Rubylot will start from barrier 10 under Brenton Avdulla, as reigning Hong Kong champion trainer Francis Lui aims for his first Hong Kong Classic Mile success since Golden Sixty in 2020 with a four-strong arsenal featuring Packing Hermod (Zac Purton), Divano (Blake Shinn), Call Me Glorious (Matthew Chadwick) and Cap Ferrat (Vincent Ho).
Following a string of testing barrier draws, Packing Hermod starts from barrier six on Friday.
“He (Packing Hermod) is doing well. Of course, he is the one I expect to be hard to beat when you look at how he’s performed so far, but we will see,” Lui said. “I think the mile will be okay for him now he’s more relaxed and he keeps improving a little bit with every run. Hopefully he can run well.”
Divano must overcome barrier 14, while Cap Ferrat (gate three) and Call Me Glorious (five) have drawn nicely.
Completing the line-up is Fast Network (Christophe Soumillon), Johannes Brahms (Mickael Barzalona), Glory Elite (Harry Bentley), Mickley (Hugh Bowman), Lucy In The Sky (Karis Teetan), My Wish (Luke Ferraris), Top Gun (Jamie Melham), Talents Ambition (Matthew Poon) and Markwin (Derek Leung).
The Hong Kong Classic Mile is the first leg in the three-race Four-Year-Old Classic Series, which also features the HK$13 million Hong Kong Classic Cup (1800m) on 2 March and the HK$26 million BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) on 23 March.
Friday’s (31 January) 11-race card at Sha Tin starts with the Class 5 Kung Hei Handicap (1200m) at 12.30pm. The meeting also features the G3 Centenary Vase Handicap (1800m), which is carded as Race 4 at 2pm and the Class 2 Chinese New Year Cup Handicap (1400m), which is carded as Race 6 at 3.05pm.
The Triple Trio’s estimated dividend for a single HK$10 winning unit could reach HK$18 million for Chinese New Year Raceday. The Quartet & First 4 merged pool will also be topped up with a HK$2.8 million jackpot.