The good people at Hong Kong Tatler insist that “you’re not really one of the ‘Who’s Who’ in Hong Kong unless you’re a member of a private club.”

No prizes for guessing that the Yacht Club, Football Club, Golf Club and Jockey Club figure on their Top Ten list, but how about the slightly lesser-known 100 Club and PPG Derby Club?

Membership is hard to achieve – not least because you need hooves and a tail to apply – but Champion’s Way and Golden Sixty are signed up to both and poised to join an even more select group if they can win the BMW Hong Kong Derby on Sunday, 22 March at Sha Tin.

The PPG (Privately Purchased Griffin) Derby Club is confined to horses who make the Derby field without having run before arriving in Hong Kong, while the 100 Club is for horses who contest Hong Kong’s most cherished prize with a triple digit rating.

On average, well over 200 new PPGs arrive in Hong Kong each year and their inexperience confers early benefits, notably an opening handicap rating of 52 or 57 (based on a southern or northern hemisphere birthplace) that helps sharp types progress swiftly.

But data from the last decade shows that ascending from Class 4 base camp to the Derby’s giddy heights is another matter. Simply put, only around one in every hundred PPGs who started their Hong Kong careers between 2010 and 2019 made the Derby field.

That group included high-class horses who weren’t equipped to scale the Derby distance of 2000m – including Contentment, Blizzard and subsequent Royal Ascot sprint hero Little Bridge – but it also contained three rare beasts who climbed all the way to Classic glory.

Ambitious Dragon, Fay Fay and Luger were the trio and Hong Kong legend Douglas Whyte, now seeking a Derby winner as a trainer to go with his three as a rider, is perfectly placed to assess the qualities needed, having been closely connected with all three.

Whyte rode Ambitious Dragon to four major scores after his 2011 Derby win and partnered Luger to six wins before the gelding’s 2015 Derby success under Zac Purton, but Fay Fay’s thrilling 2012 victory provides his fondest PPG recollection.

“Fay Fay was a timid individual when we first started racing him but with every run he learned more,” he said. “It’s like a kid at school who might not quite get the lesson in the beginning but, once he understands what’s being taught, he starts to take two steps to every one taken by his classmates.”

Ambitious Dragon, Fay Fay and Luger had 10, 10 and nine runs respectively before Derby day and Whyte feels a thorough grounding is essential if a PPG is to thrive in the heat of battle.

“Adjusting quickly to life in Hong Kong is key, as is the training process, but they also need to be here for a while to get toughened up,” he added.

“It’s very important that PPGs go there streetwise and well educated. They are up against seasoned Private Purchases and so they have to have mileage in their legs and the experience of a full season to stand up to the pressure of a race like the Derby.”

Golden wearing yellow as Derby day looms

Perhaps the strongest trend in modern Derby history relates to the high level of ability winners usually show on their way to the big dance.

Keen Winner was a member of the PPG Club but not the 100 Club when he won the Derby in 2000, which was also the year the race distance was increased from 1800m to 2000m. Since then, every Derby winner has had an official rating of at least 100 going into the race.

This year’s Derby field features just three 100 Club inductees. Private Purchase More Than This is rated 107 and will have the services of Purton, who owed his sole Derby success on Luger to the fact that he “picked up the scraps” when Whyte opted to partner Giant Treasure.

Champion’s Way is rated 108 and represents John Size, who bids for a third PPG Derby success after Fay Fay and Luger. But fellow PPG Golden Sixty heads the Derby ratings on 112 after beating his fellow 100 Club members handsomely in the Classic Mile (1600m) and the Classic Cup (1800m).

Trainer Francis Lui knows what it’s like to lose a Derby horse – he handled Ambitious Dragon on his first four starts before the muscular gelding went on a winning spree for Tony Millard – but his new star has won nine from 10 and looks “a freak” according to Whyte.

“Golden Sixty and Champion’s Way are similar as PPGs and in the way they’ve come through the grades but horses with Golden Sixty’s amazing turn-of-foot are few and far between,” he said.

“Yes, there’s a question mark over whether he will stay 2000m but I’ve learned in my time here that when horses are running against their own age group it’s easier to get the Derby trip than when they have to go in against strong older horses the following year.”

Whyte wonders whether the fact that Golden Sixty’s Classic Cup win came after he spiked a temperature two weeks earlier could provide cause for concern but adds that “he’s definitely the one wearing the yellow jersey.”

“It’s very hard for PPGs to make it to the Derby,” he added. “But, as we’ve seen with Ambitious Dragon, Fay Fay and Luger, the good ones who do get there can really excel.”

Not for the first time, Purton disagrees slightly with his former weighing room arch rival.

“Actually, I think PPGs can have an advantage over Private Purchases coming into the Derby,” he said.

“They’ve been in the system for a while and are acclimatised and consistent, whereas PPs who come to Hong Kong later are still settling in. Their form can be patchy and quite often they only produce their very best the following season.”

And so, barring a surprise, this year’s BMW Hong Kong Derby revolves around a pair of potent PPGs and one progressive Private Purchase partnered by the perceptive Purton.

Golden Sixty and Champion’s Way are paid-up members of the PPG Derby Club and the 100 Club. All that remains is to see whether one of them can earn a place in the Who’s Who of Hong Kong racing by delivering on the Derby dream.