HONG KONG, Dec. 15 — Two of the world’s absolute best horses showed a lot of very good rivals their heels in Sunday’s Longines Hong Kong International Races while, back in the States, the Kentucky Derby standings got a bit of a shakeup.
Old Man Winter forced postponement of Turfway Park’s $1 million all-weather festival and Fair Grounds recorded what must be a record low payout for a 10-cent superfecta bet. A diverse report, to be sure.
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Around the world, around the clock
Hong Kong
Ka Ying Rising obliterates his rivals in Sunday’s Longines Hong Kong Sprint for his 16th straight win.(Photo courtesy of Hong Kong Jockey Club
Hong Kong’s globetrotting superstars, Romantic Warrior and Ka Ying Rising, more than lived up to their notices Sunday in, respectively, the Group 1 Longines Hong Kong Cup and Group 1 Longines Hong Kong Sprint.
Ka Ying Rising obliterates his rivals in Sunday’s Longines Hong Kong Sprint for his 16th straight win. Photo courtesy of Hong Kong Jockey Club
Both have represented Hong Kong around the world and dominated the top-level races at home. On Sunday, they defended the home turf again, leaving no room for doubt.
Romantic Warrior, nearing age 8 and coming off surgery and a long, mid-season layoff, tracked the early leaders in the 2,000-meter Cup, but took full command when asked by jockey James McDonald in the stretch run, winning by 1 3/4 lengths over Japan’s multiple Grade 1 winner, Bellagio Opera.
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It was his 11th top-level win and he doesn’t seem to be slowing down. Expectations have him returning in February to Saudi Arabia for a rematch with Japan’s Forever Young in the $20 million Saudi Cup.
«He’s so special. He’s so special,» McDonald said. «He’s just a freak. I don’t know what to say. … I just love him.»
Ka Ying Rising, meanwhile, simply blew his rivals off the board in the Sprint. Leading all the way and geared down well before the finish by jockey Zac Purton, the 5-year-old scored his 16th straight win.
He now will be scheduled to continue in all the local Group 1 sprints while preparing for next October’s Group 1 The Everest in Australia, which he won easily earlier this year.
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«His last run showed us that it was on the cards today,» Purton said. «He is just in a league of his own now.»
The other two Group 1 races on the program were more competitive and afforded the international raiders a better chance.
Sosie, representing France, got things off with a facile score in the 2,400-meter Hong Kong Vase, defeating last year’s winner, Giavellotto, by 1 3/4 lengths. German and French horses dominated at a distance seldom run by Hong Kong steeds.
Sosie, a 4-year-old colt, was fourth and third in the last two runnings of the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
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And, while Hong Kong’s Voyage Bubble won the Group 1 Hong Kong Mile, he did so only after a tight battle with Japan-based Soul Rush. The exciting finish was a repeat of the 2024 Mile.
Japan
Sunday’s Grade 1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies looked like a real tossup with none of the 18 starters having yet won a graded event. And there was even more question about one of the favorites, Star Anise, whose pedigree screamed sprinter as she lined up for the 1-mile event.
Star Anise had never gone beyond 1,400 meters, but outran that record and her pedigree to win by 1 1/4 lengths, leaving her connections wondering if she’s capable of competing in the 2026 Classics.
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Trainer Tomokazu Tanako said before the race he feels she can go longer. And afterward, jockey Kohei Matsuyama already was lobbying to keep the mount in next year’s big races.
Argentina
Obataye scored his third Group 1 race of the year and earned the first «Win and You’re In» spot in the 2026 Breeders’ Cup World Championships with a late-running win in Saturday’s Gran Premio Carlos Pellegrini International at Hipodromo de San Isidro in Buenos Aires.
The 5-year-old son of Coutier out of the Crinson Tide Mare Sufri’n USA, Obataye backed up his last-race victory in the equally prestigious Group 1 Gran Premio Latino Americano in Brazil.
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The Road to the Roses
Saturday’s $200,000 Grade II Los Alamitos Futurity was another 1-2-3 for trainer Bob Baffert with Litmus Test picking up the big check and 10 points on the «Road to the Kentucky Derby.»
The Nyquist colt had something to prove. He won his first start in August, but then was fourth in the Grade I Del Mar Futurity, third in the Grade I Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland and fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.
On Saturday, he sat behind stablemate Provenance, challenged on the turn and into the stretch and got clear to win by 1 1/4 lengths. The other stablemate, Blacksmith, passed Provenance to finish second. The closest rival was another 11 1/2 lengths behind.
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«You’re trying to figure these horses out, what their style is or the way they want to run,» Baffert said. «But there’s nothing like a race. He’s [Litmus Test] getting better and the way he’s bred, he’s going to get better with age. He’s a horse we’ve always been very high on. Blacksmith is figuring it out. He ran a big race.»
With his newly won 10 points added to six from the Breeders’ Cup and three from the Breeders’ Futurity, Litmus Test jumped to the No. 2 spot on the «Road to the Kentucky Derby» leaderboard behind only Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Ted Noffey.
Distaff / Dirt Mile
Weigh the Risks proved a pretty safe risk for her backers in Saturday’s $150,000 Go For Wand Stakes at Aqueduct. The 4-year-old Mendelssohn filly led all the way and won by 9 3/4 lengths, finishing 1 mile on a fast track in 1:37.64. Manny Franco rode for Chad Brown and Klaravich Stables.
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Hurricane Clair blew away seven rivals in Saturday’s $100,000 (Canadian) La Prevoyante Stakes for Ontario-sired fillies and mares at Woodbine, leading virtually all the way to a 3 3/4-length victory. The 4-year-old Silent Name filly got 1 1/16 miles on the all-weather track in 1:45.27 for jockey Eswan Flores.
Sprint
Roll On Big Joe led early in Saturday’s $150,000 Ring the Bell Stakes at Oaklawn Park, repelled a challenge and ran on to win by 1 1/4 lengths over the favorite, Banishing. Tejano Twist was third, as Roll On Big Joe rolled by the timer in 1:09.54 with Julien Leparoux aboard for trainer Robert Hess Jr.
The 5-year-old Prospective gelding has bounced between coasts but most recently stopped midway to win the Bet On Sunshine Stakes at Churchill Downs on Nov. 1.
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Turf
Layabout had a nose in front of Tiz Dashing at the finish of Saturday’s $125,000 Tropical Park Derby at Gulfstream Park, with long shot Tank giving up the lead grudgingly in the final yards to finish third.
Layabout, a Laoban gelding, ran 1 1/16 miles on firm footing in 1:40.73 with Junior Alvarado riding for trainer Patrick Biancone.
Filly & Mare Turf
Destino d’Oro survived some bumping from the runner-up, And One More Time, in the final yards of Saturday’s $125,000 Tropical Park Oaks at Gulfstream Park and won by a head. Destino d’Oro, a Bolt d’Oro filly from the Brad Cox operation, ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:40.02 with Edgard Zayas up.
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Turfway Park
Saturday’s $1 million All-Weather Festival was postponed to Dec. 21 because of frigid temperatures and a prediction of substantial snow across northern Kentucky.
Louisiana Champions Day
Fair Grounds produced another successful Champions Day Saturday, highlighted byTouchuponastar’s fourth straight win in the $150,000 Classic. He won for fun, just as his fans expected — so much so that a winning 10-cents superfecta ticket returned a scant 67-cent payout. Maybe keep it as a souvenir?
