Ka Ying Rising and Romantic Warrior will both contend with low draws as they defend their respective titles in Sunday’s Longines Hong Kong International Races at Sha Tin on Sunday.
The David Hayes-trained Ka Ying Rising will start from the number one stall for the first time in the Sprint as he bids to follow up his half-length victory of last year and extend his winning run to 16 races in the process.
Hayes said: “I think Zac (Purton, jockey) will be very happy. It’s more important what Zac thinks this time from the barrier because he has to do the job. I will leave it to him.
“The horse jumps fast and he puts him in a spot, and then hopefully he gets a trouble-free run. You can get blocked in from barrier one. I don’t think he will. If he jumps fast, he can have a nice easy run to the home turn.”
The 13-strong field for the six-furlong contest includes the Charlie Hills-trained Khaadem, who was drawn highest of all in 13 for jockey Oisin Murphy.
Romantic Warrior’s trainer Danny Shum is not concerned by his berth in stall two for the Hong Kong Cup as only eight runners go to post for the 10-furlong affair.
The seven-year-old has won the race for the last three years and a fourth success would see him extend his own record.
He said: “Draw two is good. It’s a small field, so it’s not a big deal. It means we can be versatile with the strategy.”
The Jospeh O’Brien-trained Galen starts from seven in the Cup, with Francis-Henri Graffard’s Quisisana in stall four, with both trainers also represented in the Hong Kong Vase.
O’Brien fields Al Riffa (stall two) and Graffard sends Goliath (four) in an 11-strong line-up that also features Los Angeles (10) for Aidan O’Brien, Andrew Balding’s Eydon (nine), the Andre Fabre-trained Sosie (eight) and Giavellotto (six), who will be defending the title he won for Marco Botti 12 months ago.
Aidan O’Brien runs The Lion In Winter in the Hong Kong Mile, with the Ballydoyle runner drawn in 14 of 14 runners, while the Harry Eustace-trained Docklands will start from eight.