ran well last start from a bad gate, he was tough; he should be very competitive at the weekend,” said Yiu. “He’s got a very good jockey on - he rode him in his last race and he’s ridden him in a couple of barrier trials, so he knows the horse.”
That jockey is Gerald Mosse. The Frenchman has an enviable big-race record, particularly in Hong Kong, and has two Classic Mile wins in the bag already thanks to Scintillation (2005) and Floral Pegasus (2007). Mosse was on board for a barrier trial at Happy Valley last Saturday, a stretch out that left Yiu in no doubt that his charge is primed for what is the season’s first major test of the four-year-old generation.
“He’s done well in his track work and he went really well in his barrier trial the other day,” he said. “The plan is to gallop him tomorrow (Saturday) and that will just blow any last cobwebs away.”
Blizzard has put six wins on the board since his debut in December, 2014 but has not yet been asked to extend beyond 1400m. Like most of his main rivals for Sunday’s prize, his ability to see out the mile has a big question mark hanging over it. Yiu is more than hopeful that 1600m will be within the talented chestnut’s scope.
“According to the pedigree he can get the mile, maximum, I think he’s a sprinter/miler. Starcraft, his sire, was top-class at the trip and stayed further - so I think Blizzard should be ok with the distance,” he said.
Blizzard has already defeated Thewizardofoz (drawn nine on Sunday) this term, by a neck, conceding John Size’s charge 2lb. That was in October and the latter seems to have progressed since but the balance of their performances suggests there is not much between them.
Yiu’s rising star, considered for a tilt at the G2 Jockey Club Sprint (1200m) in November, will also face Hong Kong’s current top-rated four-year-old, the Size-trained Sun Jewellery, who has drawn widest in gate 14. Beauty Flash, a subsequent Champion Miler, is the one horse to have prevailed from that gate in the Classic Mile’s 15 previous editions. Two past winners, Helene Mascot (2008) and Sweet Orange (2012), have scored from gate three.
Also in the 14-strong field are the G1-placed Australian import Werther (2) - impressive in winning his only Hong Kong start to date - Lucky Bubbles (12), Consort (11), Dashing Fellow (7), Divine Boy (13), Green Dispatch (10), King Genki (8), Giovanni Canaletto (6), Basic Trilogy (1), Rickfield (4) and Hero Look (5).
The last listed showed plenty of promise first-up when second to Celestial Smile, one place ahead of Thewizardofoz, in a 1400m Class 2 in November. However, Hero Look subsequently flopped, finishing a moderate eighth behind that same opponent and Blizzard last time out (27 December). Chris So’s charge is the mount of UK Champion Jockey Silvestre De Sousa.
“He ran well first time here but this is a very tough race and he has to improve on what he showed last time. The favourites will be very hard to beat,” said the Brazilian rider.
Hero Look carries smart form from Italy where he was first past the post in each of his five starts, including the G2 Gran Criterium (1500m) as a juvenile and the G3 Premio Parioli (1600m), the Italian 2,000 Guineas, at three.
“I’m pleased to get a ride in the race. He’s a longshot but he’s quite a nice horse with a good background, so I hope he can improve on his last run,” said De Sousa.
The Hong Kong Classic Mile is the first of three local Group 1 races exclusive to four-year-olds. The Hong Kong Classic Cup (1800m) follows on Sunday 21 February and the triple-header climaxes on Sunday 20 March with the HKG1 BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m).
