Kut Cheong field full of quality, but Ho’s Limitless primed
On a day full of features, the most insightful race of the day going forward could be Monday’s closer, the Class 3 Kut Cheong Handicap (1600m).
In a sense, it appears to be a secondary version of last Sunday’s Hong Kong Classic Mile with nine of the 14 runners coming from the four-year-old crop and a number of potential BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) runners amongst them.
English imports Beauty Way (133lb), formerly Gershwin in the UK, and Limitless (133lb) step out for the first time, having finished one-two in a 1000m turf trial on January 17.
In particular, Limitless – who was named Defrocked when trained by Jamie Osborne in England – brings fascinating credentials as a winner of the Britannia Handicap at Royal Ascot, a race won in recent years by Beauty Flame and Born In China.
New trainer Peter Ho has given Limitless, who has not raced since Royal Ascot, five barrier trials in preparation for his debut and believes that he should be ready to run a good race fresh.
“He’s taken time to get right but I think he’s working well now,” Ho said. “He looked a nice horse before, so I hope he can race to his best here.”
Behind him that June day at the Berkshire track was Moore’s Booming Delight, who finished sixth when named Out And About. The son of Fastnet Rock has impressed through three outings in Hong Kong, winning his last start over 1800m by a neck to John Size-trained four-year-old Prawn Baba.
Clipperton rides Booming Delight again and, after a strong gallop with G1 Stewards’ Cup runner Helene Paragon, he is confident that Booming Delight will measure up yet again.
“He’s improved since his last win,” Clippertonsaid.
“He’s got to come back in distance which won’t be an issue at all. I think he’ll run very well here. He’s still not doing everything right, but that will improve with racing, and he’s just got that turn of foot which is dynamite. I think he’s still got to qualify for the Derby but he’s still on the up.”
Richard Gibson’s Who Dat Singa also creates interest, having finished fifth on debut behind the likes of My Darling, Beauty Generation and California Whip. The Iffraaj gelding finished third in a recent trial under Silvestre de Sousa, despite the Brazilian jockey losing his irons soon after jumping.
The Class 3 Kut Cheong Handicap closes the Chinese New Year raceday at 5:50pm, with the first race, the Class 5 Yue Yee Handicap (1200m), set for 12:30pm.