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Anyone got a view on middle distance horses sold to run in Hong Kong? Arthur’s Kingdom (ex O’Brien) and Berlin Tango (ex Balding) were both group-placed performers at 10-12 furlongs at Royal Ascot, but have been running over distances as short as 7f at Sha Tin & Happy Valley, and never more than 9f. Unsurprisingly to me, neither has won in 10 outings between them. (Berlin Tango 4th at HV over 9f today). Is this because there’s not much middle distance opportunity in HK? If so, why buy them? Or is it a long term ploy to hide their stamina so they can pop up in something like the HK Vase at massive odds?
Arthur’s Kingdom required every yard of a mile on heavy (almost unraceable) ground just to win his maiden. The chances of him winning a race over 7 furlongs on good ground must be close to non existent.
They were bought for HK derby (2,000m or 10 furlongs) which is restricted to 4yos only and worth over 20m hkd (around 2m pounds). Obviously neither of them can handle the fast ground in HK.
Races over 10f+ are limited in HK. So I think they will end HK career without any victory.
Thanks for the info Patrick. They didn’t even run in the HK Derby, although I note that Russian Emperor (another ex O’Brien Group 3 winner) did finish second – and would probably have won in another half furlong. Still feel horses like these are too stamina-laden for the majority of HK events at 9 – 10f.
The Queen Mother Memorial Cup (Group 3 Handicap) over 2,400m (one of the 3 2,400m races in HK season) will be run tomorrow. Racecard: https://racing.hkjc.com/racing/information/English/racing/RaceCard.aspx?RaceDate=2021/05/02&Racecourse=ST&RaceNo=7
Only Russian Emperor will run in this race.
Berlin Tango showed some promise in his last start over 1,800m at Happy Valley while Arthur’s Kingdom finished last over 1,600m last Sunday.
Berlin Tango:
https://racing.hkjc.com/racing/information/english/Horse/Horse.aspx?HorseId=HK_2020_E120Arthur’s Kingdom
https://racing.hkjc.com/racing/information/english/Horse/Horse.aspx?HorseId=HK_2020_E194Thanks for the alert Patrick. If that crawl/sprint pace was typical of a HK 2400m group race, no chance for an ex-European runner. A class 5 handicap earlier on the card over the same distance, was run a second faster. When the international European & Japanese runners come to HK in December for the Vase, you might get an end-to-end gallop. See you then…
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