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Wit,
No quarantine for any horses coming here to race.
However Ricky Yiu wanted to quarantine him so that he could come straight home again. Otherwise if he was mixing in training he’d have to do 3 weeks here before returning home (flu regulations) like Cape of Good Hope, permanent imports etc.
Going to Manton (rather than say mixing with the Aussies in Newmarket) and other simple raceday precautions will enable him to return home so he can train him for other legs of the Global Sprint Challenge.
Many thanks Adrian.
His participation is a very big deal for HK racing, even though sadly the HK government has declined to extend the simulcast quota to allow the race to be shown/ bet live by the HKJC. (HKJC outlets are anyway geared to late-night opening)
From today’s blog by EB:
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As for Sacred Kingdom himself, he has already departed for England last Sunday in preparation for the Golden Jubilee Stakes on 20 June.
On Wednesday night, I met his trainer Ricky Yiu at Happy Valley and we chatted about the horse’s condition since he arrived in England.
Ricky told me Sacred Kingdom has settled down comfortably and is eating very well after the 29-hour journey, which involved a flight to Paris followed by a cross-channel trip to his training base at Manton. Ricky said his assistant Edwin Wong will arrange for the horse to take some light exercise in the coming few days.
I’m really looking forward to seeing how Sacred Kingdom shapes up against the top European sprinters at Royal Ascot next Saturday.
Although, disappointingly, we have not been given permission to bring the Golden Jubilee Stakes live to you all, you can continue giving your support to Sacred Kingdom in our Most Popular Horse voting. He is leading the online voting at the moment, while his current rider Brett Prebble is leading the Most Popular Jockey tally. Anyway, whether you agree or disagree with those choices, don’t miss the chance to have your say……
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http://www.hkjc.com/english/corporate/ce/ce_blog.asp
Sacred Kingdom also has his own blog going now:
http://special.hkjc.com/my/en/blog/blog … b=3&id=166
best regards
wit
in the interests of adding a bit more colour, the chinese name as here:
http://www.hkjc.com/chinese/racing/hors … rseNo=G268
is Lin Hua Sheng Hui, which is Mandarin Pinyin for "Beautiful Lotus".
(Literally, the first two words, Lin Hua, mean lotus, while the last two words, Sheng Hui, mean glows beautifully).
best regards
wit
scmp verdict:
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The decision to supplement Sacred Kingdom for the race at a cost of HK$574,000 did not pay off, though time may tell that this year’s Golden Jubilee was a good race, as Art Connoisseur is relatively unexposed after just seven starts and has the potential to take high rank among the European sprinters, while J J The Jet Plane is the best sprinter from South Africa and could improve in different circumstances.
Possibly it was too much for Sacred Kingdom to embark on another overseas trip following his victory in the Group One KrisFlyer International Sprint in Singapore five weeks ago. Two other minor factors in yesterday’s race were that he was slow out of the gates and was involved in some scrimmaging after about 400m, but neither incident appeared to offer any excuse.
A sign that Sacred Kingdom did not reproduce his Singapore form was that Diabolical, beaten just over 3-1/2 lengths into third at Kranji, was just a short-head behind him in sixth place yesterday
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http://racing.scmp.com/freeservice/news … 90621b.asp
no clue yet as to why he lathered-up to the extent that his price doubled when he was in the parade ring.
disappointed but live to fight another day..
He was discomforted by the pinballing IMO, and missing the break didn’t aid his cause.
Very disappointing regardless.
- Total Posts 17716
Just my opinion, but the bumping didn’t affect him too much – he still came to win his race, and simply ran out of fuel over this stiffer test.
Had the race been over 150 yds less, he would have closely replicated his lto run with Diabolical, or vice versa, D would have probably have finished closer to him, had the Kranji race been over further.
Imo, Sacred Kingdom ran close to form – considering the circumstances.view of HKJC CEO :
http://www.hkjc.com/english/corporate/ce/ce_blog.asp
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I was at Ascot to see the race myself and felt Sacred Kingdom never found his normal flowing rhythm. This may have been due to the undulation of the track, which I mentioned before the race as being a testing factor for horses used to flat surfaces.
