The Hong Kong Jockey Club holds dress rehearsals Nov. 23 for December's Longines International Races with all the big local guns blazing.
The three group 2 Bank of China Hong Kong-sponsored races mirror three of the four events comprising the Dec. 14 Internationals, lacking only a prep race for the 2,400-meter (about 1 1/2 miles) Hong Kong Vase.
Two of the heats at Sha Tin Racecourse promise to be intense intramural battles on their own.
In the Jockey Club Sprint (G2) at 1,200 meters (about 6 furlongs), the world's top-rated sprinter, Ka Ying Rising, meets Lucky Sweynesse in a battle of today's and yesterday's champions. Lucky Sweynesse ruled the roost among Hong Kong sprinters until he was sidelined with an injury. While he was away, along came Ka Ying Rising to dominate.
With both back at work at the end of the 2024-25 season, Ka Ying Rising handled Lucky Sweynesse easily in the Chief Executive's Cup in July as they finished 1-2, separated by 2 1/4 lengths. They went their separate ways to start the 2025-26 season with Ka Ying Rising winning the AU$20 million (about US$13 million) group 1 The Everest in Australia and Lucky Sweynesse disappointing while finishing 11th in the group 1 Sprinters Stakes in Japan.
Ka Ying Rising won The Everest almost with disdain, breezing past the pacesetters in the straight, winning by 1 1/4 lengths. And trainer David Hayes has some bad news for his Jockey Club rivals.
"I think he has improved since The Everest," Hayes said after the 5-year-old's final piece of fast training work Nov. 19. "I think the trip to Australia hasn't worried. If anything, it's helped him."
Hayes backs that up by noting Ka Ying Rising was the easiest of winners in a barrier trial Nov. 14 against a gateful of hard-knocking local speedsters. "It was an upper-class trial with some of Hong Kong's best horses and he did what he does," Hayes said.
Lucky Sweynesse's rider, Derek Leung, said his mount also has done well since returning to home base.
"He's trialed twice since coming back from Japan," Leung said. "Last time, we trialed him on the dirt. He trialed good, and he's more relaxed than before. We're all happy."
The group 2 Jockey Club Cup at 2,000 meters (about 10 furlongs) would look like a cozy spot for another of Hong Kong's successful international travelers, Romantic Warrior, were it not for three things: 1) The 2023 Cox Plate (G1) winner has not raced since finishing second in the Dubai Turf (G1) in April, 2) He underwent surgery after that race for an issue with his left foreleg, and 3) He faces Voyage Bubble, a Hong Kong star in his own right.
Romantic Warrior, winner of 10 group 1 affairs around the world, not to mention a few heartbreaking seconds, has trialed well in preparation for his return and trainer Danny Shum and jockey James McDonald are making all the right noises.
"He feels every bit as good as what he's worked like in the past," McDonald said after a bit of morning work Nov. 11. "He looks fantastic. Danny has done a great job with him. He was great. It will take a good one to beat him."
Voyage Bubble is a good one and is riding a string in which he won five of his last seven starts, including four group 1's. His issue is a 12th-place finish in his most recent race, the Sha Tin Trophy (G2) Oct. 19. Jockey Zac Purton waves that off.
"The Sha Tin Trophy was a race that, at the weights, he was going to struggle to be competitive in," Purton said. "He was really just out there to start going through his preparation. I thought he ran well. He is a tough horse. It's not going to knock him around. He's handled it well and he feels good."
The 2023 Hong Kong Derby winner finished second, a neck behind Romantic Warrior in the 2024 Hong Kong Gold Cup (G1), their only previous meeting at this course and distance, and a race Voyage Bubble dominated by nearly 4 lengths this past spring in Romantic Warrior's absence.
The third prep, the Jockey Club Mile (G2), lacks the marquee names of the other features but does have a competitive field of 13 looking to sort out local representation for Dec. 14. There is considerable buzz about My Wish, a 5-year-old who won both previous starts this season, progressing smoothly through the group 3 and group 2 levels. His latest win came in that same Sha Tin Trophy in which Voyage Bubble reported 12th.
