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David Hayes has his sights firmly set on the HK$300,000 International Jockeys’ Championship (IJC) trainers’ bonus with a battalion of seven horses across the four legs of Wednesday’s lucrative competition.
The top trainer won the prize in 2021 and will have every chance to do the same at Happy Valley with an in-form squad that includes the strong pair of Akashvani and Romantic Son in the fourth leg, a Class Three contest over 1,200m.
Romantic Son ran riot in the grade on his most recent start, winning as he pleased, while Akashvani followed a win with a neck fourth in a blanket finish last time. They will be ridden by Rachel King and James McDonald, respectively.
“I won [the trainers’ bonus] before and have been runner-up too. It’s a good incentive by the club and it’s worth having a try for it,” said Hayes. “If you’ve got in-form horses, you get priority to get in and mine have been racing well.
“They’re both in winning form, I think they’ve got room in that class and should run well. There’s a lot of in-form horses in that race that have drawn well.
“I’d probably lean towards Romantic Son of the two – it was a pretty easy win the other day and he’s drawn quite well [in barrier four].”
Hayes’ platoon also includes last-start winner Samarkand, who rises in grade after an all-the-way victory. He jumps from barrier two under King in leg three, a Class Three over 1,650m.
“He’s a front-running horse and Rachel is a great front-running jockey, so I think they’ll be well suited together,” said Hayes.
In the second leg, the Class Four over 1,650m, Hayes has a quarter of the field and would not be ruling out any of his chances.
“Youth Power is the logical one to roll forward. Amazing Gaze is a young and progressive horse who disappointed the other day, but he was in an awkward spot,” said Hayes.
“Star Mac is absolutely flying. He’s drawn wide but he has McDonald, so he’ll get his chance.”
Away from the IJC, Hayes also gave an ominous update on superstar sprinter Ka Ying Rising ahead of his much-anticipated run in the Group One Hong Kong Sprint (1,200m) on Sunday.
“He does a cruisy gallop in the mornings with Zac on and he’ll just taper into the race. He was going pretty good last year but I’d say he’s a bigger and stronger version this time around,” said Hayes.
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