It's not often an Iowa-bred horse surfaces in one of Hong Kong's most prestigious group 1 races but that's exactly where Chancheng Glory finds himself—the Dec. 8 Hong Kong Mile (G1).
"I can remember the day he sold as a weanling," said breeder Allen Poindexter. "I sold three that day, one for $300,000, one for $180,000. He was the cheapest, at $50,000. Still, not bad—$50,000 for a $5,000 stud fee."
Chancheng Glory later went on to fetch $110,000 at the 2021 Keeneland September Yearling Sale and eventually was sold privately to a Hong Kong-based syndicate.
"Now he's made something like $1.9 million," Poindexter said with a chuckle. "I was hoping he'd make it to the Breeders' Cup. They don't have any breeders' awards for those Hong Kong races."
Chancheng Glory is by Mor Spirit , out of the Consolidator mare Solid Scam. Mor Spirit, by Eskendereya, finished second in the 2016 Santa Anita Derby (G1). The Bob Baffert trainee peaked with a victory in his penultimate start, the 2017 Metropolitan Handicap (G1) at Belmont Park. Solid Scam had one win from seven starts while racing for Poindexter on the Iowa-Oklahoma circuit.
Chancheng Glory has worked out a nice career in Hong Kong for trainer Francis Lui.
He started the 2022-23 season winning a Griffin race—one for horses imported to Hong Kong unraced. That victory put him in higher-class company and he finished third, third, and eighth to complete the season.
A busy 2023-24 campaign saw him make 13 starts, working his way up the class ladder into the Hong Kong Derby series. Chancheng Glory finished sixth in the first leg of that, the Hong Kong Classic Mile, then nearly caused a seismic shock in the second leg, the Hong Kong Classic Cup, finishing second, just a whisker back of the late-running winner, Helios Express, at odds of 52-1.
William Buick was recruited to ride Chancheng Glory in the Hong Kong Derby and raced just behind the leader into midstretch. But the bubble burst as Massive Sovereign unleashed a furious run to win by a neck over Galaxy Patch with Chancheng Glory sixth, beaten 4 1/2 lengths.
Plugging on into group company, he finished second, a nose back of Galaxy Patch, in the Lion Rock Trophy (G3), aided by a big swing in the weights, and wound up the season with six wins.
He started the 2024-25 season with a third in the Sha Tin Trophy (G2), behind Galaxy Patch and Voyage Bubble; another third in the Ladies' Purse Handicap (G3), trailing Ensued and La City Blanche; and a second to Voyage Bubble in the Jockey Club Mile (G2)—the local prep for the group 1 showdown.
Voyage Bubble and Galaxy Patch return for the Dec. 8 heat and they all will have to deal with the likes of Japan's Soul Rush and Jantar Mantar, France's Lazzat, and Australia's Antino. All are international group 1 winners.
Chancheng Glory clearly will have his work cut out for him. But however he runs, he'll do it without his breeder in the Sha Tin Racecourse grandstand to cheer him on.
"No, no," Poindexter said when asked if he'd make the trip. "Call me from Hong Kong and let me know how he did.
"I hope he wins," Poindexter said. "I breed for the sales so it doesn't matter that I don't own him. I own the mare. She's produced some other stakes performers, too. I want to breed her back to Mor Spirit. I hope I get a colt."
Mor Spirit stands at Swifty Farms in Indiana, with an advertised 2025 stud fee of $2,500.
