Hong Kong star Beauty Generation bids to make it nine in a row in Champions Mile

9.00 Sha Tin
FWD Champions Mile (Group 1)| 1m | 3yo+ | Sky Sports Racing

Beauty Generation, rated the best horse in the world on active service in the latest world rankings, has two shots at making Hong Kong racing history when he lines up as the hot favourite in the FWD Champions Mile.

Unbeaten in an eight-race sequence that began in this contest a year ago, Beauty Generation needs victory here to claim outright the Hong Kong all-time record for most wins in a campaign, while the HK$10.26m (£1.04m) first prize would take his total earnings to HK$84.76m (£8.56m at today’s BHA exchange rate) and beyond the highwater mark of almost HK$83.2m (£8.4m) set by Viva Pataca seven years ago.

“I am friends with Viva Pataca’s owners, so I’ll say sorry if he beats the record,” Beauty Generation’s owner Patrick Kwok said with disarming generosity at Thursday’s barrier draw.

Kwok added that the gelding’s next target would be to beat the Hong Kong record of 17 straight wins established by Silent Witness in 2004-5, an ambition which will not be music to the ears of international racing officials anxious to attract the New Zealand-bred runner to their shores.

Meantime, win number nine in a row for trainer John Moore and jockey Zac Purton seems a formality as the six-year-old still has 9lb in hand over the reopposing Conte.

Of Beauty Generation’s six rivals, only Simply Brilliant has not been beaten by him at least once in the last 12 months, and for the simple reason the pair have never met. It will be the shock of the Hong Kong season if that particular record does not remain intact.

8.20 Sha Tin
Chairman’s Sprint Prize (Group 1) | 6f | 3yo+ | Sky Sports Racing

Following the withdrawal of dual Hong Kong Sprint winner Mr Stunning due to lameness, Santa Ana Lane will be a warm favourite to follow in the footsteps of Chautauqua, who arrived from Australia on the back of winning the T J Smith Stakes to take the Chairman’s Sprint Prize in 2016, the first year it was elevated to Group 1 status and opened to overseas horses.

Better than ever at the age of six, Santa Ana Lane boasts five wins from nine starts in the last 11 months, including four at Group 1 level, and his latest three-and-a-half length success saw him rated as the world’s highest-rated sprinter alongside Beat The Clock and Blue Point.

Rattan (right): has to overcome stall nineCredit: Hkjc

Beat The Clock finished second to Rattan in the Sprint Cup three weeks ago but now enjoys a significant turn-around in the weights.

However, Rattan’s trainer Richard Gibson remains confident that the form could be upheld, saying: "As a principle I tend to favour current form over a few kilos difference and I’m more concerned about his draw in stall nine of ten."

Australia has a second strong contender in Viddora, who in contrast to Santa Ana Lane, is booked on a flight to Britain on Wednesday for a tilt at the King’s Stand Stakes.

Viddora, who survived an injury scare earlier in the week, will provide a test of Blue Point’s form, having been beaten six lengths into fourth place behind the Godolphin-owned five-year-old in last month’s Al Quoz Sprint.

9.40 Sha Tin
FWD QEII Cup (Group 1) 1m2f | 3yo+ | Sky Sports Racing

Eminent has a couple of scores to settle when he flies the flag solo for Britain on FWD Champions Day. No European-trained runner has won this race since Presvis in 2009, and the 2017 Derby fourth must bounce back from a disappointing effort behind Winx a fortnight ago.

“That was a disaster,” Eminent’s joint-owner Hubie de Burgh recalled after the five-year-old son of Frankel drew stall 12 of 13 at Thursday’s barrier draw.

“He’s a very enthusiastic horse who runs on adrenaline, so we thought we’d try him in ear muffs to deaden the noise of a record crowd and the buzz around Winx. But it backfired, and he just ambled out of the gate.

“He never really had a race. In fact, he lost only one kilo, which is less than he would if he’d had a gallop at home, so the ear muffs have gone.”

Eminent: the sole British representative on the cardCredit: Mark Evans

De Burgh and trainer Sir Mark Todd, the world-renowned event rider who will return to Britain to compete at the Badminton Horse Trials starting on Wednesday, prefer to judge Eminent on the basis of his previous excellent Group 1 second at Rosehill, where heavy going was against him.

Todd said: "He’s had one good run and one bad run for us, so I’m nervous about making predictions, but he travelled up well and did a nice piece of work on Thursday. I’m very happy with his condition."

In the most open of the three Group 1 races, Eminent is likely to surrender his front-running tactics to Time Warp, whose main local rivals include his brother Glorious Forever, last year’s winner Pakistan Star, proven stayer Exultant and Hong Kong Derby scorer Furore.

Japan, which won the race with Neorealism two years ago, fields a strong trio, including Deirdre and Oisin Murphy’s mount Lys Gracieux, who were second in December’s Hong Kong Cup and Hong Kong Vase respectively.

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