Eminent can bring home gold to add lustre to Olympian Todd's achievements

Champions Day had its origins as a one-off race meeting at Happy Valley to celebrate a visit to Hong Kong by the Queen in 1975, with a capacity 42,000 crowd watching as outsider Nazakat took the inaugural QEII Cup.

In just 44 years that one race, which was run on a sand track inside the turf course, has evolved into a fixture of huge significance at Sha Tin, showcasing the best in the region – with international contenders also competing since 1995 – over six furlongs, one mile, and one mile two furlongs.

This year, the world’s top miler Beauty Generation is the big star. Officially rated 11lb superior to his nearest rival, he is expected to trounce them all in the FWD Champions Mile, with trainer John Moore predicting another dazzling performance.

The six-year-old, who raced first as Montaigne in Australia, has won his last eight races on the trot, and he has not tasted defeat in more than 12 months. Victory would secure his position as the highest prize-money winner ever in Hong Kong.

British interest centres on Eminent, who has been trained for the FWD QEII Cup by celebrated New Zealand Olympian Sir Mark Todd, who has competed at seven Olympics, twice winning gold in Individual Eventing.

Todd took over the training of Derby fourth Eminent after Sir Peter Vela bought out former trainer Martyn Meade and sent the Frankel colt on an Australian campaign, with mixed results. He finished a fine second in the Group 1 Ranvet Stakes at Rosehill before fluffing his lines in Winx’s farewell race, Randwick’s Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

Sir Mark Todd, New Zealand's most celebrated Olympian, has trained Eminent for a tilt at the QEII CupCredit: Mark Evans (Getty Images)

Eminent comes up against local star Exultant, a son of Teofilo, and the winner of the Hong Kong Vase and Hong Kong Gold Cup.

The Chairman’s Sprint Prize features local speedsters Mr Stunning and Beat The Clock who clash with Australia’s rising star sprinter Santa Ana Lane, whose last start produced an exceptional performance to land the Group 1 TJ Smith Stakes at Randwick.

The renewal of these three great races on the same Sha Tin card ensures Hong Kong will be making headlines again this weekend for the very best of reasons.

Chairman’s Sprint Prize (Group 1)

6f, 3yo+, Sunday 8.20am GMT (Sky Sports Racing)

The draw has made the Chairman’s Sprint Prize all the more interesting, although connections of the well-credentialed Australian raider Santa Ana Lane insist they are happy to be starting widest in gate ten.

With Hong Kong’s two best sprinters Mr Stunning (drawn three) and Beat The Clock (six) starting nearer the inside rail the race is set up for a grandstand finish.

The Anthony Freedman-trained Santa Ana Lane looked exceptional when powering home to win the Group 1 TJ Smith Stakes at Randwick this month, and there are similarities in his style of racing to Chautauqua, another Australian who landed the Prize in 2016.

Both are famous for swooping late, and for this reason it is easy to understand the preference for an outside draw rather than the inside, where there is always the danger of being caught in traffic.

Santa Ana Lane has won some of the biggest sprints down under – Adelaide’s Goodwood Handicap, Brisbane’s Stradbroke, Melbourne’s VRC Sprint Classic, plus the TJ Smith in Sydney. His consistency at the highest level is impressive and Hugh Bowman rides.

Little separates Mr Stunning, winner of back-to-back Group 1 Hong Kong Sprints at the International meeting in December, and Beat The Clock, who defeated him in the Centenary Sprint Cup in January.

Mr Stunning and Karis Teetan land the Longines Hong Kong Sprint at Sha Tin in DecemberCredit: Vince Caligiuri (Getty Images)

A possible alternative is the Richard Gibson-trained Rattan, who defeated Beat The Clock and Mr Stunning in the G2 Sprint Cup at Sha Tin this month. He has been a revelation dropped back in distance to 6f. Chad Schofield, who rides him so well, will be on board again.

Another interesting runner is Kiwi sprinter Enzo’s Lad, winner for the past two years of the G1 Telegraph at Trentham, Wellington. James McDonald takes the mount.