When Cape Of Good Hope conquered this Group One race back in 2005, Ascot Racecourse was under renovation and the race was actually staged at York, which was a firmer track than Ascot and proved to be easier for our runner. Our top racehorses usually seem to perform better on the flat tracks of Japan and Singapore than in Europe, where they can face some quite challenging slopes. It would be nice if we had some uphill or downhill training tracks in our facilities at Sha Tin, but current space limitations don’t allow it. This is something we need to consider for the future, though, so as to help our horses become more adaptable and get better prepared for different racecourses when they take on challenges around the world.
Anyway, even though Sacred Kingdom’s overseas venture did not end in success this time, I would say it will serve as good experience for both Ricky Yiu and Brett Prebble in future. And I’m especially delighted to hear how much interest the media and a lot of our local racing fans showed in following the race. Actually, I received a lot of feedback from both the media and the racing public asking why the Club could not simulcast the race live to Hong Kong and how they could watch the race live on the Internet. This is clear evidence of how many local racing fans are concerned with following the performance of our top racehorses overseas.
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Fair play for coming over and competing, connections deserve allot of credit for doing so, as a racing fan I must say a big thank you for doing so.
Have the chinese government got plans too set aside land close to Hong Kong for an equine training facilties with inclines and spelling facilities so horses based in Hong Kong can get practice and fitness using a slope but also have somewhere where horss can be given some paddock time when they need a freshen up?
Have the chinese government got plans too set aside land close to Hong Kong for an equine training facilties with inclines and spelling facilities so horses based in Hong Kong can get practice and fitness using a slope but also have somewhere where horss can be given some paddock time when they need a freshen up?
The HKJC can only dream of something like that. To the contrary, the immediate future holds the loss of the riverside gallop at Sha Tin.
view of HKJC CEO :
http://www.hkjc.com/english/corporate/ce/ce_blog.asp
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I was at Ascot to see the race myself and felt Sacred Kingdom never found his normal flowing rhythm. This may have been due to the undulation of the track, which I mentioned before the race as being a testing factor for horses used to flat surfaces.
When Cape Of Good Hope conquered this Group One race back in 2005, Ascot Racecourse was under renovation and the race was actually staged at York, which was a firmer track than Ascot and proved to be easier for our runner. Our top racehorses usually seem to perform better on the flat tracks of Japan and Singapore than in Europe, where they can face some quite challenging slopes. It would be nice if we had some uphill or downhill training tracks in our facilities at Sha Tin, but current space limitations don’t allow it. This is something we need to consider for the future, though, so as to help our horses become more adaptable and get better prepared for different racecourses when they take on challenges around the world.
Anyway, even though Sacred Kingdom’s overseas venture did not end in success this time, I would say it will serve as good experience for both Ricky Yiu and Brett Prebble in future. And I’m especially delighted to hear how much interest the media and a lot of our local racing fans showed in following the race. Actually, I received a lot of feedback from both the media and the racing public asking why the Club could not simulcast the race live to Hong Kong and how they could watch the race live on the Internet. This is clear evidence of how many local racing fans are concerned with following the performance of our top racehorses overseas.
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wit
I think that the connections of Sacred Kingdom can forget the performance at Ascot. Due to overwatering the going was loose and on the easy side of Good on the stand side and may not have suited several of the runners.
Also as I posted on another thread the sectionals show a very uneven pace. The first 150 yds were slow as everyone waited for JJ The Jet Plane to lead, then the next three furlongs were very quick. The front runners fell in a heap due to going too fast on the loose ground. These are the sectionals I took :-
Golden Jubilee
6f to 5f … 14.51
5f to 4f … 11.35
4f to 3f … 10.63
3f to 2f … 11.10
2f to 1f … 13.40
1f to 0f … 13.91
Total … 1.14.90 (1.40 slow)Hopefully this will not stop them trying again. The chances of getting a sound consistent surface at the July Cup are much higher, than Ascot on the Saturday.
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