FWD Champions Mile (Group 1)

1m, 3yo+, Sunday 9.00am GMT (Sky Sports Racing)

There must be a huge temptation to let Beauty Generation loose up the home straight in the Champions Mile just to see how wide a margin he can build over the opposition – a move calculated to authenticate his high global rating.

Beauty Generation is officially the world’s best miler, based on the figures of a panel of international handicappers who are widely regarded as hard markers. He is a brilliant racehorse, responsible for some outstanding performances.

However, the John Moore-trained six-year-old is suffering Winx syndrome, which is the inability to improve an official rating due to a lack of strength in the opposition. This is because the method employed by handicappers to arrive at a figure is based almost entirely on how the horse in question measures up against opposition.

How far they beat a rival with an established, reliable mark is the barometer used.

Beauty Generation has put together eight consecutive wins, a sequence that began with victory in this race last year. He has collected so much prize-money for owner Patrick Kwok Ho-chuen, success today will make him the highest earner in Hong Kong racing history.

But because he is rated 11lb superior to his nearest rival Conte, he will have to win by a street in order to improve his mark of 127. So, Zac Purton, why not let him rip? Let’s see if he can better that mark today.

Conte is promising and has been carefully handled, gradually progressing through the ranks. He is the logical danger, while Simply Brilliant, Oisin Murphy’s mount, could sneak a place.

FWD QEII Cup (Group 1)

1m2f, 3yo+, Sunday 9.40am GMT (Sky Sports Racing)

The quirky Pakistan Star defends his crown in the feature of a glittering card but British interest centres on Eminent, fourth to Wings Of Eagles in the 2017 Derby and now trained in Wiltshire by New Zealand’s most famous Olympian Sir Mark Todd.

There are a multitude of story lines to this fascinating renewal of a race that boasts prize-money in excess of £1.3m to the winner – made all the more intriguing by the promise of a tactical battle involving some of the best jockeys in the region.

Sir Mark, who is based at Stan Mellor’s former yard at Foxhill, near Wanborough, was sent Eminent by owner Sir Peter Vela, a fellow Kiwi, who bought out trainer Martyn Meade’s share in the Frankel colt.

Vela originally planned to stand Eminent as a stallion in New Zealand but that was put on hold when he was persuaded to run the five-year-old in Sydney in the Australian autumn.

Eminent turned in a brilliant second to Godolphin’s Avilius in the Group 1 Ranvet Stakes at Rosehill but then ran no race at all in Randwick’s Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes. However, Todd believes there was an excuse for that poor run.

“We put ear muffs on him, hoping it would help him switch off, but the plan backfired,” the trainer explained. “He fell out of the gates and didn’t raise a gallop. He was just too relaxed. This time he’ll wear a hood in the parade ring and we’ll remove it when he steps on to the track.”

James McDonald has retained the ride on Eminent, who won the Craven Stakes at Newmarket as well as finishing third in the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown as a three-year-old. A repeat of his Rosehill run gives him a big chance at good odds.

The Japanese mount a typically strong challenge with Win Bright, Deirdre, and Oisin Murphy’s mount Lys Gracieux, but local stalwarts the progressive Exultant and the brothers Time Warp and Glorious Forever are going to be as competitive as ever.

To add extra spice to the mix, the talented trio of Furore, Waikuku and Dark Dream, who were first, second, and fourth in the Hong Kong Derby, are all on an upward curve and take their chance in a cracking contest.

Which brings us back to the enigmatic Pakistan Star, who will be having his second start for trainer Paul O’Sullivan, the replacement for Tony Cruz when owner Kerm Din decided on a stable switch this year.

The six-year-old has not won since last May and his win in this race for William Buick a year ago is a distant memory. But if he came back to form the crowd would lift the roof off the grandstand in cheering him home.

Members can read the latest exclusive interviews, news analysis and comment available from 6pm daily on racingpost.com